Thurs. Nov. 24, 2022 – Thanksgiving Day (US)

Thanksgiving Day.   I wish you all a wonderful and fulfilling day.

I’m thankful for the time we have.  Time to spend with friends and family, time to prep for what is surely coming.   I’m thankful for the good times that created the resources I’m using to get ready.

I’m thankful for family to share the burdens and the love.

I’m thankful for friends, here and in meatspace.   I’m thankful for the companionship and camaraderie I find here, as well as the help with a wide range of issues.

I’m thankful for the continued support of Barbara and Rick.

I’m thankful for the trust Bob showed me when he first asked me to contribute here.

And I’m thankful for everyone who comes here as a reader or commentor, regularly, or just occasionally.   You all make it what it is.

Enjoy the day.

Save me some pie!

nick

78 Comments and discussion on "Thurs. Nov. 24, 2022 – Thanksgiving Day (US)"

  1. SteveF says:

    What? Could it be? No comments yet?

    First post!

    Ah, brings a tear of joy to this cynical eye.

  2. Ray Thompson says:

    Ditto.

    Ah, number 2, behind Steve F, again.

    I am thankful to be alive as several people my age never made it this far. Health is OK for an oldster.

    Currently in Atlanta for the annual Thanksgiving gathering with our friends. We have been doing this for 20 years.

    We arrived yesterday about 2:00 PM. Traffic in Atlanta was still a nightmare. I-285 west from I-75 south was stop and go for three miles. The traffic was backed up to the intersection for five miles. The problem is the trucks in the left lanes are not allowed through downtown Atlanta. The trucks have to force their way over two or three lanes to get on the I-285 bypass around Atlanta. Most of the trucks know this as they drive that route often. They are still being jerks.

    Going north I-75 was backed up the I-575 interchange from almost the I-285 interchange. Seven lanes of traffic moving maybe 10 miles an hour.

    Coming from an almost rural area where a traffic jam is three people waiting to turn into Hardee’s, Atlanta traffic really bothers me. I had to go to Knoxville on Tuesday to replace my MacBook. Even that traffic bothered me. And to think I used to commute in that stuff.

    MacBook saga. Monday I went to trade in my MacBook M1 for a M2 model, more memory, more storage. I used the Apple Store app on the iPad. I can get a 10% discount being a veteran. No way to do that using the app, have to use the website, which I did not know.

    I asked the Apple Store for the 10% discount. That is when the mess started. Apple had to cancel the order which did not cancel the trade in. Apple did not know that. A new order was initiated but the trade in would not longer work. Apple said to come back on Tuesday and the cancellation of the trade in would have made it through the system.

    Came back Tuesday. Still the same problem. Turns out the trade in was not cancelled and was sent as an electronic gift card which I did not want. After some scrambling by the store manager the problem was located. I found the electronic gift card in my email and Apple was able to transfer that to my Apple credit card. Progress.

    I then went to purchase the new MacBook Air and asked for the 10% discount. Manager said he could do that. The manager also said he would give me an additional 10% off because of the problems I had with transaction. I jumped on it.

    I got a new MacBook Air, 16 gig of memory, 1TB hard drive, in the bluish black color, for $1,300 with my trade in, plus $45.00 in cash back on my Apple Card.

    I was doing more processing of pictures on the MacBook and the M1, while quite good, was lacking in memory and disk storage was going to become an issue. The new machine also has full size function keys, bigger screen (not by a lot), brighter screen. The notch at the top of the screen is not that big of an issue.

    The battery life is just amazing. Work all day and the battery is down to 50%. Heavy processing of video would obviously impact that but I don’t do video. Processing a batch of pictures will max the CPU but only for 10 minutes or so.

    I did find out the 1 GB USB-C to ethernet that Apple sells in their store will max out at 100Mbs. It seems the drivers for that chipset are not available in IOS. Made by Belkin. Not recommended. I purchase an Anker USB-C to ethernet and can get the full 1 GB ethernet speed.

  3. MrAtoz says:

    Happy Thanksgiving! I posted first, but it was delayed.

    D3 is hosting this year. 

    Watched Walker , Texas Ranger “Case Closed”

    The UFO episode with the double-homage: Roy Thinnes and Dirk Benedict, aka David Vincent and the original Starphux.

