Hot and humid, but less than Houston. It got pretty hot yesterday, high 90s maybe even into the hundreds. Nice strong breeze though that kept it tolerable. Partial clouds all day helped too.
Got some plumbing done. Fingers crossed and touch wood, it’ll hold. More plumbing on the schedule for today. Pull toilet and vanity in the master. Hope it doesn’t break something. I can always shut the water off and bring what I need back up with me when I come back to meet with the contractors.
I baited a couple of crawdad traps with cheap tins of dogfood. I’ll be interested to see what I get. The water is awfully hot though and the mud bugs like colder water so I might not get anything at all. It’s all an experiment.
I looked at the garden and it is still just weeds. I’m glad I decided to stop watering it. I do wonder why nothing at all seemed to have sprouted. Maybe I’ll have better luck with the fall garden. I hope so.
I’m increasing my stacks of food here. Other than freeze dried, we are probably at 30 plus days if we bake and eat rice with every meal. The stacks are going to have to be bigger than that…
So join me in stacking it up! (and yes, some chocolates and some hard candies would be nice.)
nick
I read somewhere that the WWII M4 Sherman medium tank was limited to about 40 tons because that was the limit of the cranes used to load and unload them from the ships.
Amateurs study tactics. Professionals study logistics.
In Florida, Chinese sheet rock wasn’t common until the big gypsum plant in Downtown Tampa closed after intense pressure to relocate because the mucky mucks found the facility, located on the edge of the entertainment district, to be unsightly.
The same thing just happened with Tampa’s very large, very profitable, but also very ugly flour mill sitting smack in the middle of Jeff Vinick/Bill Gates’ Water Street project near the cruise docks. In theory, ConAgra relocated to a warehouse nearby, but the stories are always vague about where exactly.
Hopefully, the flour mill story ends better than the Chinese gypsum board. When we left Florida, the insurance companies still weren’t sure about how much remediation was necessary. Razing to the foundation turned out to be insufficient.
Tyler Durden byline protecting the source reporting Biden’s rebound.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-tests-positive-rebound-covid-goes-back-isolation
You might try a germination test with the seeds you have remaining. Wet a paper towel , fold it over a couple of seeds, and put it in a baggie. Leave in a warm place for a few days. Some seeds may sprout within 24 hours, others may take 4 or 5 days. If they don’t sprout, you need fresher seeds.
Some varieties keep longer than others. I’ve got 8 year old tomato seeds that sprout, and 6 year old okra seed that ALL grow, but I have never managed to get chile pequin seeds to sprout, no matter how fresh, and have trouble with peppers in general.
Nobody’s gardens are doing anything out here. My dad only got squash for a couple of weeks before his plants gave out, his cucumbers keep dropping their fruit… the only things that are doing well are okra and black eyed peas.
Max Headroom is back. And he’s not race and/or gender swapped like so many other reboot projects these days.
https://deadline.com/2022/07/max-headroom-reboot-matt-frewer-star-amc-networks-christopher-cantwell-amp-elijah-wood-spectrevision-1235081130/
I’d rather see an updated version of Frewer’s “Doctor Doctor”, another series in which he starred that was arguably way ahead of its time and cancelled thanks to network indifference.
Matt Fewer was everywhere for a while in the 90s after “Max Headroom” ended.
Well, I just got conned. Had email saying I had a voicemail from Xfinity. I clicked on the link (stupid) and entered my credentials. I was then presented with another Xfinity sign on. Strange. When I signed on Xfinity said I had no voice mails. The lightbulb over my head began to glow, a bright red.
I quickly changed my password so the account is safe. A complicated password that I don’t even know as it is stored in a password manager.
In retrospect I knew better than to click on a link in an email. A moment of lack of clarity and sane thinking is all it took. Lesson learned.
I tell my embarrassing incident to inform others that it can happen to the best of us. Be careful out there, don’t let your guard down.
I’m not going to break op sec totally until we are back home later, but we went somewhere yesterday where my car got pounded with rain.
Oh, yes, people in Texas, it does still exist. 70s temps during daylight hours too.
