Hot. Humid. But cooler to start. Still saturated in the morning though. The lake was a nice break from the Houston heat. Somehow the heat there is different, maybe because I’m out working in it. (Kidding! Hot is hot. I just don’t have a lake to float on with a cold beer at the end of the day in Houston.)
Spent the day breaking rocks in the hot sun. Shoveling dirt and rocks. Shoveling sand. Moving rocks. There was a whole lot of activity involving rocks. And shovels. And no beer at the end of the day as I needed to get in the truck and drive home. No floating either.
I did get a bunch of broken concrete moved and put to good use filling behind my bulkhead. It (not coincidentally) also cleaned up the work area for the foundation guys. To get better access to where I was hiding stashing USING the broken concrete, I pulled up two of the dock’s deck boards. And I do think that I’ll just flip all the boards over. That will be a lot cheaper than replacing them (most of them are very damaged by the sun and water) and the undersides look almost like new… a little pressure washing, and they’ll look new. If I was doing it to sell the place, it would be super shady and scam-y, but since I’m doing it to myself, it’s nearly genius! Dock repair and beautification are pretty far down the list, so it won’t be happening soon, in any case.
I also met another neighbor. He spends most nights fishing off the HOA pier in the fall and winter. Says he’s got a freezer full of deer (from his deer lease nearby) and a freezer full of catfish from the lake. Didn’t have any piggy. Interesting that most of the people up there are well used to feeding themselves off the land.
I need to get ready for a fall garden up there, even if the first try was a complete failure. Time for some soil additives and maybe some different seeds. And rototilling in the dried grass. Maybe I’ll have time while the foundation guys are working.
There’s always more to do. Always be working to improve your situation.
And stack the things!
n
RIP OFD. I’m sure you would have reposted this. Annie was one of your favorites.
I don’t think Gates wants to be God as much as he wants to be Richard Feynman.
He’d even settle for Bob Metcalfe, but Ethernet can only be invented once.
https://www.barnhardt.biz/2022/09/24/question-what-does-bill-gates-want-answer-bill-gates-wants-to-be-god/
Amex finally budged on returning the extra payment I made, but only after I made multiple phone calls and started cutting subscriptions to Netflix, etc over the last week, appearing to move forward with stated plans to cancel a card I’ve held for 31 years if they didn’t resolve the situation appropriately.
Everybody has cashflow problems these days, but I didn’t expect the “your check got lost” games from Amex. That’s a Citibank thing. I’m used to calling them every few months to have the late fee reversed on the Costco Visa.
@Nick
I wouldn’t consider it shady or scam-y at all, as long as it wasn’t purposely concealed. Nothing wrong with re-using perfectly good material to get maximum use out of it. The only downside is that when the new top wears out there will be no flipping them over again.
Well this may have been nothing like we all thought…
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/athena-thorne/2022/09/25/or-maybe-the-trans-shop-teacher-is-the-hero-we-need-right-now-n1632054
Alinsky jui-jitsu
The Yucs radio team postgame yesterday. Gene Deckerhoff has been the voice of the team since I was in elementary school. Tallahassee alumni are familiar with him as well since he works Saturdays as the radio voice of the Seminoles.
Gene would probably join me in a chorus of “Oh Christmas Tree…” He knows.
https://www.buccaneers.com/video/bucs-packers-postgame-reaction-2022
Warren Sapp football again, but the offense couldn’t get the magic 17.
Warren Sapp nearly took a rookie quarterback to the Super Bowl in a NFC Championship beat down of the “American Underdog” the year the Rams went all the way. A blown call on the last play meant that the offense didn’t get the 17 that night either.
And I just caught up reading Wilder
https://wilderwealthywise.com/yes-your-leftist-friends-are-mentally-ill-youre-not-share-this-post-with-them-to-trigger-them/
“In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.”
ONLINE friend…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11248423/Texas-girl-12-shoots-father-38-abdomen-head-murder-pact-friend.html
Anyone want to bet someone else stirred the pot? (and by the way NOT “gun” violence, but mental illness) Or who knows, maybe both dads were kiddie diddlers and they had it coming. SOMEONE else was involved though, I’d put money on it.
n
Sincere best wishes for those affected.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11248633/Canada-counts-damage-Fiona-Cuba-Florida-brace-storm-Ian.html
n
A follow-up to yesterday’s discussion about the economics of electric vehicles:
In the late 19th century the cities of the world were facing a crisis: With the proliferation of people came the proliferation of horses, and the production of horse manure and urine.
