Another hot humid day here in the swamp. Bayou City USA. Houston, TX. Jeez. Fall was nice while it lasted. Not. It was 102F in the sun yesterday and it felt like it too.
So I mostly stayed in. I didn’t feel well. I’ve got a sore throat and felt a bit off all day, so I napped a little, and puttered. My wuflu test was negative, so I think it’s just a cold or could be seasonal allergies. Post nasal drip. Bah, don’t feel like myself and I don’t like it.
Caught another possum last night. Took him to the same spot I released the last one. This one was bigger. I’ll say that the Hav-a-heart traps are bigger than they look, and more finicky to set than they should be. Very awkward to bait properly. Not very good at triggering. I saw the beastie in the cage on my cam, and went out with a broom to activate the trap door. Took him a couple of miles away, and released him. (and not like the krazy komandant in Schindler’s List)
Vermin. Have a plan. Get the stuff. Get more than you think you’ll need.
There is still time to stock up. It’s costing more every day and getting harder to find bargains. Still worth doing, in my book.
Today I’ll be doing some auction stuff- shipping an ebay sale, picking up some stuff. Cleaning the house. Normal stuff. Boring stuff. Life stuff. These are the good old days.
Stack it up, food, tools, friends, and all the things you’ll need.
n
Sorry you are feeling under the weather, Nick. I hope you can get through and over it quickly.
Lynn, best wishes for your cardio assessment and for the operation if you need it. My elder male relatives all had bypasses, all but one before they had a heart attack, and came through them well – my late father made it to over 90 with his, and his (younger) brothers are all still to the good. My generation will no doubt be next under the knife.
It’s a beautiful sunny, but cool, autumn day here. I will profit from it to do a few outdoor bits and pieces. A couple of the the plants I put down last week have even started to sprout, as they are in a sunny spot! I try to capture some joy every day – there is some to be found, if one looks closely enough.
Still under the weather, but powering through. Canceling the first week of lectures would be a mess.
FWIW, I’m wearing a mask in the train this week, in hopes of not infe ting people. It’s only a mild cold, but still. Classrooms are big, and well-ventilated, so I’m not too worried there.
Masks are, increasingly, political statements here. The high temperature will be 100 deg F today, but I bet I could spend 10 minutes in the parking lot of the local grocery store and spot at least one person pulling into a space, driving alone, fully masked, with the windows rolled up and AC blasting.
Austin, yeah, but it seems organized. Pre-Labor Day, masks had pretty much disappeared except in the core of the city.
Not infecting people is just politeness.
72F this am, which is now a trend. Air is saturated. Sun coming up was a gorgeous salmon color, and the bus was only a couple of minutes late (based on the new, much later, official arrival time.) If you can’t hit your goals, move the goalposts.
Forgot to mention that Costco had the giant tube of piggy goodness on sale, $1.89/lb, with additional $4 off at the register. (The large vac sealed tenderloin.) I’ll cut mine into small roasts, and some chops.
The shelf stable sourdough bread was back too.
n
I wore a mask on the two occasions I ventured out of the house while still testing positive for Covid, but I got a lot of strange looks.
I didn’t drive around wearing the mask while alone in my car. That’s a political statement … or extreme hypochondria.
Or, if you are in your later years, forgetfulness. Ahem.
When people were getting really sick I would sometimes not take my mask off between stops, so as to minimize handling and touching my face. I’m sure it looked like I was nuts wearing a mask in the car by myself.
In reality I was treating it seriously and not messing with it unduly.
n
@Greg: Thanks for the reply on compilers. Interesting.
“I am sure am glad that I am not a friend or ally of Putin.”
Just now getting to reading yesterdays comments… first thing that went thru my head when I read that was – What did Putin do to Hilary that she is taking out his friends and allies.
Terry
“I am sure am glad that I am not a friend or ally of Putin.”