Our travel plans are scaled back due to the Exploder problems, but we still left the house.
The tradeoff of not having the larger vehicle – 49 MPG. The Camry transmission only tried to kill us once.
I know you have mentioned this before, but what exactly does it do?
I thought that in the eyes of some (not you,) the toy factory could do no wrong.;-)
BTW, 49 mpg is very impressive. Back of envelope, no battery powered car can compete with that without subsidies.
My son’s 2020 Camry regularly gets 40+ mpg. He loves the car. And that four cylinder performs very well. He already has 40+k miles on it.
Yes! Remember that brave soldiers can’t fight for long without trucks and ships and supplies. The US outproduced the enemy in the protracted war. This was not lost on the Soviets and others. I am not the only one here who had relatives who remained stateside to contribute to the war effort.
Mom’s father was helping to build Dow plant A in Freeport, TX when WWII started. The plant was making magnesium for flares from seawater extraction as a byproduct of chlorine gas production for plastic (PVC). Slightly important for the war.
His fellow company from Tulane University all joined up together. My grandfather tried to join in Brazoria but his name was on a list. He drove up to Houston and they had his name on the list there too. No go, too important.
Mom told me last night that they were living in a converted gas station that her uncle bought in Freeport at that time. No housing available since so many men were working at the plant. They hung a blanket in the big room between the two families. Mom was born there in 1941, no hospital. She had an older sister born there in 1940, stillborn.
And we think we have it tough.
Up and at ’em…
83F this morning with part sun.
– wow, some of y’all are car geeks. FWIW, one of my first cars was a few years old (~10) Chrysler New Yorker. IIRC 440 w/a four barrel carb. 8ft wide. Long as a night at the opera… I could lay flat on the back seat. We once put a lazyboy recliner in the trunk.
And yes that brocade seat fabric was terrible. It felt like rolling around on barb wire.
When dad finally did a tune up, he disovered that no one had EVER changed one of the spark plugs, because the steering column blocked access. He finally got it out and it was eroded away, and OEM brand.
No one in school could take me in a race if I had a rolling start 🙂
That car had all the options, even a light for the keyhole.
I hit a tree in winter, dented the bumper. I got T boned in winter, used a garden tool to lever the fender back into shape and drove home.
Had a lot of fun in that car.
n
(Touching his top hat) Ah yesss… they don’t make ’em like that any more!
Crawdad pots were a bust. One had a small turtle. One had a tiny fish. I used foil packets of dog food from HEB, cheapest stuff on the shelf. Looks like nothing in the lake likes that.
Coffee and sitting on the dock was nice. Gotta remind myself why I spent 4 hours under a cabinet doing plumbing.
Breeze is stiff and variable, still cooler, and some low clouds. I really need to get a weather station set up down by the dock.
n
>>Frewer’s “Doctor Doctor”<<
Hmmm, I’m going to hunt that one down. I like Frewer.
@Greg, I suspect you’re one of those guys like me who watches all the credits. Have you ever noticed a guy doing continuity? It’s always women. Always has been. If I ever meet Connie Willis I’ve got to ask her that. It seems to me she did continuity a long time ago.
One of the local ladies visited us when we first moved here. She said her family of 5 moved to this house from a farm in Comanche when WWII started, because her father got a job building Camp Bowie. This house was as close as they could find to rent – about 15 miles away. A long way in those days. It was the first place they’d ever lived that had electricity.
At the time, the house only had 4 rooms, but even so they rented out one of the rooms to a soldier and his wife. The wife would bring her pans out to the kitchen to cook, then carry the food back to their room.
When dad finally did a tune up, he disovered that no one had EVER changed one of the spark plugs, because the steering column blocked access. He finally got it out and it was eroded away, and OEM brand.
Dad had a F-350 supercab with a 460 v8 and a three speed auto back in the late 1970s. Dad was letting me drive it around after I chucked a rod in my POS Volvo wagon. I changed the plugs and found that the two plugs under the firewall had never been changed. They were burnt off. I had to use one of those gimballing double universal joint rachet extensions while laying on the air cleaner to get those back plugs. The truck ran a lot better after that.
