Not so hot, and only kinda humid. At least here at the lake. Probably warmer in Houston. It was 68F when I came up from the dock last night. The outdoor shower was a bit chilly once the water was off.
Spent yesterday finishing up the main gas line, the manifold, and lines to the kitchen and the hot water heater. I can get the furnace and dryer later. I don’t have a long enough line for the furnace (store was out) and I may not have enough for the dryer, even though it’s pretty close to the manifold. We currently have an electric dryer, but almost every home I’ve lived in had both connections, so that’s what I’ll do here.
Before that we got approved for the septic install. Shouldn’t have any issues for a few years if things all stay together. Depending on cost, I might stock a spare aerator and drip line pump. Should be 3-4 years before the tank needs pumping.
It’s interesting that almost everyone I talk to up here is harvesting protein from the surrounding area. A country boy will survive, indeed. I’ve got a lot to learn.
My septic guy said he cut his one acre garden back to only a half acre this year. He’s also got an orchard with pretty much every fruit tree that will grow in Texas. He said he’s “not one of those extreme preppers” but he’s got more food independence than most hard core preppers. He’s also got more land. Most of the people up here have several plots of land nearby. They are hunting it, or growing stuff on it, too.
Spun the dial on the radio but the bands weren’t great before about 1030pm. They were a lot better after 11pm. Still, I was able to listen to New Zealand without issues.
Today’s plan is to do some plumbing, then head back to Houston. I’ll stop and do a couple of pickups on the way.
Get out of big cities. If you can’t, make a plan for where you can go if you have to, and what you’ll bring with you. If it all drops in the pot, you’ll be more welcome wherever you end up if you bring resources and skills along with mouths to feed.
Stack it up, knowledge, skills. stuff.
nick
For me, one of the worst signs of decline in the US is the massive security that accompanies the President. Caravans of cars, hordes of agents, decoy vehicles, etc.. Crazy.
I am not aware that our top politicians have *any* security. Maybe on trips abroad, but not domestically. Of course, I also have no idea who the current President of Switzerland even is. The post just isn’t that important, and changes every year anyway. It is mostly ceremonial, to give rulers of other countries someone to shake hands with.
No, I can’t. Anyway, not unless the rest of the bus is filled with Secret Service agents. If that’s not allowed, they will be in mufti. Remember the oh-so-well-disguised undercover agents at the DC rally a few months ago?
@Brad:
In the UK’s case, AFAIK, top politicians, and even the head of state (King Charles III, pbuh) have no more than a couple of close protection officers – highly rained policemen or ex-military, routinely armed, but subject to UK law just like everyone else (which means, if they shoot someone, they’d better have a d*mned good reason for it). No Qualified Immunity for the Royal Protection Squad, or any other cop.
In my view, ostentatious security, such as that around the Prez. , is a manifestation of insecurity, coupled with a large dose of paranoia in the security services. Possibly justified, given the large number of guns in circulation, both legal and illegal.
A degree of humility might be good, a la Her late Majesty, or even a sense of duty, “I will do this job to the best of my ability, even if it kills me.”
G.
But, of course, elected office, for a limited term, does not routinely engender duty. Not, at least, on evidence to date. For that, you need hereditary succession, and a powerful sense of noblesse oblige.
G.
Given the political divisions in the US, that insecurity is probably justified. On the other hand, one could also wonder if removing the security might make politicians more responsive to their voters. The Internet tells me that the Capitol Police (protecting the US Congress) employees more than 2000 people – that’s around 4:1 for each member of Congress. For comparison, the Parliamentary Security Department in the UK is somewhere north of 500. Which still seems like a lot, but at least isn’t in the thousands.
– – – – –
In other news, Prince Charles is already making good impressions, more or less as expected. “Petulant” is how one of his biographers described him. I really wish he would abdicate and pass the throne to the next generation. He is not going to be a good monarch.
Unfortunately, the pythons accumulate mercury in their tissues and are not “good eatin’”.
Late August/early September is brutal in terms of heat/humidity down there absent a hurricane. My wife lived off Griffin Rd., not far from the training site. On the upside, there are some pretty decent restaurants – just don’t watch the sweaty guy at DiSalvo’s clean his spatula – and Little Havana is about an hour away.
https://flpythonchallenge.org/
Let’s see:
Truman
Kennedy, John
Kennedy, Robert
Wallace
Reagan
Ford
Just to mame a few reasons that may have shaped ove-the-top security.
