Cool in the morning but rapidly warming. Some small chance of rain, or overcast. Overcast would be welcome as we will be in the sun otherwise. It got up to 99F in the shade yesterday and well over 100F in the sun. Where we were. Working. In the sun. The hot sun.
Moved a ton of dirt yesterday. Had to reduce the height of the front yard by about a foot and a half to correct slope and water issues. Over time, or just through poor design, the yard had become raised, and about half sloped toward the house. This contributed to the foundation issues and needed to be corrected.
While digging we found landscape drain lines, sprinkler pipe, the copper gas pipe, and a small diameter plastic pipe we can’t identify. What we did NOT find was the outflow from the septic tank. By all logical layouts we should have found it while trenching. Maybe we’ll find it today when we dig the big hole for the new tanks. We also found random lengths of steel angle iron, some rebar, and various other chunks of metal.
The biggest issue was massive root balls from some long dead trees or bushes. They were co-joined and huge, one spanning about 8 ft by 5 ft, and a good foot thick. They were just under the soil and had to be removed. We ended up nibbling away from the edges to get enough cut loose that the big machine could pry up the rest. Took most of the effort of the day.
Some construction notes for the DIYer. Sand is not just sand. Sand has very specific characteristics, some of which are suitable for construction use, some not. Fluffy soft sand is not suitable for fill under anything. It will not compact or lock together, it will squish and slide out from under any load. You want “sharp” sand for something like that. You do not need a vapor barrier under an outdoor slab. Rebar is engineered and shaped to do its job. Smooth hot rolled “pencil” rod is not. They are not interchangeable. Random lengths of angle iron have no place in a concrete slab. Wire reinforcing panel works only when properly embedded into the concrete. If you can’ t use “chairs”, then use a hook to pull it up into the mix and don’t walk on it after that. Finally, if your original patio slab sank 6 inches, simply putting another 6 inches of concrete on top of it won’t solve the underlying problem and may make it worse.
And people, if you are going to use bare copper tube with flare nuts as buried gas pipe, DO NOT make a SPLICE with flare nuts and a short iron pipe nipple and then BURY THAT.
More hole digging is on the agenda for today. As is running gas pipe.
Stacking up the knowledge. Stacking up the skills. Stack some of each.
nick
(and today’s title courtesy of the pop culture intersection of pirate metal music (Wind Rose), online gaming (minecraft) and youtube content creators making vids about playing games)
filly filly hole, filly filly hole
I received the upstairs AC system estimates this morning. $900 for four lbs of Freon and a replacement cap on the motor vs. $7000 for a new HVAC unit.
Yeah, 28 years, it may well be time to replace the system. Still, that’s a lot of money, and we still haven’t decided about Texas beyond the point when my daughter graduates high school.
My wife’s carpool friend announced that he and his wife are done with Texas if Robert Francis wins the Governor’s Mansion. I said that I doubt it will happen, but I would be worried if I was a memeber of Rafael Edward’s reelection team looking at what the CA money will learn for 2024 in the state.
I didn’t catch it until earlier this week, but all of the Fed’s official advertisements on the radio for jabs end with a variation on this theme, the announcer ending the spots with “We can do this.”
https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_538122
Suburban women. That is a really common refrigerator magnet. We even have one.
Suze Orman was giving really bad advice just prior to the real estate crash in 08 and in my mind she’s thoroughly discredited. She financially ruined a lot of people who trusted that she knew what she was talking about.
Normally I’d do the opposite of what she recommended, but in this case, it’s good advice. Not her idea, which is probably why it makes sense.
She’s just calling for more than most of the conservative advisors suggest. I think that’s mainly because it’s such a big goal that it would discourage most people.
It’s like prepping, start small and build on it. 3 days, then a week, then 2 weeks, then a month, then three months, then 6, then a year….
n
Septic guy here early, 7am, and running big yellow machines.
Air is 74F and almost saturated.
I”m up and moving but still not moving well. It takes a while for all the systems to come up to speed.
n
Someone mentioned a “courtesy card” and knowing when to use it, and when to not, WRT the hag’s husband. I didn’t comment at the time, but I was surprised to see someone else who knew the term, and the correct usage…
Having grown up in the Chicago area, it was something I knew about from childhood on, but I don’t often run into someone the right age and cultural background to know anymore.