There are several relatively recent articles:
https://fee.org/articles/the-great-horse-manure-crisis-of-1894/
https://nofrakkingconsensus.com/2011/03/29/the-horse-manure-problem/
https://www.accessmagazine.org/spring-2007/horse-power-horsepower/
and the citations in Dr. Morris’ article are from the 1990’s, but from personal experience the historical problem was commonly recognized decades previous.
In a nutshell, the story is that the problem was intractable and the city planners at the time had no solutions. But the invention of the automobile, which generalized into fossil-fueled engines powering the delivery of goods and transportation of people, addressed the problem. Whether saving the cities and removing a primary constraint to growth was positive in the long run is another discussion.
The problem was solved by allowing the free market to develop the solution naturally, as engines of different types competed with the gasoline internal combustion engine ultimately proving the best fit. Note explicitly that there was no government mandate of a solution, nor could they, as it is only in the last century that they have manufactured for themselves such power.
The present situation with electric vehicles is analogous to the governments ca. 1900 choosing a solution, making it a one-size-fits-all requirement, and outlawing anything else, regardless of fitness for use. One can only imagine the consequences of the cities telling farmers that they were required to abandon horses.
To use what was once a new term and has become an old saw, the paradigm shift will occur when the conditions are right. Government has repeatedly shown itself to be congenitally incapable of imposing solutions (see light rail and poverty reduction programs). If electric vehicles are the solution, then let them out-compete the alternatives and take over. Mandating winners only works to make the politically connected richer and impose undo burdens on the populace.
Painters are here to paint the RV awning. They are patching the cracks in the main upright 8×8 posts. Also laying down plastic to protect the retaining wall and the house. Neither one of them speak English. Immigrants, maybe illegal. I don’t care as long as they do a good job. At least they are working, making a living and not on the public dole. More power to them.
Empty nest syndrome really is a thing. It hit me a little when we dropped our son off at college, but it’s hit me harder after he left from a visit home this weekend. I guess only having one child makes it more difficult. Or maybe it’s that we have a great relationship. No matter, as he is starting the process of building his life, which is exciting.
I also have enough stuff to keep me occupied. His bathroom was finished on Friday – just in time for his trip home. I started on his bedroom yesterday evening. I started boxing up stuff and moving it out in preparation for painting and carpet cleaning. I might get it painted this weekend.
https://hotair.com/karen-townsend/2022/09/26/liz-cheney-promises-to-leave-the-republican-party-if-trump-is-the-nominee-in-2024-n498963
Suggest we widen the opening to a full two axe-handles, grease the jambs, attach a JATO unit to the door to make sure it slams her hard enough in the backside to launch her across the street to land on Darth Vader, and invite her to exit NOW.
This one from Adaptive Curmudgeon is a pretty good fit for me at the moment.
https://adaptivecurmudgeon.com/2022/09/19/this-somehow-fits-perfectly/
n
Minus the lesbian squirrels, of course.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 27
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/udhr/history-of-the-declaration
Might be useful to toss in the face of any school board that tries to keep parents from knowing what is being taught.
She’s not gone already? I thought the voters of Wyoming took care of that.
The primaries have not been kind to pro-Impeachment Republicans. Our Congresscritter in Vantucky lost her seat, which she kept mostly because of sympathy over her sick child who is now healthy.
The Republicans will lose with Trump as the nominee. Let one of the Governors step up in the 2024 primaries. DeSantis shouldn’t be a lock after winning reelection – we played that game in 1998->2000 with Shrub and look what that got the country.
Still, DeSantis should be seriously considered. He will prevail in the spat with Disney, but he’s not taking their phone calls right now.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11250329/Ian-strengthens-hurricane-heads-Cuba-Florida.html
“strip stores bare” – better not be anyone who comes here! This is why we prep, so we DON”T have to fight the others when bad things are coming.
n
Ever since Jeb! got into trouble during the runup to one storm in 2006, near the end of his second term, over a quip along the lines of “Gee, doesn’t everybody have a few days of canned goods at home?”, Florida politicians avoid the subject.