–his enemies and critics aren’t doing so well either.
n
Was the story about sending illegals from Florida to Delaware a con job?
https://redstate.com/mike_miller/2022/09/22/punked-desantis-plan-to-ship-illegal-aliens-to-bidens-delaware-home-arrives-not-even-close-n631282
DeSantis does love screwing with the media. Every single newspaper in Florida endorsed the meth head opponent four years ago so the Governor has been dishing up the payback.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXjB30rAUbw
I am amazed at the audacity of people. The people owning the 37 acre property behind my nine acre property and my five acre property are demanding that I sign an easement agreement for them to travel across my property. The easement agreement is ten pages and totally one sided. If they want to improve my road then I must help pay for the improvements. If they want to run utilities next to my road then I must give them the land to do so. And then they want me to indemnify them if anything happens on the road, I pay their legal fees, damages, etc, etc, etc.
I told them no freaking way. There was an easement across my property before that dated back to 1960 but apparently expired. I do not control access my property nor do I plan to do so.
Ask for the stars, settle for the moon.
n
Is their property land-locked with no valid easements?
>> Ask for the stars, settle for the moon.
Elon never settles…
There’s an easement for the land behind my place to come across my place. No problem, it’s just a dirt trail. Not exactly thrilled as it goes right through what I consider “my yard” but what the heck. Just don’t run over my dogs and don’t have a fit if I’m working my all over tan.
So. They have access to a paved road. It’s maybe 1000 feet away from their house. They hired a guy to clear out some cedar trees. I don’t know what the deal was but Juan Pedro was coming through my yard and up my driveway and then across the cattle guard and tearing up the (then just dirt) road into ruts with his old Ford truck loaded with enough pushing 14 foot long cedar tree logs that the truck didn’t need power steering.
At the wood lot in Lampasas they sell logs that size for almost $200 last time I looked. He’s hauling out a few grand a day at retail prices.
I added a lock to the chain on the gate. When they came to complain I told them why I added my lock. Their reply was “we have an easement!” and I replied “talk to the guy who’s stealing from you”. And by the way, why does the easement run one way where you can drive through my yard and I can’t drive through your yard?
Anyway. It’s just their lock now. And every time I’m in the area I make sure to flip it up so the rain can soak the cylinder. Super glue is too obvious. Rust? Hey.
For extra excitement someday, the easement goes across the “dam” that makes the “tank/pond/mosquito breeding place”. The tank doesn’t hold water. I had a friend with a bucket back hoe thing dig a channel across the road so the tank drains. I reckon they can build a bridge or install a culvert or drive through the tank. Yeah, they have an easement but nothing says I have to keep it passable.
@lynn … you could always counter-proposal with your own one-sided easement contract.
Are they building houses or is it another piece of commercial property?
If they are landlocked what can they do under state law or in court to force the issue?
Is their property land-locked with no valid easements?
Yes. Both my nine acre and five acre properties have access to FM 2759. The 3.2 acre property behind my nine acre property goes across my property to get to FM 2759. And the 37 acre property in question is behind the 3.2 acre property.
There was an easement from 1960 before but apparently it has expired. I have told them to give me a copy of that easement document. That old easement is where the power and phone lines are at.
And, the two properties behind mine have not paid one penny to help maintain the going back to their properties. I have maintained the main road, I fixed all the potholes in the gravel road and blacktopped it, two lanes wide with a 60 foot wide entrance onto FM 2759. I have spent over $80,000 on the roads on my properties in the last 11 years.
The two properties behind mine have not maintained their portions of the road on their properties, nor have they maintained their drainage ditches. I have maintained my drainage ditches but since their drainage ditches don’t flow, my drainage ditches overflow now. Or, they used to before the drought. I have a real problem and am probably going to end up suing them to restore the drainage ditches.
BTW, Texas has a provision in our state constitution about landlocked properties. I cannot block them off from their properties. They can destroy fences and cut locks without legal repercussions.
Solder works really well jammed into the bottom of the lock. Makes the lock totally unusable and not visible from outside the lock. Voice of experience.
@Lynn
That 10-page agreement is evidence that they are already spending money on an attorney.
As @Greg said, you need to find out if they might be able to force the issue.
Time for you to consult your own real estate attorney.
Show him the proposal but don’t incur the expense of having him review it unless it’s absolutely necessary.