Cool.
n
All the vax billboards in Houston make emotional appeals. “Avoid the ‘ you can’t come to my wedding drama.’ ” and “Avoid the ‘swipe left’ on unvaxxed drama’ ”. ( both as accurate as I can remember them.)
I respond to it as “dodged a bullet there, didn’t want to come to your wedding- you self centered idiot” and similar for dating…
Since the other common billboards are for ambulance chaser lawyers, and STD testing, I put it in the same mental category, ie. aimed at bottom feeders. Not a good brand association.
n
Court orders Fauci and vacuous idiot to give depositions and cough up emails in Biden-BigTech lawsuit.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/09/court-forces-fauci-and-jean-pierre-to-answer-questions-under-oath-and-produce-documents-in-biden-big-tech-collusion-case/
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/09/the-nihilism-of-maga-world/671355/
Seems pretty spot on.
Or one looks at the riots taking place under democratic controls. Billions of dollars in damages yet pawned off as no big deal. It seems to me the democrats are the ones that promoted the violence. Ritos because Trump won. It was downplayed as much as possible. Trump followers causing problems is major news and must stopped at all costs. Biden/Obama/Hillary followers are just people letting off steam.
The only issue that I saw was the storming of the capital building. Something that has happened in the past by a democratic mob. Again, played off as no big deal. The 1/6 hearings are a vendetta, revenge hearings, not anything close to bipartisan.
One should also look at their investment portfolio because of Spongey’s economic policies. Many of those policies done out of spite rather than reasoned thinking. The losses to 401K plans are enormous costing many retirement plans billions of dollars. Yes, Trump, was, and is, a jerk. I did not want him for president. Given a choice between Hillary and Trump, I had to choose the lesser of two evils.
Now that the boy is back at college from his visit this weekend, I can start on his room. First up is the bathroom. Not a full renovation, as I am keeping the vanity and cultured marble top/sink. I’m pulling out the toilet and going to replace the faucet. I took the light from the other bathroom we just redid and painted it. I tell you, Krylon’s Oil Bronze spray paint is good stuff. The light turned out great. I’m going to paint the towel and toilet paper holders the same way.
The only real work is dealing with some peeling paint above the shower. There is only a tiny bit of mildew right at the joint between the wall and tub, so I can dig all of that out. I’ll prime the wall with Kilz and paint the entire bathroom. The room will see much less use going forward. The other big job is just scrubbing everything down.
After the bathroom, I’m going to empty his room, paint, and then have someone come in and clean the carpet. I’ll go ahead have the stairs up to the bonus room done as well.
Added: all this work helps with the empty nest syndrome, though he has been good about keeping in touch. Life marches on…
To recap, The Atlantic is wholly owned by the Widow Jobs and serves as her personal social justice media outlet. Anything published there should be considered extremely biased and possibly factually challenged.
Don’t complain about The Daily Mail if you’re posting links to The Atlantic.
Or The Daily Kos. Really?
Got any examples of riots because Trump won? Anything to back up the supposed billions of dollars in damages?
Please, tell me the last time a group of Democrats stormed the Capitol Building and attempted to assassinate the Vice President.
Advice to stash a year’s take home number in a bank account is really extreme. A year of living expenses certainly is worth considering, but the return means you’re paying for the liquidity.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem
I added the bold/italic there at the end.
I am Ed. Of, course. Of, course. Please downvote me because I am a horse.
In 1814, 1954 and 1998. There have also been several attacks by individuals. As for attempted assassination? I doubt that was on the agenda by the mob. Most of the stories about people fearing for their lives, especially AOC, are nothing more than drama. Made up claims to enhance their position, get their name in the news.
Yes, the attack on the capital was terrible. A mob of few fools who deserve prison time. The democratic response is a sham, a waste of time and money, a revenge hunt. Not a real, unbiased, investigation. The attackers should be punished but punishment is being dished out to some who had no real involvement in the event. Simply being at the capital on January 6 is enough to result in prison time.