Not aware of any other country that has such a history of wackos, including many foreigners, trying to make a name for themselves.
The Capitol Police runs security for much more than the elected officials. Millions of visitors each year, and millions of protesters.
No thanks. We kicked you guys to the curb and have no regrets.
Squeaky pops up in Tarantino’s “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”. IIRC, she’s the one family member that escapes the alternative universe fate of the rest of the group who headed up Cielo Drive that night, including being burned alive and mauled by Brad Pitt’s dog.
Good dog. Typical Tarantino.
Assuming Ford becomes President in the alternative timeline, Squeaky’s fate is preserved. Unless she came away from that night having been scared straight.
It’s Patch Tuesday. Just a reminder.
My Win 10 system has no required updates, yay. I always hate to restart, because I keep minor Things To Do open, and that is part of how I remember to do them. Doing a full restart gets me off the hook, but sometimes bites me later. Yes, I have a To Do list, but I don’t always clutter it up with the small stuff. ISTR our former host did something similar.
It is a little sad that I shut it down to go on a brief trip a few days ago, and hadn’t accumulated much to do. I figured I would do Patch Tuesday today instead of a day or two later after accumulating lots of open stuff.
Oh well, my wife’s system probably has something needed.
Our huge population is a consideration too. IF wackos or strongly motivated killers are rare, we’ll have more of them just due to having 3-4 (or more) times the population….
The President’s security is provided, in part, by the Secret Service, which is part of the Treasury Dept. Most of the SS does other LEO things too, specifically related to money, counterfeiting, and financial crimes.
It would be nice if there was no need, it might also help their humility and sense of duty if they were a bit more insecure.
——————————
When we gave up noblese oblige’ we also gave up its cousins, white man’s burden, Christian charity, civic duty… we allowed that to become the function of the State, and gave up the requirement of humility in the seeker, (he came ‘hat in hand’) and the judgement of worthiness. We got a vast lumbering machine, and a culture of ‘gibmedat’ instead, with the assumption the request/demand would be met. HUGE change and not for the better.
—————————–
still only 72F this morning, sunny and beautiful.
n
No system of government is perfect, far from it. However, especially having lived in the UK for a while, I think the monarchy is valuable. However, not necessarily for the reasons Geoff mentions. Hereditary succession may lend a longer-term view, but I suspect that nobless oblige is rarer than simple indolence. How many members of the House of Lords really know what hard work feels like? That really tough charity lunch, those strenuous talks during the golf game. I’m being cynical, but I’m not sure there’s a lot of evidence on that side of the argument, either.
However, I still find constitutional monarchy good, because is separates the head of state and the head of government. This means that the person in the limelight, going to gala events, being fawned over by the tabloid press – has little power. The person doing the actual work of governance is less in the limelight. Part of the problem of the US presidency is that it has become a popularity contest, precisely because the same person is head of government and head of state.
In the worst case, the royals in the UK distract some of the tabloid press attention, allowing the prime minister to get on with things. In the best case, the royals influence on public opinion can make effective governing easier. Queen Elizabeth did a lot of the latter, serving as a stabilizing influence in politically turbulent times. Her absence will be felt.
Hey Greg, how is Bufffet being threatened that he’s allowing a rail strike? What were they trying to make him do?
Or is it just flexing?
n
added– above a certain level of event, I assume collusion, and bad intent, or at least alternative motives.
n
>> I have a friend who says he uses cash for as many purchases as possible – for privacy. I suggested he look for surveillance cameras by cash registers.
The one good reason to keep a Covid mask (and a ball cap,) stuffed in your glove box.
Would be interesting to see a store with a “No Masks Allowed” sign.
>> Just to mame a few reasons that may have shaped ove-the-top security.
And if you want to take it down a bit we can add Gabby Giffords and Steve Scalise.
I have no idea as to why Buffett seems to be looking the other way about the strike beyond wanting to contribute to the chaos ahead of the midterms.
Berkshire is consolidating control of Pilot/Flying-J so maybe the incentive is to encourage trucks to roll. OTOH, I’ve always believed The Gecko’s interest in the truck stops is to get in on the Federal EV charging station largess.
Still “transitory,” right Joe?!
https://finance.yahoo.com/amphtml/news/august-inflation-data-cpi-september-13-211038620.html
Well done on your efforts, Nick. You are making steady progress.