My thought would be to have the attorney send them a letter requiring that all future proposals be submitted to him, so that he can send them an estimate his fees for review and discussion with you.
Since an easement is no benefit to you, there’s no reason for you to be out of pocket.
ADDED:
Seems like you may be forced, but you need a maintenance agreement.
This. They can force an easement, but you should be able to charge them for it. They should also be out of pocket for road construction, or paying to use your existing road.
Of course, nothing prevents them from throwing a one-sided contract at you, hoping you are stupid. That sounds like our crazy neighbors, only for them it isn’t a tactic, but sincere narcissism.
My understanding is that while they have a easement, say, 30 feet wide, that’s just a place for them to pass through. In other words, they have a 30 foot wide place on your land where you can’t build a building or fence off. Might get by with a gate or two. If they want a road, that’s up to them.
Brad, apologies for not including you in the get-well wishes earlier. Thanks for masking up and not spreading the happiness. I have to fly tomorrow, and am hoping I won’t pick up something nasty en route.
Evil neighbours… we have a few. When we bought the house ten or more years ago, there was a lot of renovation to be done. I was on a machine digging a trench across the garden when two strangers walked brazenly past me and into my house for a look around. I stopped the machine and politely inquired about their business on the property. They said, “oh, we know the owners, they invited us in to see the works”. I explained that I was the owner, and if I ever saw them trespassing again, I would call the police. Haven’t seen them since.
A few years later, we were having a fence replaced. The (other) neighbours on that side approached our contractor and asked him to place the fence a metre (36 inches) further into our property than the property line. A nice attempt to steal about 80 square metres of prime residential property, worth many thousands… lovely people!
It’s amazing what people will try to get away with. My wife and I had just purchased our first house, and we were moving in, the day after closing. It was in a newer subdivision, so lot of empty lots. As we are moving stuff in, I notice three people walking around our front yard. Before I could do anything, one of them rang the doorbell. She was an agent and wanted to show the couple with her the house. She didn’t ask and implied she had the right to just come in. I was still young then, but I told her to pound sand and leave immediately.
Relatives of Brad’s?
@Denis
typo: metre (
3639.37 inches)FIFY
It sounds like the owners are getting ready to sell. Otherwise, why worry about a written easement agreement? Just continue status quo.
If it is commercial zoned, lack of an easement agreement with maintenance specified would force a lower selling price. That is, if the property could be sold without guaranteed access.
My understanding is that while they have a easement, say, 30 feet wide, that’s just a place for them to pass through. In other words, they have a 30 foot wide place on your land where you can’t build a building or fence off. Might get by with a gate or two. If they want a road, that’s up to them.
Actually, they want an easement of 100 feet. My wife and I went and talked to the 3 acre neighbor. She thinks that that new owner of 37 acres wants to put in a small subdivision of 20 to 25 homes. So all of these people are going to pass through my office complex every day. Plus they need to run water in to the new subdivision and sewer out of the subdivision. And that triggers a lot of new environmental stuff.
It sounds like the owners are getting ready to sell. Otherwise, why worry about a written easement agreement? Just continue status quo.
See previous comment. It is the title company and the real estate agent calling and emailing me. I am holding up their precious closing.
BTW, I know the buyer. He is a lawyer and divorced his wife and three kids four years ago. That makes him untrustworthy in my book.
>> Or, if you are in your later years, forgetfulness. Ahem.
Now where did I leave my gosh darn house keys?!?
Cheap housing for the Gigafactory workers. 71 out of Columbus goes straight to Tony’s building.
>> Everything from the Dems in the race seems targeted at suburban women with Daddy issues.
Families with absentee dads are tough places to grow up. The boys are not sure what it means to be a man and the girls are mad at everyone.
Aren’t girls mad regardless? Three of my four grandkids are boys, the fourth is the first girl on my side of the family for five generations. She just turned five, smart as a whip and sometimes thinks she’s about ten 🙂
Missed this yesterday…@nick, were you keeping count?
An explosion at a BP oil refinery in Toledo, Ohio, killed two workers and forced the plant to shut down, the company confirmed on Wednesday.
@Lynn
I tell you three times: Get an attorney.