November 11, 2016, Portland Oregon, resulting in violence. November 10, 2016, Trump protestors blocked streets and freeways in in Los Angeles. January 19, 2017, several thousand protested the swearing in ceremony. In these cases, and many others, the protest were classified as riots by law enforcement. Vehicles were destroyed, fires set, buildings damaged. The list is large and long.
More damage was caused by these riots than what was ever done to the capital building. No investigation was done, few, if any arrests.
Politics has turned into shambles in this country. For the last several elections we have had nothing but losers, people that have sucked on the public teat for years, most unable to hold real jobs. No business or financial experience. Figureheads for handlers in the background.
Many, if not the majority, of the news outlets are biased and the reporting should be questioned. Reporting is based on the reporter attempting to get the face on CNN, facts be damned. Tabloid journalism is the norm.
115F here yesterday down to a comfortable 111F predicted for today.
Power warning yesterday so I turned off the office tv and went to the living room.
Demorats in the state legislature pushed through a bunch of climate hoo-ha so now waiting for Screwsom to sign and save the planet. There will be so much green energy they can turn off Diablo Canyon in 5 years.
Ray: Did you miss this? https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/politics/video-pro-trump-mob-chants-hang-mike-pence
Watch the video.
And, the guy you voted for defended those chants as “common sense”: https://www.axios.com/2021/11/12/trump-hang-mike-pence-january-6-audio
I am Ed. I am a down-er.
The British, four Puerto Rican nationalists, and a mentally ill man later found incompetent to stand trial. Did you read what I wrote correctly?
A horse is a horse.
Just because a horse is a horse does not make him a horse’s arse.
But the evidence for some horses is indisputable.
A “white, fibrous” blood clot is quite simply not a blood clot. Clots are red and mushy. Whatever this is, it’s something else. The closest it could be is a clot that has been there for so long that it’s turned into scar tissue… which would imply that the person was alive for quite a while with the clot there. And thus doctors would be seeing them too, in live people; it wouldn’t just be embalmers. They’d show up on MRI scans and such.
By the way, postmortem clotting is a normal thing, and there’s a lot of variability in it. So embalmers are not a good source of evidence as regards clotting. They could reasonably point out weird white things in people’s veins, but only because those aren’t clots.
Not sure what’s supposed to be so scary about that “clot” photo. It looks to me like jars of fancy sliced mushrooms in vinegar. Might even be that; people do so love to pull our legs. Now, video of them actually being extracted from a corpse — that would be a touch scary. It would also be real evidence.
Don’t be sorry. You didn’t cause it, and I have a backup generator, and almost everyone else in this state deserves to broil for a bit 🙂
The thing about San Onofre is that the foul up was, as I recall, in a set of replacement heat exchanger tubes. This is what E&O insurance is about. If SCE messed up on the specifications the cost should be on them, if it was a manufacturer defect it should be on that party.
Instead CPUC allowed them to close the plant – and bill the public for the closure. About $14B as I recall.
>> She financially ruined a lot of people who trusted that she knew what she was talking about.
I put her in the class of people who are good at writing books and peddling them. Same for many pushing real estate riches. If they are so good in their field they should be in the billionaire class, stacking wealth, not books.
>> Many, if not the majority, of the news outlets are biased and the reporting should be questioned. Reporting is based on the reporter attempting to get the face on CNN, facts be damned. Tabloid journalism is the norm.
That’s why I get the real and unbiased news from Facebook!!
>> Translation: “Please note that our company WinSim in the USA has nothing to do with the company WinSim in Germany. If you have problems with the service from WinSim in Germany, you must contact the company in Germany. Their telephone number is…”
Thanks ! I can read about half of that.
I suspect that the people never look at our website, they just get no response from support@winsim.de so they change the email to support@winsim.com . Sucks. I may have to block all unknown emails from Germany over this.
@lynn, rather than just block those emails, could you instead send them an auto-reply with the suggested German text?
I am Ed. I am a ho-arse. So says my brother NaN.
Too much name similarity.
Why not use one not taken?
smeghead is available.
Or just go with Rimmer
That is the same thing Walter Cronkite said in one of his newscasts.
(No Ed, I will not provide a reference).
>> That is the same thing Walter Cronkite said in one of his newscasts.
They should have him on TV more often, I hardly see him these days.