Regardless of what happened afterwards, for eight years, Jeb! was an effective Governor of Florida. Of course, the St. Petersburg Times and the other big liberal media outlets in the state couldn’t accept that.
Another factor is that Publix is arguably the most powerful commercial interest involved with politics in the state, and it certainly suits them to have the stores stripped bare.
It’s up to 102F inthe sun, but noticeably cooler in the shade. Supposedly only 42%RH.
that’s a nice change.
n
>> Empty nest syndrome really is a thing. It hit me a little when we dropped our son off at college, but it’s hit me harder after he left from a visit home this weekend.
Don’t worry, he’ll be back in four years when he discovers that his starting salary won’t cover his rent 🙂
Which of those are available for less than $100k? I’ll go $80k, about double the cost of a Highlander with three rows of seats.
Truly available.
Rivian isn’t a real company, but setting that aside, the R1S isn’t available right now.
Honestly, I regret indulging the spouse’s desire for a third row of seats since that led to her decision to buy the Exploder. Beyond the mechanical issues, we ended up being the de facto Girl Scout troop transportation since the Indian and Chinese parents buy sedans or teeny SUVs like the Juke then expect the polite Americans with their big vehicles to always do the kid hauling.
I have yet to see a Rivian on the streets so that is not a real vehicle for sale. I live in one of the top ten wealthiest counties in the USA where the average household income is well over $150,000 per year. It may be $200,000 per year now. I see everything that is available here with our 850,000 inhabitants in the county and 8,000,000 inhabitants in the Houston metropolitan area.
I have yet to see a Mercedes EQS on the street so that is not a real vehicle. I am seeing many hybrid Mercedes but no total electrics. I even have a Mercedes dealer 12 miles from my house.
I have seen several Tesla X and Tesla Y (the last two letters of S3XY) on the streets around here. But, they are about a foot shorter than our Highander so the third seat is a joke (the third seat in our Highlander is a joke too). And they cost over $100,000 each with the extended battery so the average person cannot afford these vehicles. I paid $32K for our 2019 Highlander with a V6 and agonized over that.
Over The Hedge: Queen Elizabeth and RJ
https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2022/09/26
Dragon Dungeon ? I have been all through the Tower, that was fairly primitive. Is there a Dragon Dungeon somewhere ?
That reminded me – I saw my first one last week. It’s local.
Whew finished cutting the grass. About as long to cut with the gas string trimmer as with the battery mower. Less pushing, but slightly less level cut. About a wash if the grass is long.
Time to cool off and sort some things.
n
From drwilliams:
Yes, I agree, and all those voted to stop all gas car sales here in CA, and Newsome who signed it, have passed a college course in Thermodynamics?
And Hunter Biden earning $50,000 per month on board of directors of the Ukrainian Natural Gas Company has a degree in petroleum engineering.
Total governmental fraud!
Instead of electric cars….
It was 73f this morning when I walked the dogs. I have to walk the dogs as Buddy the Beagle needs to be on a leash. No problem, it gets me offa my butt. Penny can go out and wander around. Interesting clouds this morning. No moon. No Jupiter.
The house was 77f. T-stat is set to 78f. I opened the sliding door in the living room and pulled down the top half of the windows in the dining room. Heat rises and all that. There was a breeze today. Which is good.
With the breeze, the house cooled off to 74f. It started to warm up outside about 11am. I closed the windows. As of 3pm, the a/c has yet to run.
It’s a game I made up. “Use as few kWh as possible”.
I can’t control the cost.
I just signed up for Best Effort Starlink at the office. Now I have to figure out where to put the antenna.
https://twitchy.com/sarahd-313035/2022/09/26/tom-elliott-rains-inconvenient-truths-on-all-the-media-libs-screeching-that-new-conservative-italian-pm-georgia-meloni-is-the-new-mussolini/
An excellent thread by Tom Elliot with numerous examples proving that Mussolini was a far-left dictator idolized by the American left.
This caught my eye:
So, what is the film and is it accessible?