Do not talk to these people unless you want to get hit with some bogus claim about a verbal agreement.
Do some extra stacking, just in case…
Tropics update: Invest 98L reaches Caribbean Sea, but it’s difficult to see a path to Texas
>> This shingles vaccination is really uncomfortable. My arm is quite sore and I am feeling quite off. Spending more than normal amount of time sleeping.
+1
Worst jab I remember having, times two no less. @Ray, hope you’re feeling better today. Is this your first jab or second?
A potential hurricane is headed for the Gulf.
“Tropics update: Invest 98L reaches Caribbean Sea, but it’s difficult to see a path to Texas”
https://spacecityweather.com/tropics-update-invest-98l-reaches-caribbean-sea-but-its-difficult-to-see-a-path-to-texas/
@Lynn
I tell you three times: Get an attorney.
Do not talk to these people unless you want to get hit with some bogus claim about a verbal agreement.
I have an attorney. $300/hour. I have sued several people over the years and been sued several times. I have lost once and that was my own stupidity, I should have settled. I just settled a legitimate lawsuit back in May because the guy who owed me money was fighting back and my potential cost went over the amount.
I will think about it over the weekend. But, you are probably correct.
BTW, two other landowners have got to agree to this before it is valid. And the drafter of the agreement tried to drag my IRA into this, that is so not going to happen.
– yeah, too many. I did predict some weeks ago that we couldn’t run at 90something % of capacity without breaking things and killing people. Doesn’t have to be enemy action… hard to keep all those volatiles from going all ‘splodey on an ordinary day, let alone 90 days past a maintenance milestone, or on the 10th week of 6-12s. Just sayin’.
It isn’t good though, either way.
n
First shingles jab. Second is in December. Yeh, feeling better today. Thanks. I remember the first polio series, 3 shots over some time span I don’t remember. Those really hurt. Or maybe it was because I was only 5 or 6 years old.
“Assignment in Eternity” by Robert A. Heinlein
https://www.amazon.com/Assignment-Eternity-Robert-Heinlein/dp/0671653504?tag=ttgnet-20/
A science fiction and fantasy book with two novellas and two short stories. The first novella, “Gulf”, is reputedly a precursor to the 1982 book “Friday”, also by Robert Heinlein. The book was originally published in 1953 by Roc. I read a used copy of the Baen book published in 1987 that I found at Half Price Books the other day. I am now reading a new copy of “Friday” that was published in 2021.
https://www.amazon.com/Friday-Robert-Heinlein/dp/1647100259?tag=ttgnet-20/
The first novella, “Gulf”, is a science fiction story set a couple of hundred years in the future about a group of super people trying to stop warlords from doing stupid things to the planet. The second short story, “Elsewhen”, is a story about people moving to alternate universes. The third novella, “Lost Legacy”, is about people regaining long lost and forgotten ESP capabilities. The fourth short story, “Jerry Was A Man”, is about intelligent laborers being developed from great apes and getting them human rights.
I don’t ever remember reading this book in my years but, that is a long time. I do remember reading “Friday” back when it came out in 1982 though. I am continuously amazed at Heinlein’s visions of potential futures.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (107 reviews)
Had about 600 auction lots I was watching tonight, wasn’t bidding on most of them, but watching to see what pricing and demand was like.
Portable airconditioners, canning jars, generators- all still bringing really good money with high demand. Model railroad stuff, not so much. That USED to be an almost guaranteed money maker too.
Tools still bringing good money. So too wire shelving (metro rack) and gun safes.
Gas cans, extension cords, and ladders selling for more than I’m willing to pay.
Guns and ammo still selling well.
n
First shingles jab. Second is in December. Yeh, feeling better today. Thanks. I remember the first polio series, 3 shots over some time span I don’t remember. Those really hurt. Or maybe it was because I was only 5 or 6 years old.
– a full rabies series is incredibly painful, lots of shots, lots of pain, and I was in elementary school. STill remember being terrified of the shots in the butt because I was sure she’d hit my spinal cord and paralyze me.
Not fun at all.
n
I read Friday about then too, and I remember liking it a lot. It gets a lot of hate now, but I don’t care.