“fools who deserve prison time”
There, I agree with you. This guy got 9 months.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna46501
@RickH: A browser question you might be able to answer.
Lately I’ve noticed a few web sites where leaving – by closing the tab – pops up another tab. And attempting to close that pops up a third, and so on.
Sites where you can’t leave have been around forever, and sites where the back button sends you to some other sketchy page are sadly not too uncommon.
But I always thought that tabs ran in their own pseudo-sandbox and their clients were not capable of opening another tab if you didn’t click in/on page contents?
Current Safari on current iOS by the way.
@EdH – I don’t know of any javascript (etc) that will cause a tab to reopen after you close it. Most browser have a way for you to reopen a closed tab (Ctrl+Shift+T), which I use often after closing a tab too soon. But to have a new tab open when you close it (via the ‘x’ on the tab itself, not inside the browser window/viewport) is not normal.
But there is malware that can do that, I believe. Try this search in your googles/bings/ducks. There are several articles about malware that can do strange things in your browser.
In addition, there are settings in Chrome (and others) that will reopen your last group of open tabs after you close the browser, and then restart it. Along with the History, Restore Previous Settings feature in Firefox and others, which is handy when you want to restart your browser and get back the pile of open tabs you had when you closed the browser.
It could also be a browser extension you have installed
So, I’d first do a malware scan on your device. And disable any browser extensions. This link perhaps helpful: https://windowsreport.com/chrome-new-tabs-keep-opening/
I”m up and moving but still not moving well. It takes a while for all the systems to come up to speed.
Just wait until you are in your 60s. I would not be able to get out of bed today in your situation. Something happened to my get up and go when I turned 61. Besides the glaucoma.
@ITGuy1998
Krylon’s Oil Bronze spray paint is good stuff. The light turned out great. I’m going to paint the towel and toilet paper holders the same way.
Learn from my error. Bathroom fixtures plus paint look horrible in 18 months. I love how well my Krylon Oil Bronze worked on light fixtures – headed into second decade when we sold that house and looked fabulous some 18 years later.
I shared your thought process – looks great let’s do it again. I very carefully took apart the towel racks, other fixtures I was treating. Prepped surfaces, cleaning, sanding, etc. Applied Krylon Oil Bronze. Did everything correct and careful, no shortcuts.
Initially beautiful and indistinguishable from new.
Deterioration started about two months in, well ventilated bathroom with three people using. By 18 months looked bad. Wore poorly and underlying surface ugly.
We sold that wretched mess and presumably the new owner replaced it.
“Pentagon suspends F-35 deliveries after discovering materials from China”
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/07/pentagon-suspends-f-35-deliveries-china-00055202
“The issue does not affect flight operations of F-35s already in service.”
Sigh. There is Chinesium everywhere now.
BTW, the Air Force is already talking a new F-35D to replace their F-35A models. And Japan just got their F-35B (VTOL) planes delivered. Almost 300 built, 500 on order. Even Finland has ordered 50 or 60 of the monsters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning_II
Hat tip to:
https://www.drudgereport.com/
>> @RickH: A browser question you might be able to answer.
Lately I’ve noticed a few web sites where leaving – by closing the tab – pops up another tab. And attempting to close that pops up a third, and so on.
Sites where you can’t leave have been around forever, and sites where the back button sends you to some other sketchy page are sadly not too uncommon.
But I always thought that tabs ran in their own pseudo-sandbox and their clients were not capable of opening another tab if you didn’t click in/on page contents?
Current Safari on current iOS by the way.
@EdH, I’ve noticed lately some sites where when you move your mouse pointer over the Close Tab ‘x’ (I’m on Chrome/W11) it triggers a pop-up to the effect of “Sure you want to leave?” Is this what you’re seeing or does it only happen when you actually close the tab?
>> Something happened to my get up and go when I turned 61.
Yeah, it got up and went…
The only real work is dealing with some peeling paint above the shower. There is only a tiny bit of mildew right at the joint between the wall and tub, so I can dig all of that out. I’ll prime the wall with Kilz and paint the entire bathroom. The room will see much less use going forward. The other big job is just scrubbing everything down.
“It’s Difficult to Make Predictions, Especially About the Future” by Niels Bohr.