I got 24.1 mpg in my 2019 Highland V6 this weekend hauling four big guys around from Rosenberg (Houston) to Carrollton (Dallas) and back, 700 miles at 29 gallons of gas. Pretty good for running 60 mph to 85 mph on the open stretches.
I’ll bet that MB EQS is tight. They list it as seats 7 but the 2nd row better include kids as well as the 3rd. Oh and with six or seven no cargo. ‘Starting’ price $105,500, you know it will be 125+. (I have a client with a EQD 580 sedan. kinda ugly with too rounded a rear end. conclusion – raise rates).
@Nick
My Stihl trimmer is outfitted with plastic blades:
https://www.stihlusa.com/products/trimmers-and-brushcutters/trimmer-heads-and-blades/polycut/
Much faster for thick grass and weeds and lasts a lot longer than string.
https://pjmedia.com/culture/kevindowneyjr/2022/09/26/rest-in-pee-miscreant-caught-urinating-every-morning-on-grave-of-ex-wife-he-abandoned-decades-ago-n1632164
It’s called desecrating a grave. There are laws against it in most jurisdictions. If the police don’t want to respond I’d ask the chief and the county attorney if they would consider being on the six-o-clock news good publicity. Probably drop a baggie of evidence on their desk for emphasis.
Up on a roof. Duh. They have a phone app for that. Best as I can tell, clear skies from somewhere between the equator and the border of Canada. Not sure how that works with satellites.
For extra fun, they sell a cable so you can jack Starlink into your router from their router. Because, as I understand it, Starlink just gives you wi-fi.
Oh. The a/c just cycled. No frenzy mode. 🙂 And Penny has just informed me that it’s Cookie Time.
Good question. I suppose Nan/Ed would tell you to Google it.
Anyway. My impression of Chef Boyardee is he was just working a line of grift and jumped on the train of what Mustache Guy was doing in Germany. It all made sense when it was happening.
I loved reading history books in HS. Germany and Italy were not actually solid countries around 1900. Look up Garibaldi.
Eh. It’s all cool until the Romanian event.
Lynn:
Download the Starlink app for your smartphone, and it’ll coach you through using the camera to take pictures of the sky, to see what obstructions are there. Mine still says that I need to find a clearer area, but it works pretty well anyway. There’s a roof-mount, and a pole mount and some other things on https://shop.starlink.com.
The present situation with electric vehicles is analogous to the governments ca. 1900 choosing a solution, making it a one-size-fits-all requirement, and outlawing anything else, regardless of fitness for use. One can only imagine the consequences of the cities telling farmers that they were required to abandon horses.
To use what was once a new term and has become an old saw, the paradigm shift will occur when the conditions are right. Government has repeatedly shown itself to be congenitally incapable of imposing solutions (see light rail and poverty reduction programs). If electric vehicles are the solution, then let them out-compete the alternatives and take over. Mandating winners only works to make the politically connected richer and impose undo burdens on the populace.
It is worse than that. All of the greenie politicians have “invested” in wind mills and solar panel plants. That is why they gave out such tax benefits to them.
Paul: It’s actually an ethernet adapter, giving you a single ethernet jack in addition to the standard WiFi connection. And of course, you can plug a switch into that, and have as many ethernet ports as you like. Works like a champ, actually.
https://shop.starlink.com
NASA ‘Dart’ crash into the asteroid in under one hour from now.
Go here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeODQBBjvnY .
I saw an interview with the mission director earlier.
Based on closing speed (14,000 fps) and frame transmission rate (1/s), the last photo transmitted will be from almost three miles out.
I’ll take the contrarian position: Until I hear otherwise, I’ll assume that she deserved it.
Some men are dirtbags and abandon a wife who didn’t nag too much, didn’t spend too much, didn’t cheat on him, and so on. Such men generally don’t carry a grudge against her for decades.
I hope Alec’s Baldwin’s intestinal distress is severe:
New Mexico DA may file criminal charges against Alec Baldwin over “Rust” shooting
LA Times 5:00 PM on September 26, 2022
https://hotair.com/headlines/2022/09/26/new-mexico-da-may-file-criminal-charges-against-alec-baldwin-over-rust-shooting-n499134
If they need funds the NRA should kick in. The publicity would be priceless.