    I built the Revell The Invaders flying saucer model as a youngster. A friend and I built a diorama around it in the basement of my childhood home in Rhinelander, WI. The original X Files.

  4. MrAtoz says:

    The WuFlu:

    China’s COVID infections hit record as economic outlook darkens

    I guess all those masks and protective suits don’t do shite.

  5. Greg Norton says:

    I did find out the 1 GB USB-C to ethernet that Apple sells in their store will max out at 100Mbs. It seems the drivers for that chipset are not available in IOS. Made by Belkin. Not recommended. I purchase an Anker USB-C to ethernet and can get the full 1 GB ethernet speed.

    From what I’ve seen with my M1 MacBook Pro, certain Ethernet chips either don’t have drivers in Apple Silicon Mac OS or the driver support is poor. The Ethernet on my Plugable dock wouldn’t show up until the most recent major OS release.

    The Ethernet interface on my current employer’s own Thunderbolt/Lightning dock works well with the M1, but the tradeoff with the device is that HDMI out from the dock blinks so I have to resort to a DisplayPort to HDMI conversion. Weird.

  6. Ray Thompson says:

    certain Ethernet chips either don’t have drivers in Apple Silicon Mac OS or the driver support is poor

    That is the problem with adapter that Apple sells in their store. It will not work at full speed as the drivers don’t exist for full speed operation. Why Apple sells a device that does not work as advertised is strange. And maybe it is just the M* chips that have the issue. Or maybe just the Airs have the problem.

    The Anker adapter is cheaper, looks better, comes in different colors, has three lights for power, connection, and activity. Much better than the Apple device.

    https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Ethernet-Portable-1-Gigabit-ChromeBook/dp/B07S6LYNC4/ref=sr_1_4?crid=PDYM4C1LHV02&keywords=anker+usb-c+to+ethernet+adapter&qid=1669301324&sprefix=anker+usb-c+to+ether%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-4

    The M2 chip seems to be faster than the M1 chip on my Air. There is some discussion of throughput between the 256 gig and 512 gig SSD. The 512 gig SSD is supposed to be slower because of the way the memory is organized. Two chips versus one chip. Not sure about the 1TB option. Still fast.

    I do like the screen on the M2 Air. Seems brighter and crisper. Larger. The notch thus far has not affected any applications. I was concerned about Photoshop with the dozen top level menu items. They all fit.

    I used the laptop for about six hours yesterday, three hours this morning. Just email and web browsing. The battery is at 65%. Interesting that the device can charge with USB-C or MagSafe.

  7. EdH says:

    I got a new MacBook Air, 16 gig of memory, 1TB hard drive, in the bluish black color, for $1,300 with my trade in, plus $45.00 in cash back on my Apple Card.
     

    Sweet.  Congratulations!

  8. drwilliams says:

    MrAtoZ

    I built the Revell The Invaders flying saucer model as a youngster. A friend and I built a diorama around it in the basement of my childhood home in Rhinelander, WI. The original X Files.

    Keith Laumer did the first two U.S. paperback television tie-in novels (Rafe Bernard did the third and last). There’s also a Whitman and two Corgis (British)  penned by other authors.

    Laumer in 1967 was pre-stroke and the height of his writing ability. His revisions to the story line–David Vincent is a manufacturing engineer, not an architect–result in a much better story. Recommended.

    The TV series was one of the first things I purchased on DVD. Last time I binge-watched them was more than ten years ago. Roy Thinnes did audio and video intros for the set, which were great additions.

  9. Greg Norton says:

    I used the laptop for about six hours yesterday, three hours this morning. Just email and web browsing. The battery is at 65%. Interesting that the device can charge with USB-C or MagSafe.

    I have an Anker charger with three ports, two USB-C and one USB-A, which the company claims will handle 65W.

    The USB-C ports will charge my M1 MacBook, and the adapter is a lot smaller than the one Apple shipped with the laptop. It will definitely be the travel charger.

    I haven’t taken the M1 on the road however. The MacBook Pro was a refurb I bought cheap with part of my unemployment settlement, but the newness hasn’t worn off.

  10. drwilliams says:

    Anyone else had problems with UPS deliveries lately?

    This week a package that was supposed to be delivered Wed got bumped to Fri “By 9PM”. That’s according to a seller email, but the link provided fails and the tracking number does not work. An earlier email has a link that works, which shows several scans and “We’ve incorrectly sorted this package which may cause a delay”.