Dad traded that truck for one of those GMC front wheel drive motor homes in 1980. That was an awesome vehicle even for day trips.
“The German government admits hundreds of thousands of people have had severe side effects following mRNA shots”
https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/the-german-government-admits-hundreds
“The risk-benefit of the Covid vaccines is getting worse and worse and worse”
This is serious stuff. I have not taken the booster yet and do not want to.
Regarding spark plugs, I only use “double platinum” plugs, even in my older cars where conventional plugs were specified. I have only removed one set, from my 1997 car at about 120k miles, the originals. They were still looking good, with factory gaps, but had a spec life of 100k miles, so it was time.
Besides gap erosion, insulator contamination is the other, rarer failure mode. With modern distributor-less ignition systems, the spark energy is very high, and insulator failures are rare. Ignition cables, if any, should be changed with the plugs, because they deteriorate under the high energy. Never open-circuit such a system by removing a plug wire; you can kill that section of the coil pack. If you need to disable one cylinder, short that coil output to prevent high voltage spikes. Don’t run that way too long, because you can damage the catalytic converter. Whatever you do, never get across the output of those high energy ignition systems. You will regret it.
Nick, removing that drivers side rear plug on the 440 Chrysler can be done with the right wrenches, but I removed the steering coupler heat shield and modified it for easier access. That was before platinum plugs eliminated the need to change plugs, sometimes for the rest of the car’s life. The passenger side rear is also a little difficult, and my Imperial’s 440 had been cross threaded before I got the car. I carefully chased the threads, lowered the tightening torque, and it has held for XX years. These are only 3/8 reach plugs, so minimal thread engagement. This is one reason why I do my own work, and worry about the day when I might not be able. Oh, and lots of cars from that era have easier plug access from underneath. An essential tool is a plug socket that has a hex on its drive end; you can put a box or end wrench on that hex in tight places. Look for one with a 3/8 drive and small hex. Life saver.
Finally, I also use Champion anti seize compound on all plugs. This is required on most engines that have aluminum cylinder heads. Air cooled VWs had an aluminum alloy that would seize plugs that had cadmium coated threads. Most Champion plugs of the day used that, and it worked well in iron heads, but was death on VWs without anti seize compounds. Proper plugs for those engines had nickel plated threads, and worked fine. Some plugs still come with black oxide finish, and seem to work well in iron heads, but I would still use the anti seize compound on aluminum heads.
No experience yet with coil-on-plug systems, but they have their own challenges.
Hope this helps somebody.
I had a severe reaction to the Covid vaccine. About week after the second shot I broke out in a rash all over my body that itched like crazy. Went to an urgent since this happened on a Sunday. Doctor went through a list of everything might cause a reaction like that new food, different soap, new shampoo, change of laundry detergent. Nothing was different. Finally she asked if I’d had the vaccine. I said yes, but it was about a week ago. She said that’s what probably caused it and to not get anymore Covid shots. So I’m done. Haven’t gotten any boosters and don’t plan on it.
No side effects (other than slightly sort injection spot) from any of my two Pfizer initial shots and two boosters.
No infections, either.
YMMV. But not worried about the shots or the infection. I have a fairly healthy immune system – I didn’t usually get the yearly flu shot, nor did I get the annual flu. Plus I take one 5000 IU daily vitamin D.
I don’t get out much being retired. Grocery store, usual errands. I joke that I am still on my first hand sanitizer bottle. Which is close to the truth. I have a stash of more bottles in the garage that I suspect will not get used.
Over The Hedge: The Metaverse
https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2022/07/31
Yup, that feature would be popular.
>> When I signed on Xfinity said I had no voice mails.
@nick, presume you have phone service from Xfinity? If so, is email the only way they notify you of new voicemails? Could you get them sent to your phone instead?
Those were said to be quite popular around the Detroit area, but I had already left the state. If anyone could have pulled this off it was GM. They had lots of experience building buses and rolling chassis. There were actually other similar designs that “inspired” GM, but GM did a good job delivering a coach that was purpose built instead of sourced from two or more factories.