Lynn:
Download the Starlink app for your smartphone, and it’ll coach you through using the camera to take pictures of the sky, to see what obstructions are there. Mine still says that I need to find a clearer area, but it works pretty well anyway. There’s a roof-mount, and a pole mount and some other things on https://shop.starlink.com.
I am beginning to think about mounting the antenna to the septic tank. I’ve got nine acres here, somewhere will work.
There is an old DirecTV antenna on the side of the large office building. I may mount it there.
Mussolini Speaks 1933
Not released to DVD according to Wikipedia.
@SteveF
The link has some additional info:
Up on a roof. Duh. They have a phone app for that. Best as I can tell, clear skies from somewhere between the equator and the border of Canada. Not sure how that works with satellites.
For extra fun, they sell a cable so you can jack Starlink into your router from their router. Because, as I understand it, Starlink just gives you wi-fi.
I just bought the long side mount antenna and the hard wired ethernet adapter. Thanks for reminding me.
https://shop.starlink.com/products/us-consumer-long-wall-mount-gen2
https://shop.starlink.com/products/us-consumer-ethernet-adapter-gen2
These guys are definitely in business.
I will be plugging the Starlink 30 right into my Peoplink 30 triple WAN box with the automatic jump. I figure that Starlink will probably be saturated from 4 pm to 10 pm. We shall see.
The sweet spot on my Camry is 70 on cruise control, where I’ll pull 40+ MPG Hwy easily.
I run without the radar collision avoidance active with the cruise control where the speed automatically reduces in response to the vehicle ahead. I don’t think that works right.
Still 24 MPG is about what that six will get. It is the same number as my wife’s 2002 4Runner 3.0L V6.
The tradeoff is the acceleration. A Camry with that V6 is faster 0-60 than some production non-street legal Mustangs from the mid-90s Ford used to make just for the track.
@lpdbw
Why am I not surprised?
Intriguingly, the External Links section indicates that the first ten minutes are on YouTube, but clicking requires a sign-in for a “private video”.
Thanks for chasing it down.
I run without the radar collision avoidance active with the cruise control where the speed automatically reduces in response to the vehicle ahead. I don’t think that works right.
I finally figured out how to change the sensitivity on the radar cruise control from 100 feet to 60 feet on the way back. It then got usable. But I would have it set to 79 mph and then it would slow down gradually to 60 mph because of the 45 year old beater pickup in front of us that was going 60 mph.
I would wait for a 50 foot open section on the left lane, floor it and drop three gears (it is an 8 speed tranny), and accelerate right up to 85 mph. The real problem was that we arguing so much that I did notice the slow beaters in front of us until I had slowed down.
That radar’s probably not good enough to track a minigun?
I like the radar cruise control in my 2019 Highlander. The only time it seems to have issues is when someone pulls in front of you. In that scenario, the braking seems like it should be a bit more significant.
You still have to pay attention to traffic and stupid drivers, and be ready to respond to potential issues.
NASA is doing an outstanding job with the video production.
I’m amused that the “face” is very diverse, but the floor of mission control looks like 1969.
ADDED:
Not as slim–no ciggys.
https://cometofaith.org/filmovi/600679/mussolini-speaks-movie
re Pee Boy, I’m still holding out to hear the rest of the story. Maybe he was a nutcase and that’s all there was to it. Maybe she baby trapped him and ruined his life.
Whew! No last minute death ray from the mother ship!
I was wrong. Fuck me if that wasn’t awesome!
ADDED:
Now they get to calculate the percentage of inelasticity and the energy transfer.
Pisa cake.
@SteveF
Thanks for chasing down that link.
Yeah, we’ll see what the rest of the story is.
Exactly. That’s why I dislike radar cruise control, automatic lane keeping, and so on. It’s too easy for the driver to decide to check the phone, start screwing around with the multifunction touchscreen control panel (another thing I don’t like; knobs and levers can be operated without taking your eyes off the road, once you’ve driven the car enough to know where they are) or just start daydreaming and go into highway hypnosis.