Advice to stash a year’s take home number in a bank account is really extreme. A year of living expenses certainly is worth considering, but the return means you’re paying for the liquidity.
I suspect that she is wondering what would happen to a cash stash if the inflation suddenly zoomed to 1,000%. That cash would be worth very little at the end of the period. One of my awesome pictures in mind is the guy going to the supermarket in Germany in the 1920s with a wheelbarrow of cash.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5088405/When-cash-worthless-Germany-World-War.html
“Earl becomes the second hurricane of the 2022 season”
https://www.chron.com/weather/article/Earl-Becomes-the-Second-Hurricane-of-the-2022-17424176.php
Sorry, but nothing good comes out of things named Earl. A friend of mine married a guy by the name of Earl in the late 1970s. He was drunk all the time and shot her in the leg one night. She finally listened to all of us then and divorced him.
That’s easily done with some site Javascript that uses the ‘onmouseout’ (or similar) tag that can be added to any HTML element. The same process is used on some sites to display popups when you scroll down or even move your mouse out of the site page area. Irritating; not all ad blockers can block that action.
“California Governor Gavin Newsom Signs Fast-Food Worker Bill, Paving the Path to $22 an Hour Minimum Wage”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/09/california-governor-gavin-newsom-signs-fast-food-worker-bill-paving-path-22-hour-minimum-wage/
Speaking of inflation …
Why not $100 per hour ?
>> Translation: “Please note that our company WinSim in the USA has nothing to do with the company WinSim in Germany. If you have problems with the service from WinSim in Germany, you must contact the company in Germany. Their telephone number is…”
Thanks ! I can read about half of that.
I suspect that the people never look at our website, they just get no response from support@winsim.de so they change the email to support@winsim.com . Sucks. I may have to block all unknown emails from Germany over this.
@lynn, rather than just block those emails, could you instead send them an auto-reply with the suggested German text?
I would like to but I hesitate to subject my customers to that message. It is very tempting though. If the volume increases then the temptation will become very intense.
In order not to irritate valid customers, you would need to figure out something unique to the emails, and create a rule to handle that uniqueness. Otherwise, it’s a cut/paste manual response when you get those emails.
Figuring out an automated response might be more effort than just doing a manual response with the cut/paste of the text (in English and German).
Seems pretty spot on.
—ray and a fat pipe did a decent job, forgot about the bombing of the capitol building …
How about if we just change just two of the words….
They promote authoritarian leaders, and they fan the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country … BLM democrats have made their choice. They embrace anger. They thrive on chaos. They live not in the light of truth but in the shadow of lies.
That looks more like what I saw on tv and the internet, and even in my own city. Although there was a lot less burning and looting here.
The next paragraph is nothing but opinion, ad hominem attacks and straw man argument.
n
@RickH, Alan: Thanks for the replies. I am out and about but will check things in a bit.
iOS does not support a malware checker because all apps are, supposedly, in sandboxes.
The browser is straight up Safari, no extensions. “Other” browsers for iOS are just gussied up versions of Safari, afaik. I haven’t tried them, it’s an idea.
I will try to find the offending page and try it again on windows, maybe with ffox and brave and whatever the default browser is On windows these days.
not a big deal, but puzzling.
Krylon, as well as paints in general, have gone through several rounds of voc reduction. The new formulas have seldom had comparable performance, and about the time that they make some headway with tweaks, another round comes.
>> “California Governor Gavin Newsom Signs Fast-Food Worker Bill, Paving the Path to $22 an Hour Minimum Wage”
Keep that wheelbarrow handy for the next time you want a Double Double.
These kinds of comments are mere fearmongering.
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/politifact/2021/01/21/biden-raise-minimum-wage-affects-myth-taco-bell-burrito/4245883001/
Re fast food worker wages and product costs – I’d be interested in an analysis of the costs of more than two of the menu items, say, 10 items commonly purchased, including drinks. Are those prices different in different ‘wage areas’?
I suspect that retail costs of fast food items increase if the hourly wages are increased. But, that’s just a suspicion. Actual facts are important.
I am Ed. I am a fear monger. NaN is my little brother.