I don’t know why all these failed in the marketplace, but there are still a lot of them on the road. They are not popular here in the West. They were expensive, aimed at the luxury market. Might have been bad market timing.
Nowadays there are lots of very expensive motorhomes built on much larger platforms. Some friends have one, bought during the distressed market around 2009. It might have originally sold for more than some hotels. 🙂
Two Moderna shots, was sick for a day after the second with flu like symptoms. So I guess not everyone has no side effects…
No boosters for me.
Pulled the toilet. Finally got the vanity out. That was a struggle. It was built in place and VERY sturdy.
As expected, the plumbing for the vanity has pinholes. Might not have before I knocked it around with my demo work, but there is a lot of crusty mess, so I’m going with “it was like that before I messed with it.
I decided to eat some lunch before turning off the water and cutting the crap away. I’ll just cap it for now. That was the whole point of getting the hall bath back together after all.
Some very sketchy electrical in that wall too, so I’m going to have to explore that issue later.
One oddity, the indoor wall was insulated with fiberglas. The wall behind the vanity is the closet of the middle bedroom. Weird to insulate it.
Pulled the old in-wall open flame space heater. Scorch marks on the wood paneling under it, of course. Maybe the wall was insulated because you could heat the bathroom separately? Mysteries.
I better get back to it.
n
(@alan, the xfinity issue was Ray.. I have come THIS CLOSE to doing the same thing though. It had my name right and everything. Looked totally legit but hovering over the link showed the truth. They are getting more sophisticated, be careful out there…)
>> I had to use one of those gimballing double universal joint rachet extensions while laying on the air cleaner to get those back plugs.
The mechanics must have something that they use to blackmail the car manufacturers to make at least one plug almost impossible to remove. My goddaughter recently had to have the plugs changed on her 2010 Subie Outback with the flat six boxer engine. Iirc the book rate was 3.5 hours, including loosening one of the engine mounts. A scan of YT turned up some shortcuts with specific tools. Unfortunately though with 190K on the clock and no idea if the plugs had ever been changed, I deferred the job to her mechanic.
Saw this on one of my deal emails, ymmv as to its value…
Limited-time deal: Champion Power Equipment 200961 2500-Watt Dual Fuel Portable Inverter Generator, Ultralight https://a.co/d/8Rw0Nzm
“Buy Backs”
https://areaocho.com/buy-backs/
“Not those buybacks. Nope, after selling all of our oil reserves to the Chinese, the US is now planning to buy back 60 million barrels of oil at a future date.”
“I wonder if the press will investigate just who is making money on this deal. We already know that Hunter Biden is an investor in the company that is buying US oil, and I am wondering if he is an investor in the company that will be selling it back. I would also be interested to know if the deal is still “ten percent for the big guy.””
You have got to be kidding me.
And why has Slow Joe sold off 1/3rd of our strategic oil reserve ? That oil is for the horribly bad days and we ain’t there.
You will drive an electric car. Or you will walk. Be a Good Comrade and shut up, we know what is best. Eat the bugs.
I will get an ebike and ride it on the sidewalk and wrong way on the streets as the kids and others do it nowadays without police interference.
I’ve picked up a bug. I haven’t been anywhere other than to the mailbox a few days ago. Achy joints and enough dripping from my nose that my nostrils are getting raw. My lips are peeling. I’m cold, the t-stat is still set at 78f.
It’s got to be allergies of some kind. Moan and groan and whatever. Take some aspirin and hush up.
Meanwhile, while it’s too hot to do much outside, I’m cleaning up my PC. You know, the mystery programs in the “To Try” folder? I have no idea what they are. Some I can open with 7-zip and read the readme file. Some just want to install. A lot of that stuff is gone. I’ve had some that for almost 20 years and never used it. It’s safe to say I will never use it.
Same with the Games folder. The old WfW stuff that won’t run on Win7x64 is gone. Bummer as I’ve never found a decent replacement. But I’ll manage to live without Golf and the Atari games.
Next project is to go through the “videos to watch” folder. 20 GB of stuff there.
Time to feed Buddy the Beagle Pest.