It’s all his ‘b’ list stuff that seems to have a moment when the lead character is confronted with some sort of sex act that he wouldn’t normally do, but he says “when in Rome…” like the time traveler who decides that having sex with other versions of himself is not gay, just masturbating…
n
“FDA: Do not cook chicken in NyQuil”
https://www.knoe.com/2022/09/20/fda-do-not-cook-chicken-nyquil/
No freaking way !
@Lynn
Fantasy Press. Roc is a Penguin imprint and didn’t appear until the late 1980’s.
“FDA: Do not cook chicken in NyQuil”
I initially read that as “children”.
Don’t cook them either…
n
>> “FDA: Do not cook chicken in NyQuil”
https://www.knoe.com/2022/09/20/fda-do-not-cook-chicken-nyquil/
No freaking way !
You can “thank” TikTok for this.
Remember that Ticky Tocky is a chinese weapon.
n
Re killing the housing boom…
>> and how will .gov feed and house all those people who lose their jobs? By printing money, which will lead to more inflation, which will justify more increases, which will put more people out of work, and kill the housing boom deader than personal responsibility.
Already wounded:
Home prices see biggest drop in 9 years, thanks to higher mortgage rates
One of my kids lives in one of the ‘hardest hit’ markets and is very cautiously watching from the sidelines for an opportunity to ‘size up’ between rate hikes.
Engineers don’t think like attackers, and that’s a problem.
https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ics/advisories/icsma-22-263-01
n
I read Friday about then too, and I remember liking it a lot. It gets a lot of hate now, but I don’t care.
I trust Jo Walton immensely, after she is the chief Heinlein apologist.
https://www.tor.com/2009/06/14/the-worst-book-i-love-robert-heinleins-friday/
>> Cr*p reporting by a Michigan-based newsroom from a wire story about an incident in Tampa.
Now for some proper reporting:
https://www.fox13news.com/news/ut-student-shot-killed-getting-into-wrong-car-identified-as-new-yorker
From an earlier Fox 13 article:
“South Howard Avenue” (AKA SoHo) is a strip of about 10 blocks with about 20 bars/restaurants that is a prime hangout for UT students. Atmosphere can get rowdy at times at night, with lots of complaints from the parallel residential streets one block in either direction.
I think we haven’t heard the full story here yet. P.S. we lived five minutes from where the shooting took place when we were in Tampa.
It’s all his ‘b’ list stuff that seems to have a moment when the lead character is confronted with some sort of sex act that he wouldn’t normally do, but he says “when in Rome…” like the time traveler who decides that having sex with other versions of himself is not gay, just masturbating…
Are you thinking about “All You Zombies” ? It is definitely creepy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You_Zombies
>> Once again, easily said, hard to do. Especially since the plugin that does the up/down votes is written by someone else, and I’d have to figure out how to integrate code to do that.
@Rick H, we seem to be good at that, if you haven’t noticed :p Now about those Gravatars…
@alan, it would be easy enough, if tedious, for a troll to kill comments by downvoting too. I’m not handing them another weapon…
n
@lynn, could be. Or could be one of the lazarus longs?
n
I remember him having a crash pad where all his different selves would drop in and use as a home base, so to speak.
n
NOW? NOW? ??? You finally noticed?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11239257/Shocking-numbers-unprecedented-impact-illegal-immigration-America-TODD-BENSMAN.html
Over a hundred thousand kids. Released to who knows who. Some non-zero percentage destined to become sex slaves, die of abuse, become drug addicts… This ain’t about Jose’ cutting grass, it’s about slavery and child trafficking.
n
>> @alan, it would be easy enough, if tedious, for a troll to kill comments by downvoting too. I’m not handing them another weapon…
@nick, good point…anyway, hopefully their provisions continue to diminish.
“50 Reasons to Re-Think Climate Policy”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/09/22/50-reasons-to-re-think-climate-policy/
I’m trying to think of a witty version about 50 reasons to leave the climate scientists but I got nothing.
>> Remember that Ticky Tocky is a chinese weapon.
Maybe Putin should outbid Elon for Twitter.