We spent Friday – Monday up on the Denali Highway. Not at the state or national park, but on the gravel highway that runs between the towns of Paxson and Cantwell. 100+ miles of gravel road, with few services. Hunting unit 13, where most of us townies go for caribou and moose. The Nelchina caribou herd ranges that area and receives a lot of hunting pressure. Good spruce hen and ptarmigan hunting. Blueberry picking is excellent. I’ve been going up there most years since 1993. The gravel keeps away most people. Road is not maintained in the winter, snow closes it to wheeled traffic October – April ish, though intrepid snow machiners and dog teams will travel it. The handful of lodges that dot its length close. There may be one or two families that stick it out through winter – hardy fools. It’s not uncommon to go for several hours without seeing another vehicle. Less so this time of year (hunting season). Virtually no noise or light pollution. Services are primitive and few. No cell reception on most of the road. The lodges have either radio phones or satellite. Internet connectivity at lodges, when available, is sketchy and slow.
We went to rest and relax. I’ve worn myself out the last couple weeks and was very tired by the time we arrived. I spent most of the weekend ensconced at a table looking through the window at Alaska, and drinking coffee. I didn’t cook, clean, or do any physical labor. I went for a couple walks and that was it. Glorious. Our daughter and her friend spent most of the time outdoors, exploring the area adjacent to the lodge, picking berries, and generally minding their own business. We all rested.
It’s six or seven hours to get there, and coming home several hours longer. Typically we return home by crossing the rest of the highway, with many stops to enjoy the scenery.
I’ve still got the best ‘wildlife eyes’ of our crew. I spotted a number of animals for everyone to enjoy. Favorite this trip was a porcupine trundling along in the brush by the road. His round shape and rolling walk made him stand out even at 40 mph. Once we stopped it took a bit for everyone else to spot him. We hopped out and took pics. He climbed a tiny spruce and flared his quills at us. A rustic tour bus caught up with us, slowed down to see what we were gawking at. “You all wanna see a porcupine?”. Couple of their tourists hopped out and took lots of pictures. Many grins.
We also saw fox, swan, moose, eagles. No caribou. No ptarmigan or spruce hen this trip. That’s ok. There have been other trips where a herd of caribou have flowed across the road in front of me. I was on foot bird hunting. Standing on a low knoll as they trotted before me. I stopped counting at fifty. We didn’t have a permit that year. Neat creatures.
Glad to be home. Buck rabbit sprayed the house / animal sitter so he will be going to freezer camp. Sitter was good natured about it however if the animals are difficult to care for, I’m not going to have a sitter. That would be disastrous. Hard cider I started Friday is burbling away. Dogs glad to see us. Lots of laundry to do. The rest of my winterizing chores await.
Second month in a row that it’s dropped, with gasoline prices easing, too.
Here is a webcam picture of Maclaren River on the Denali Highway. JPG updates every few minutes.
http://www.maclarenlodge.com/camera/MaclarenCam.jpg
Wow. Who doesn’t get the DNC morning talking points fax?
@alan
I’m not sure what your link is supposed to reach but I get a download titled “Bold.woff2”
“Bold.woff2” is a font. I found a site to convert it to ttf and the result is called “Yahoo Sans Bold”.
Never heard of woff2 as a font format.
In my view, ostentatious security, such as that around the Prez. , is a manifestation of insecurity, coupled with a large dose of paranoia in the security services. Possibly justified, given the large number of guns in circulation, both legal and illegal.
My parents met Bobby Kennedy in 1960 when my dad got him to come to TAMU and give a speech about the future of the USA. I have a picture of Mom and Dad standing beside LBJ’s Cessna at the College Station airport (did you know that LBJ was a pilot). I am in the picture also, inside Mom at six months. Dad picked up Bobby Kennedy in his 1948 Dodge and took him to the campus. I have a picture of Dad, Bobby Kennedy, and Earl Rudder (President of TAMU, Rudder’s Rangers in WWII for D-Day) the next day for the speech. Eight years later in 1968, a Palestinian immigrant killed Bobby Kennedy in California when he was campaigning for President of the USA.
My wife’s Win 10 system also does not want any updates. Is anybody home at Microsoft?