While an ebike may be a good idea for some, not so much for me.
First I have a mile of gravel road. Then the skinny paved road to town. Yeah, the same road the heifers in Suburbans are on and “their lane” is right down the middle of the pavement. It’s four miles to the grocery store and no, ain’t riding a bicycle.
And dog food from Tractor Supply? Sheep and Goat for the last emu? Nope.
@Nick
“One oddity, the indoor wall was insulated with fiberglas. The wall behind the vanity is the closet of the middle bedroom. Weird to insulate it.”
Not evidence that the bedroom on the other side was part of an addition? With plumbing in the wall it may have been for sound reduction.
Phishing attempts here lately:
I bought some 1.25” visual back adapter gear (for an old ”free” C90 that I got free with some other stuff). It all arrived but either PayPal has a leak or Astronomics or one of the two private parties does.
Probably not native speakers since the tenses in then phishing text were messed up.
Oh yes, and a really bad Amazon “your account is closed” attempt.
Made it home. Kids are wiped out from their weekend.
Pizza is ordered.
n
Pizza is eaten.
I think the insulation was probably an attempt at sound control. Couldn’t have been very effective though.
I really like the push on pex connectors, especially for repairs or emergencies. And they are releasable and re-usable. I don’t know if I trust them in a wall….
But everyone that has pex, copper, or cpvc should have some in their kit. CRAZY useful.
n
“Red Eye of Betelgeuse (Perry Rhodan #40)” by Clark Darlton, translated by Wendayne Ackerman
https://www.amazon.com/Red-Eye-Betelgeuse-Perry-Rhodan/dp/4412660230?tag=ttgnet-20/
Book number forty of a series of one hundred and twenty-six space opera books in English. The original German books, actually pamphlets, number in the thousands. The English books started with two translated German stories per book and transitioned to one story per book with the sixth book. The German books were written from 1961 to present time, having sold two billion copies and even recently been rebooted again. I read the well printed and well bound book published by Ace in 1974 that I had to be very careful with due to age. I bought an almost complete box of Perry Rhodans a decade or two ago on ebay that I am finally getting to since I lost my original Perry Rhodans in The Great Flood of 1989. In fact, I now own book #1 to book #103, plus the Atlan books.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Rhodan
BTW, this is actually book number 48 of the German Pamphlets. There is a very good explanation of the plot in German on this website of all of the PR books. There is automatic Google translation available for English, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, French, and Portuguese.
https://www.perrypedia.de/wiki/Rotes_Auge_Beteigeuze
In this alternate universe, USSF Major Perry Rhodan and his three fellow astronauts blasted off in a three stage rocket to the Moon in 1971. The first stage of the rocket was chemical, the second and third stages were nuclear. After crashing on the Moon due to a strange radio interference, they discover a massive crashed alien spaceship with an aged male scientist (Khrest), a female commander (Thora), and a crew of 500. It has been over ten years since then and the New Power has flourished with millions of people and many spaceships headquartered in the Gobi desert, the city of Terrania.
Perry Rhodan has returned from Arkon after six months and informs the Terran people of the Arkon robot regent and the Springers, Mounders, and Aras. Rhodan is having his troops check out the Betelgeuse system as the Springers are planning on destroying the third planet since they think it is Terra. Topthor the Springer had the correct address of Terra in his spaceship positronic brain but Rhodan’s mutants changed it at the Springer meeting in the Gonom system. Rhodan’s troops found Topide lizards and native sea people on the fourth planet, a sea planet, but none on the third planet. But, then many of the Topide lizards landed on the third planet and set up defensive facilities.
One has to remember that this book was written in German in 1962 and translated to English in 1974. Many items that came about in the 1970s and beyond such as cell phones are not reflected in the book. However, commercial aircraft commonly traveling at Mach 3 are not available to the public as talked about in the book. Niels Bohr’s saying “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future” comes to mind.
Two observations:
1. The publisher should have put two to four of the translated stories in each book. Having two stories in the first five books worked out well. Just having one story in the book is too short and would never allow the translated books to catch up to the German originals.