To clarify: I don’t like such things in the car I’m driving and don’t use them. I really despise them in cars others are driving because even with the limited driving I now do, I see morons on the road, letting the car do the driving… and then having to spaz out and cut across two lanes because they almost missed their exit or some other stupid stunt.
>> It’s a game I made up. “Use as few kWh as possible”.
Definitely Unamerican! :p
I actually appreciate the automatic lane detection thing (it alerts me when I am drifting out of my lane) on my 2019 Highlander XLE. It can be a slight hassle on curvy roads, but there is a quick enable/disable button on the steering wheel for those situations.
I’ve found it to be very helpful. Very minimal false indications. Especially helpful when you are distracted a bit. I keep it enabled.
The same with radar cruise control. Very helpful.
Understood, Rick. A ding-ding-ding if you drift out of your lane is one thing. I was talking about Lane-Keeping Aid or other trademarks for the same thing, which do the steering for you and let the driver just drift off [sic].
If the car gets smart enough to drive itself on an interstate, that’s one thing. Let the driver watch a movie. My grievance is with systems which help the driver with the boring parts and let him convince himself that he doesn’t really need to pay attention because the traffic is moving along and everything’s fiiiine.
The Highlander gives you a very gentle nudge back into the lane, which you can sense as you are holding the wheel. It is very small, though, and not an aggressive movement at all.
I’ve tried the lane-keeping on deserted two lane roads and long highway stretches, and it usually works better on straight sections of the road – it’s not perfect. For curved sections, even the slight curves of highways, the correction is not always consistent. But the beep of the ‘out of lane’ alerts me when it needs to.
I wouldn’t rely on it doing any semblance of self-driving. But I’ve only had that experience with the 2019 Highlander. It may be better on more current or different models.
That’s the same set I bought. Mine arrived in less than a week, Have fun!
Drwilliams:
Awesome indeed! I’m sure the mothership was recording the impact from a good distance; it’ll be nice to see that. And to see if telescopes like the JWST and Hubble were able to see the impact.
>> NASA is doing an outstanding job with the video production.
And here we thought that the Apollo 11 soundstage wasn’t going to be used again!
Nah. Sony Culver. When the legacy control room underwent restoration, Sony cribbed all of the specs and sources to build the control room for “For All Mankind”. The restoration went as far as having Shaw haul out the old punch cards for the carpet pattern to be 100% exact.
Think that the Japanese just went to all that expense just for a streaming series?
I like the radar cruise control in my 2019 Highlander. The only time it seems to have issues is when someone pulls in front of you. In that scenario, the braking seems like it should be a bit more significant.
You still have to pay attention to traffic and stupid drivers, and be ready to respond to potential issues.
Oh yes, the radar cruise control does a hard brake when somebody pulls into your zone and is going slower than you.
Understood, Rick. A ding-ding-ding if you drift out of your lane is one thing. I was talking about Lane-Keeping Aid or other trademarks for the same thing, which do the steering for you and let the driver just drift off [sic].
The wife’s 2019 Highlander has both the lane-keeping-annoyance and the get-back-in-your-lane-assistance features. My passengers were kept awake from the constant chimes (apparently my driving sucks at 62, especially on curves).
You know, it would be nice if all the car manufacturers would use the same icons on the steering wheel and the dash. It is difficult to figure out a new icon while blasting down the road at 80 mph.
@Lynn – we have the same vehicle model.
There’s a button on the steering wheel to turn off/on the lane departure alert. Lower right, as I remember.
I usually turn it off on winding roads.
@Lynn – we have the same vehicle model.
There’s a button on the steering wheel to turn off/on the lane departure alert. Lower right, as I remember.
I usually turn it off on winding roads.
This is my second time to drive the wife’s Highlander since I bought it three years ago.
The low right button on her steering wheel is the radar sensitivity: 60 foot (low), 80 foot (medium), and 100 foot (high).
@lynn – I had to go out to the garage to look.
Two buttons on the lower right front of the steering wheel. The right side is the radar sensitivity (as you said). The one to it’s left is the lane departure on/off switch. Looks sort of like a car tilted to the right of the vertical lines on the left of the car icon.
I believe both will default on engine start to the value you set via the settings thing.
The Highlander has grown about a foot in the last 20 years.