Rick: the menu is online and can be customized by location. Go hog wild! Some examples:
Spicy potato soft taco
Waco TX (min wage $7.25) $1.00
Los Angelas CA (min wage $16.04): $1.59
Soft taco
Waco: $1.49
LA: $1.69
Double steak grilled cheese burrito
Waco: $6.49
LA: $6.99
Cheesy fiesta potatoes
Waco: $2.19
LA: $2.19
Medium Pepsi
Waco: $1.00
LA: $1.00
Other than the Pepsi, I took the first item from a few categories (meaning I didn’t just cherry pick burritos with little difference).
If the 59 cents for the potato whatever breaks the bank, you’ve probably got bigger problems.
No one working fast food in Waco is making $7.25/hr.
Greg: How about Detroit, poorest city in America?
Soft taco is $1.99, more than in LA
Or Hartford, fourth poorest? $2.39
Jackson, MS? $1.89
Try it yourself. This is actually fun!
“California Governor Gavin Newsom Signs Fast-Food Worker Bill, Paving the Path to $22 an Hour Minimum Wage”
Be prepared for the McDonald’s remodel for a window to the kitchen and see AutoMac, the 6 armed robo burger flipper. Total human staff of two, stocker/loader/mop jockey and cashier/manager. Only really need the mop jockey to watch the ca$hier and vice versa.
Maybe no staff at all. Rebrand as “AutoMac”.
There’s an element missing from the minimum wage/taco price comparisons. None of that means anything unless you can show the corporate and / or franchisee profit is the same across the compared locations.
Stop by your neighborhood fast-food chain restaurant and you’ll find that it’s likely a franchise, which means the franchisee determines if the employees have access to benefits and not corporate HQ. Ask the manager how many non-exempt employees are full-time (minimum of 40 hours a week) and eligible for overtime. Oh, it’s none. Plenty working 35 hours though. See if people are scheduled to work the closing shift one day and the opening shift the following morning (though this has been cut back in many places). See how many work in a unionized store. Stop at one of these 100 White Castle’s and watch the automated robot cook the fries. No bathroom breaks, no lunch breaks, no sick days, no vacation. And don’t doubt that there are more be developed and tested to cook burgers and stuff tacos. Only so long people will pay $8, $9 or$10 for a Big Mac. And speaking of bathroom breaks, stop by an Amazon fulfillment center and ask how many workers wear adult diapers, not because they’re incontinent, but because they fear asking for a bathroom break. To heck in a handbasket we go…
It also doesn’t compare unless you know that staffing levels have not been reduced.
Something has to give. Your expenses cannot rise without also raising prices unless you make cuts elsewhere, assuming the market for your product is steady. Your profit margin can decrease for a while, but businesses exist to make money for their owners, and they can’t operate at a loss or without profit for very long.
Are the items prepared the same way as they were or is there shrinkflation going on? Are the ingredients the same quality? Is the dining room open? Or is it like our local KFC that now only has 2 employees- one on the window and register, one in the kitchen.
As an employer in Cali, we considered our actual labor cost to be 2-3x hourly depending on job, benefits packages, etc. Those other costs per employee are also rising.
As an actual employer and manager, cost of labor is a major factor in the cost of running most businesses.
Higher priced labor usually means fewer employees doing more work.
n
PolitiFact is part of a non-profit liberal think tank in St. Petersburg, FL, the Poynter Institute, owner of the Tampa Bay Times.
They haven’t worried about profit at The Times in decades. The Poynter Institute literally bought the competition out – with a little help from Warren Buffett – and tore down the building within the last decade.
Done for the day.
New tank is in the hole and connections are being made. Passed the first part of the inspection process.
We found some interesting things. There is a second original tank. It leaks, and that is probably the only reason we’ve had any capacity at all. Still haven’t found any leach field. Clothes washer not connected to septic tanks, don’t know where it went, but looks like it must have just spilled on the ground. Ditto for the kitchen. Just a buried pipe headed away from the house… both will be attached to the new septic system.
Running the plumbing for the kitchen drain involved me cutting a trench across 6 feet of concrete. 4 layers thick, and about a foot in total. That occupied me most of the last 7 hours. Old boy just kept adding concrete on top of the old when it sank…
I mentioned the soft sand as fill too, right? That will all probably have to be removed at some point as it is not weight bearing. Maybe there is an additive. I’ll ask the foundation guys.