2. Anyone liking Perry Rhodan and wanting a more up to date story should read the totally awesome “Mutineer’s Moon” Dahak series of three books by David Weber.
https://www.amazon.com/Mutineers-Moon-Dahak-David-Weber/dp/0671720856?tag=ttgnet-20/
My rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 5 out of 5 stars (1 review)
Mountain House has a limited supply of the genuine .mil issue Meal, Cold weather that they make for US spec ops.
https://mountainhouse.com/collections/military?utm_source=Arbor%20Contacts&utm_medium=email&utm_id=Maxwell%20July%202022&utm_content=shop-military-rations-cta&variation=B
They have a 3 year shelf life. $13/ meal.
I’ve never had them, and never even knew there was a difference from the MRE, but if you are lucky you learn something new every day.
They are kinda expensive per meal, but they do fill a role in preps. They are already packaged for field use, and can sit ready for at least a couple of years without thought or effort.
n
“The Earth Dies (Perry Rhodan #41)” by Clark Darlton, translated by Wendayne Ackerman
https://www.amazon.com/Perry-Rhodan-41-Earth-Dies/dp/B004HCDEVO?tag=ttgnet-20/
Book number forty-one of a series of one hundred and twenty-six space opera books in English. The original German books, actually pamphlets, number in the thousands. The English books started with two translated German stories per book and transitioned to one story per book with the sixth book. The German books were written from 1961 to present time, having sold two billion copies and even recently been rebooted again. I read the well printed and well bound book published by Ace in 1974 that I had to be very careful with due to age. I bought an almost complete box of Perry Rhodans a decade or two ago on ebay that I am finally getting to since I lost my original Perry Rhodans in The Great Flood of 1989. In fact, I now own book #1 to book #103, plus the Atlan books.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Rhodan
BTW, this is actually book number 49 of the German Pamphlets. There is a very good explanation of the plot in German on this website of all of the PR books. There is automatic Google translation available for English, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, French, and Portuguese.
https://www.perrypedia.de/wiki/Die_Erde_stirbt
In this alternate universe, USSF Major Perry Rhodan and his three fellow astronauts blasted off in a three stage rocket to the Moon in 1971. The first stage of the rocket was chemical, the second and third stages were nuclear. After crashing on the Moon due to a strange radio interference, they discover a massive crashed alien spaceship with an aged male scientist (Khrest), a female commander (Thora), and a crew of 500. It has been over ten years since then and the New Power has flourished with millions of people and many spaceships headquartered in the Gobi desert, the city of Terrania.
The Springers and the Mounders have arrived in Betelgeuse system to destroy the third planet since they think it is Terra. Several of the Terran spaceships, mostly repurposed Arkonide ships, are in the system to fool the Mounders that Betelgeuse 3 is Terra, Sol 3. And a Topide fleet of 500 spaceships has arrived from the dictator of the Topide home system. Most of the Topides not in spaceships are on Betelgeuse 4. And Perry Rhodan has a plan to convince the Springers that he and the Terrans are dead.
One has to remember that this book was written in German in 1962 and translated to English in 1974. Many items that came about in the 1970s and beyond such as cell phones are not reflected in the book. However, commercial aircraft commonly traveling at Mach 3 are not available to the public as talked about in the book. Niels Bohr’s saying “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future” comes to mind.
Two observations:
1. The publisher should have put two to four of the translated stories in each book. Having two stories in the first five books worked out well. Just having one story in the book is too short and would never allow the translated books to catch up to the German originals.
2. Anyone liking Perry Rhodan and wanting a more up to date story should read the totally awesome “Mutineer’s Moon” Dahak series of three books by David Weber.
https://www.amazon.com/Mutineers-Moon-Dahak-David-Weber/dp/0671720856?tag=ttgnet-20/
My rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 5 out of 5 stars (2 reviews)
George Jetson was born yesterday somewhere on Earth.
https://warnerbroscartoons.fandom.com/wiki/George_Jetson
Where is my flying car ?
Where is my flying car ?
In the shop waiting for a software upgrade!
Sitting right behind the $40K Jesus Truck.