Hers is Win 10 Home, and mine is Win 10 Pro, both 64 bit. Both almost always need updates every Patch Tuesday. Maybe we are nearing Win 10 completion. Oh, no! I really don’t want Win 11, or would that be Lose 11?!
In case M$ is reading this, both systems have offered optional updates for a couple of weeks, and I thought they might be automatically installed today. I think that happened once before. By automatic, I mean downloaded awaiting my approval to install.
I should stop complaining. Win 10 is good, and I like the scheduled patches once a month instead of the average twice a week on Mint Linux. That was very disruptive to me.
Not so hot, and only kinda humid. At least here at the lake. Probably warmer in Houston. It was 68F when I came up from the dock last night. The outdoor shower was a bit chilly once the water was off.
Houston is a huge heat island covering well over a thousand square miles. I always see a heat rise of 2 to 4 F when I go across the Brazos River into Sugar Land and then Houston.
Still “transitory,” right Joe?!
https://finance.yahoo.com/amphtml/news/august-inflation-data-cpi-september-13-211038620.html
Fixed. I removed the Google tracking software.
LBJ owned what is now the local Faux News station in Austin, Channel 7. From what I understand, his penthouse apartment in the building is intact.
Swapping war stories with some original CNN Online folks one night at iPhone “Bootcamp”, I heard the tales of Ted Turner living in the penthouse of the CNN Center and wandering the halls at night in his bathrobe before he sold out to Time-Warner.
I wonder if Crazy Ted was trying to emulate LBJ.
>> Still “transitory,” right Joe?!
https://finance.yahoo.com/amphtml/news/august-inflation-data-cpi-september-13-211038620.html
Fixed. I removed the Google tracking software.
@lynn, thanks…these are the key points that Joe is “celebrating” today on the WH South Lawn…
I got my replacement Barcalounger Chinesium recliner today. Works perfectly so the first recliner was just an aberration for the poor QA practices of Chinese factories. Wow, the price has gone up $200 since I bought it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084NX71RT?tag=ttgnet-20
And it fits me. I am a very large guy and finding fitting furniture is not easy. But I am not fluffy, just healthy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DzZhIs9bj8
The six levels of fatness are big, healthy, husky, fluffy, damn!, and Oh Hell No !
Somewhere (ZeroHedge?) I saw an article on historical Fed tightening practice. Basically they keep raising rates until it matches inflation, and that is inflation calculated the old-style way, which would be 15% or so right now.
Plenty of pain ahead.
But since the market seems to be ignorant of this, and since any type of successful prediction is an opening, a savvy market player could probably make $$.
The discount rate should already be in double digits if they were serious.
The Fed also needs to stop the presses at the rate of $1 Trillion/year and let the T-bill rates float. The problem is that rule of thumb on what is currently a $500k listing would have to lose $50k off the price for every 100 points on the 30 year bond.
Even 8% mortgage rates would cause much suffering. The Fed is hosed.
“Monster Hunter Bloodlines” by Larry Correia
https://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hunter-Bloodlines-Larry-Correia/dp/1982192046?tag=ttgnet-20/
Book number eight of an eight book dark fantasy series. Plus there are about twenty more books written in the Monster Hunter Universe and many more coming. I read the well printed and well bound MMPB published by Baen in 2021 that I bought from Amazon. I will purchase and read all future books in the series.
The Monster Hunter International people have heard that there is one of Isaac Newton’s Ward Stone for sale in Atlanta so they stake out the transfer place. Unfortunately, the Dragon Con, the world’s largest con, is ongoing in Atlanta and the entire city is a total mess. And then somebody steals the Ward Stone at the transfer.
The author has a very busy website at:
http://monsterhunternation.com/
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars (2,061 ratings)
My dogs caught a mouse in the rabbitry today.
Though I keep it clean with little waste on the ground, there is invariably enough to attract rodents. We’ve got shrew and mice. I have Cardigan Welsh Corgis. Ratting is a secondary skill to herding for this breed.
I spotted the juvenile mice creeping around. Cleared out the enclosure to leave hunting room. Invited my older dog inside the enclosure, encouraged the youngster to patrol the outside perimeter. Older dog inside because I trusted her to get down to business and not harass the rabbits. I lifted flaps and rattled the styrofoam boards sandwiched between the carport fabric and metal fencing inside the carport.
We startled the mouse family, with older dog driving them away from the rabbits. Younger dog killed a mouse. She was quick but didn’t have the experience to know to bite, drop, and bite another mouse as they ran past. She will improve.