Right now, I’m headed for my float…
n
Ah, many good questions! But let me remind you of the wisdom of Rick:
Speculate all you want about smaller portions, staff, etc. But—forgive me, what’s that MAGA line you all love so much? Facts don’t care about your feelings? I, like Rick, value facts over things you want to be true so you can think you’re correct.
Greg: See above about ad hominen
Fast food prices depend on more than labor. You’d need to factor in the cost of the real estate (purchased or leased?), the cost of utilities such as power and water, the business tax rate, and other business expenses. Do they have to pay to get used grease removed?
But labor costs are a large factor, which is why in expensive cities, automated ordering kiosks are becoming more popular, or requiring ordering by smartphone app. Get rid of the cashier and automate the payment process, and you’ve greatly reduced the possibility that your staff is tapping the till when the boss isn’t around. Ever wonder why a lot of fast food places say that the meal is free if you don’t get a receipt? That’s to stop the staff from selling you a meal off the books where the BUSINESS doesn’t get any of the money, because the STAFF is stealing it.
@Nick: Sounds like one h*ll of a mess out there.
I have heard of some pretty bad systems – passed on buying a cabin in the mountains once because of just what I could see of their “system” – but this sounds special.
Good luck.
Wife and I go to Chick-fila about twice a month. Always get the same thing. Check my debit card records. A year ago it was $11.50. Yesterday it was $14.85. Taco Bell where I some times eat. Three crunchy tacos and a drink. One year ago it was $7.10. Monday it was $10.00. All prices include sales tax. Taco Bell was kiosk ordering only, no one at the register thus a reduction in staff. Higher wages, higher cost, reduced staff. I could not weigh the portions but the chicken strips seem smaller, tacos less full.
Contract cleaning services go first. That’s the way it worked in Vantucky when we lived there and the minimum wage went above $10/Hr. Within a few months, the Chipotle closest to our house was ground zero of the E Coli scare that nearly put the restaurant chain out of business.
Qualification for the statement — The manager and most of the full time workers were my wife’s patients. Doctor-patient confidentiality only covers their personal medical conditions.
@EdH- yeah it’s special. Short bus special. Although septic guy says it’s not at all unusual. It explains how a family of 5 including 3 teens could have lived here without septic system issues.
If it had been maintained, we’d probably still be using it without a clue that the grey water was irrigating the yard.
n
I don’t care.
I drank almost 200 oz of gatoraid style electrolyte drink today. Some water too. Wasn’t enough.
And I was in mostly shaded areas.
n
I don’t care.
—Ed has been educated beyond his abilities. Pointing out the political biases and conflicts of interest in an organization is NOT an ad hominen attack. Ed is approaching a point with his “challenges” that crosses over to pure trolling. Ed needs to take a step back.
Fair warning.
nick
@Alan
There are a lot of places where “full time” is defined as less than 40 hours. If it’s defined as 32 hours, there are a lot of employees working 30. The state tries to impose a requirement, and the result is more part-time workers working fewer hours. It’s not just fast-food, it’s retail in general.
The robotic fry cooker is a result of wages going up and the cost of automation coming down. Same with automated ordering. When the two lines cross, machines replace monkeys.
Enjoy that human voice helping you order while you can–a “Smart Phone Ordering Only” lane is in your future. The smart phone app will feed info direct to all levels of government. Don’t be surprised when the fast-food receipt starts to look like a Florida car rental receipt, with sales tax only the first of a laundry list of taxes.
>> I drank almost 200 oz of gatoraid style electrolyte drink today. Some water too. Wasn’t enough.
Obviously less ‘gator’ per bottle due to shrinkflation!
@Nick
Repeating what you probably know:
If you’re not peeing you’re not drinking enough. Relying exclusively on electrolyte replacement is counter-productive. Try half water.
When you sweat the salts are left on your skin where they inhibit evaporation. Wash off periodically.
@Nick
Lack of education about the meaning of words is more accurate, combined with a total obliviousness to his own gross inconsistencies.