I will give Ford credit with the Exploder. They knew the market with the third row of seats. They are real seats with decent leg room, and the cargo capacity is decent when they fold down.
The vehicle was sorely missed on our abbreviated TN trip.
Gulf water temps right off the Central FL Gulf coast are 85-86 degrees. This one will be ugly.
https://weather.com/safety/hurricane/news/2022-09-26-hurricane-ian-florida-cuba-caymans
Get your binoculars or telescope. Go outside about an hour after sunset. Look to the East / SouthEast for the brightest object in the sky.
That would be Jupiter, at it’s closest approach to the Earth in many decades. The reports are that with binoculars you may see the color bands on Jupiter. With a 4″ telescope, you might be able to make out Jupiter’s moons.
Best viewed away from any terrestrial light sources and clear skies, of course.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11252345/California-BAN-new-gas-fueled-furnaces-heaters-2030-cut-ozone-levels.html
–shivering in the dark. Not me.
n
I think that statement is reversed however, binoculars can easily make out the Galilean moons – I did that Saturday, but not probably not the belts, unless they are very good glasses.
A 4” telescope is sufficient to make out the belts, if the seeing is good.
p.s. Eyesight makes a difference – the Pleiades is just a naked eye smudge to me in my mid 60’s, but fellow club member Christian, probably in his 20’s, was easily able to see six stars at the astronomy club outing on Saturday night.
This advantage probably transfers to observation through scopes and binoculars as well.
The Highlander has grown about a foot in the last 20 years.
Yes, I own a 2008 Highlander V6 also. There is almost a foot in length difference between the 2008 and the 2019. And my 2008 does not have the third row seat.
The Highlander has grown about a foot in the last 20 years.
–was thinking about this very thing. Nothing gets smaller that can help it. All the vehicles are bigger over time, until they get too big to sustain, then they get small again, but the cycle repeats….
n
Continuing winter prep. Cleaned the chicken coop. A lot of wood chips in inaccessible places. Pulled out the leaf blower and blasted away. Spent a tedious hour installing clips for rope lighting we were given, incandescent lighting to supplement the chickens so they’ll lay all winter. Three chickens. Coop is 4’ cube. Fresh chips. New light. Added a Wyze camera.
I have chicken dust in… places.
Also added visqueen to two walls of the covered run. After last winter I’m going to gin up a water / feed system we can do from outside the run. And ran electric to the coop a la extension cord. Not ideal but good enough.
Checked on the rabbits. Bath does doing well. Three litters all doing well.
Tired. Sister is hanging in there. Cranky all weekend. Better today. Winter is bearing down. Assuming no rain harvesting potatoes tomorrow.
>> Continuing winter prep.
. . .
Tired.
Kudos @Jenny, you put many of us to shame, @Nick excluded, at least while he’s still working on the ‘rock pile’ 😉
Sort of like those stories of church steps: They get worn down over decades or hundreds of years. Someday, someone has the bright idea: “let’s flip it over”, only to discover that their distant ancestors already had that idea. I have seen pics of this happening, but I’m struggling to find a link just now…
Have they already banned direct electric heating, which is (by definition) less efficient that gas?
I assume they want to push people toward heat-pumps. So they had better build out their grid, especially given the push to EVs. Let’s see some nukes, or massive solar arrays with large dams for power storage, or…
Oh, right. The greenies will oppose all such projects. Electricity comes out of the plug, no need for big, ugly projects.
When picking a new car, small size and tight turning radius were two of our criteria. We literally could find nothing as small as our 2008 RAV. We also don’t want 20″ or 21″ rims with super-thin tires – lots of rubber, please. We do things like towing a trailer full of rocks across a field.
So we need an SUV, or at least a crossover, and it needs to actually be robust, not just for show. But we don’t need or want a gigantic beast.
Why do these things keep getting bigger and bigger?
@nick:
Here in UK, the cycle repeat is by introducing a new, original-size, model (i.e. smaller) which then undergoes size inflation by year, until it starts competing with a larger vehicle in the range. Then one gets culled.
@brad:
Is it the tendency for a certain class of people to equate size/cost with success? Or virility? I’m sure that last applies to some Americans – present company excepted.
G.