All of my Cardigans have been great hunters.
They‘ll patrol the outside of the enclosure diligently now that they’ve had success. I’ll have to remove the styrofoam boards as they offer shelter to the vermin. And put out traps (no poison, risk to the dogs not worth the return).
Home. Did a couple of stops on the way.
Garage is trashed. Mr Possum doesn’t like stuff on ‘his’ shelves. Blocks his highway…
I’m going to put a hot dog in the trap tonight, and wire it in place. He’ll have to trigger the trap. I need to put some screen over the breezeway passage from the garage to the house attic too, but I need to do a one way flap arrangement. More work than I want to undertake tonight.
Currently 91F in the sun, but only 47%RH.
Shade is quite a bit cooler.
n
“A decade after FERC tried to tackle New England gas issues, concerns remain and solutions are uncertain”
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/ferc-new-england-iso-winter-conference/631703/
“We’re going into this winter basically crossing our fingers and hoping,” James Danly, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission commissioner, said.”
Looks like the NIMBYs on the east coast have a lesson coming to them. It is not just Europe and the UK who need to learn that delaying infrastructure improvements and shutting down infrastructure have consequences.
And the feddies have no idea how to help build infrastructure. They usually use committees of hundreds and can never make a decision on any kind of timely basis.
Remember all the Nuclear Power Plants on the east coast that they shut down recently ? Maine Yankee, Vermont Yankee, Pilgrim, Indian Point, etc. All closed down early just because they needed some maintenance. Now their electric rates have risen so much since the nuclear power was replaced with natural gas.
‘“Let us not underestimate the people of New England,” Tierney said. “If they’re called upon to reduce their demand immediately … they will respond.”’
Maybe in the boonies of Maine but not down in Boston. “Pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd.”
Newegg sent confirmation that they shipped my order for an Intel A380 graphics card this afternoon.
That chip is a huge science experiment at this point, but the card has 6 GB video RAM for about half of “bargain” Nvidia cards with the same amount of memory so we’ll see what it does in my daughter’s PC for now. If all else fails, she goes back to her GT 1030 at 2 GB RAM until Christmas.
Long term, the card will go into my new primary desktop. I can’t activate the virtual machine settings on the Q6600 so the existing machine’s end is coming.
‘“Let us not underestimate the people of New England,” Tierney said. “If they’re called upon to reduce their demand immediately … they will respond.”’
Maybe in the boonies of Maine but not down in Boston. “Pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd.”
I was at a natural gas meeting five years ago where it was released that Kinder-Morgan wanted to build a new 48 inch natural gas pipeline up the east coast into New York City. The cost was over a billion dollars, over ten million dollars a mile. They did not ask for state help at all. They were not only firmly rebuffed, they were threatened with prosecution by the state of New York. Simply amazing.
We learned in Feb 2021 what the minimum is for electric power service in Texas. Every power line that was not turned off had a desperate need for power on it such as emergency services, fire stations, hospitals, people on ventilators, etc. It was an amazing amount of electric power.
The wife hired a lawyer in Missouri today. The POA for the two lots outside Branson that she and her sister inherited from their dad have threatened to sue us. Her dad paid $55,000 for each lot in 2006. The lots are maybe worth $1,000 each now, her Dad got really taken. The POA has charged the wife almost $4,000 that she refuses to pay. The county wants $2,000 in property taxes. The wife never put the lots through probate as the Texas probate was for Texas alone.
The lawyer says that she will contact the POA and ask about deeding the lots over to the POA. The lawyer will not disclose who she is representing. The lawyer says that she can probate the lots for $1,000 since they are worth less than $40,000 and there is a special state law for low dollar amounts.
The lawyer told my wife that the county and the POA are suing each other. The county has demanded that the POA stop work on improvements. The POA says the stop work order is unlawful. Yee haw, this would be fun to watch if we were not paying for it. Apparently 37 of the lot owners are suing the POA too.
I learned a while ago that you do not take a default judgement no matter what.
>> Wow, the price has gone up $200 since I bought it.
But not because of inflation, right?
Maybe in the boonies of Maine but not down in Boston. “Pahk the
cahTez-lah in Hahvahd Yahd.”FIFY
>> I learned a while ago that you do not take a default judgement no matter what.