As to “abilities”–not demonstrated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le1ajH32U-k
Working hauling bales of hay in the summer it was not uncommon to consume three or four gallons of water in a day. Much rinsing off with hose water between each load of hay. My grandfather had a three gallon canvas water back he would consume and need a refill while working on his grader in the Southern California sun. He also wore long sleeve cotton shirts and a large hat. Plain water is generally best.
In the early part of the football season there are several official timeouts for water. No time out is charged to either team. First couple of games it was every 10 minutes. There is also a medical representative on the sidelines. That person can request a time out any time. They keep track of heat index and if the index is too high will request breaks more often. By TSSAA rules the officials have to respond. Heat exhaustion or heat stroke is a very real danger.
While in basic training in San Antonio in July and August 1969, we trainees were ordered, commanded, forced to consume a lot of water often. Each day a salt tablet was issued twice a day, a practice no longer recommended or done. The AF also encouraged smoking as smokers got more breaks. Times have changed.
Chick-fil-A has a long history of treating their employees well, paying far above minimum wage in most places. You’re seeing Darth Biden inflation reflected in the bill.
The same goes for In-n-Out Burger and the Double-Double mentioned earlier.
BTW, when we were in Memphis on the last night of the trip, we ate at the Kooky Canuck downtown. It was pretty good. Still, pub food, and the bill was over $100 with tip for four, the second most expensive meal of the trip.
If you stay at the Bass Pro, take their shuttle. We didn’t, and I have a big dent in my rear passenger door to get fixed as a result, a souvenir picked up trying to navigate around an Escalade in a tight parking situation.
Plus, walking from parking to the restaurant, we passed at least eight weed dealers in a two block walk. Memphis is nasty.
If it had been maintained, we’d probably still be using it without a clue that the grey water was irrigating the yard.
Probably black water too.
Average salt tablet is 1.0 grams.
20 oz Gatorade is 270mg salt. so 200 oz = 2700mg or 2.7 grams
When I played Volvo team tennis in the 80’s my standard post-match hydration routine was a pitcher of beer and a pitcher of water. During the match, water only. I usually changed shirts at least once, wiping off with a wet towel.
yeah, didn’t start peeing until I finished for the day. I couldn’t drink more at one point without puking it back up, but there were too many other points where I fell behind.
Big hat and shade helped a lot.
n
bands are decently open tonight. Cuba was strong, and on more than one freq. NZ was coming in strong. bright moon, and decently clear skies, 75F by the water so the fire felt nice. Lots of fish flipping around.
FWIW, I’m actually drinking sugar free “Squinchers” which is an industrial supply version of gatoraid. It’s specifically formulated for working, rather than sports. Dunno if it makes a difference but plain water can cause electrolyte imbalances that can end up in serious injuries. And the flavored water tastes better.
If I feel really out of wack, I’ll add an Airborne for the vitamins and minerals…
YMMV,
n
“James Webb Space Telescope spots alien planet shrouded in weird sand-filled clouds”
https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-exoplanet-sand-clouds
Arrakis !
Picked another two gallons of apples today, turned four gallons into a gallon of cider. Unreasonably cranky today. Tired out. Looking forward to resting when the weather turns and forces a stop.
My best doe is due next day or so. August 7 litter are slow growers. Not sure what’s going on with them, whether it’s genetics or new mother or different feed. I usually have split the kits from doe by now but these eight kits are not robust and I’m hesitating. Doe needs some recovery time before next litter and these little guys need to hurry up and gain. I plan, nature laughs.
Buck got forced cuddles today. Neither of us enjoyed it. I’m not doing more urine facials from this wretched rabbit. He’s going to socialize and like it, darn it. Or into the stewpot and his son can take over. He’s a very nice Buck or he’d already be at freezer camp.
A guy is coming tomorrow to quote insulate the attic. I know it’s a low skill / effort job but I’m overwhelmed with current projects. Still stalling on the downstairs tub surround. Started in May, too many stops and starts. Foolish and inefficient. I loathe inefficiency.
Child is adapting to new school. Tough. More strict. Good, she needs it, but not fun after lackadaisical classrooms last two years. She will be better for it if we all survive the transition. Anchorage public schools are horrid and she’ll go public school over my dead body.