Nor buy property that involves a POA / HOA.
>> The lawyer says that she will contact the POA and ask about deeding the lots over to the POA.
Do you have access to an email list for all the property owners in the POA? Or if not, is there a local paper where you could place a classified ad?
Maybe someone there would buy the properties for $1 each?
History you’re not supposed to know:
Now I understand why Dems always get the Jewish vote! /sarc
and Ken Burns is a liar:
https://lidblog.com/ken-burns-has-a-palestine-problem/
Do you have access to an email list for all the property owners in the POA? Or if not, is there a local paper where you could place a classified ad?
Maybe someone there would buy the properties for $1 each?
The POA is going to charge their annual fee of $1,100 per lot on Oct 1. That makes each lot worth a negative amount.
“Wave Of German Insolvencies Picks Up Speed…”Tenfold Increase in Gas, Electricity Prices””
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/09/11/wave-of-german-insolvencies-picks-up-speedtenfold-increase-in-gas-electricity-prices/
““With a tenfold increase in gas and electricity prices, which we had to accept within a few months, we are no longer competitive in a market that is 25% supplied by imports. We see an urgent need for political action to get energy prices under control immediately,” said Reiner Blaschek, CEO of ArcelorMittal Germany (Financial Market World).”
Is this the future of the USA ?
I looked at an auctioned lot that I thought was cheap. It turned out to be in a similar situation to Lynn’s wife’s lots. There were many listed for $1 sale in the development. It was sold as a retirement community but never built out, and the management association was charging $1200/ year in fees.
I actually almost did it anyway figuring I would be getting free land for $100/month rent, and have a BOL to start building…
But they had restrictive rules. No campers or mobile homes. No manufactured housing. No this, no that. No way to do something temporary and build off it. Couldn’t even put a storage shed on the empty lot.
Someone later bought the whole development and re-did it. I think it’s a going concern now.
n
But they had restrictive rules. No campers or mobile homes. No manufactured housing. No this, no that. No way to do something temporary and build off it. Couldn’t even put a storage shed on the empty lot.
Someone later bought the whole development and re-did it. I think it’s a going concern now.
I suspect that is what will happen in the future. Somebody professional who knows what they are doing will come in the future, depose the POA, and build from scratch. Very few, if any, of the lots are built on. They will buy the lots for a penny on the dollar.
I figure that we are going to spend about $10K in the next couple of months on this nonsense. Hopefully the county will prevail in shutting the POA down for now as usually money spent in these situation is poorly spent.
The sad thing is that her dad sold two lake lots on Lake Travis (Austin) and Lake Livingston (Houston) to buy the lots in Branson. Both of those lots are worth about $100K each now.
In Texas, we could just walk away from the lots and the county would sell them for back taxes. In Missouri, the POA can sue us personally. And then try to get the judgement perfected in a Texas court by an unknowing judge.
We didn’t lose power in our small neighborhood in San Antonio – probably because there’s a fire station a block away. We HAVE a generator, but didn’t need it.
I actually almost did it anyway figuring I would be getting free land for $100/month rent, and have a BOL to start building…
But they had restrictive rules. No campers or mobile homes. No manufactured housing. No this, no that. No way to do something temporary and build off it. Couldn’t even put a storage shed on the empty lot.
Someone later bought the whole development and re-did it. I think it’s a going concern now.
Can you put a camper or a manufactured housing at your current BOL ?
So how much was the new aerobic septic system with the pressurized leach field ?
@Jenny: Nice to have useful dogs. So many working-breed dogs are basically unemployed, and kept because they are “cute”. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with having them as pets, as long as they are also kept busy in some way – agility, trailing, whatever – but too many are expected to behave like stuffed animals. Anyway, it’s nice to hear of working dogs still actually working 🙂
Mice can squeeze in nearly anywhere – it’s crazy, what a small opening they can use. Still, a thought, because a neighbor is currently doing this in his garage: Would it be possible to install wire mesh enclosing your styrofoam boards, so that the little critters can’t use them for shelter?
Energy is the lifeblood of civilization. Electricity is – by far – the most practical, flexible form of energy distribution. The current problems (worldwide) must be solved, or our civilization is going to have problems 🙁
Alternatively, as a world leader during a proper world war, one could rely on a single peeler with a revolver…
“Give them the lightning again.” – Sen. Jellison, in Lucifer’s Hammer, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.