    Two weeks a go I had one that was shipped Tues and supposed to be here Wed. They promised it Thur, then Fri, then Mon, and I finally got it on Tues, six days late. They had handed it off to a local delivery service because they were overloaded. Those bozos sat on it, while in the meantime UPS trucks went by several times a day.

  11. Ray Thompson says:

    I have an Anker charger with three ports, two USB-C and one USB-A, which the company claims will handle 65W.

    Anker chargers are much better than Apple chargers. In fact, better than most, if not all, chargers on the market. Anker now has a charger that will provide 100 watts charging a single device. There are two USB-C and one USB-A. Use more than one port and the maximum on a single port drops.

    I have a single USB-C Anker that is for a phone. Really small. I also have a dual USB-C that can charge two phones, two tablets, etc. Nicely made.

    I have two Anker chargers with six USB-A ports and a power cord. I keep one in the RV, the other on a shelf. It worked well when I traveled to Europe allowing me to charger my phone, my wife’s phone, and two tablets. Only needed one plug adapter to convert the Europe connection to a US connection.

  12. Greg Norton says:

    The TV series was one of the first things I purchased on DVD. Last time I binge-watched them was more than ten years ago. Roy Thinnes did audio and video intros for the set, which were great additions.

    MeTV runs “The Invaders” (or did) early on Sunday mornings.

  13. MrAtoz says:

    Anker’s new Series 7 chargers/batteries are awesome. They charge my MacBook Pro M1 and are half the size of the Apple Chargers.

  14. drwilliams says:

    MeTV runs “The Invaders” (or did) early on Sunday mornings.

    Yup. 4am. One episode per week. 

    You can pick up the complete series on DVD for twenty bucks, get the Thinnes commentary, and watch as many as you wish.

  15. Nick Flandrey says:

    65F and overcast, about 99% RH but not actually raining.    We had something big and boomy come thru around 345am, with a hard rain.  Don’t know how long that lasted but everything is wet.

    Got the bird in the smoker.  Added a small rack of pork ribs for a lunchtime snack.   I’m using the shredded pecan stump for smoke.  Smells good in the yard.  Bird was thawed, but water was still icy cold.  That worked out better than I could have planned it.

    Got a Happy Thanksgiving text from an old friend this morning, which brightened my day.  Take the opportunities to reach out.  

    Wife and childers still slugabed.   Or reading there anyway.

    Bird should be ready between 3 and 6pm.   My wife REALLY wishes that was a bit more precise.  It is what it is though.

    Nought to do but feed the smoker all day.   Oh yeah, and a million little things.

    Best get to it.

    Give thanks today, to each other if no one else…

    n

  16. Greg Norton says:

    That is the problem with adapter that Apple sells in their store. It will not work at full speed as the drivers don’t exist for full speed operation. Why Apple sells a device that does not work as advertised is strange. And maybe it is just the M* chips that have the issue. Or maybe just the Airs have the problem.

    Not all “gigabit” Ethernet chips are created equal.

    At work, I’ve struggled with an unreliable USB NIC interface to a vendor’s sample hardware for most of the year. 

    And Thunderbolt/Lightning was tech Apple made Intel keep out of other manufacturers’ systems for a while under their exclusive deal which included Cupertino ditching Sony’s FireWire/1394. I strongly suspect that has affected the development of USB-C.

  17. brad says:

    Starting the course at the trade school on Monday. On my visit this week, to sort out last administrative details, they gifted me with a 2TB external SSD drive. Guess they’re glad to have the support.

    I have four external 1TB drives I use for off-site backup. Not quite sure what to do with the 2TB drive, but I’m sure I’ll think of something…

    The sh!t with the neighbors stresses me out, even though I know they are nuts (and have numerous objective people who agree). Insomnia, high blood pressure, etc.. I’m just not cut out for years-long confrontations. Need to find a magical way to just put them out of mind, but I find that difficult…

  18. Greg Norton says:

    The sh!t with the neighbors stresses me out, even though I know they are nuts (and have numerous objective people who agree). Insomnia, high blood pressure, etc.. I’m just not cut out for years-long confrontations. Need to find a magical way to just put them out of mind, but I find that difficult…

    Kharma catches up. Really bad things have befallen my Colonel Bat Guano neighbors in Florida.

  19. lpdbw says:

    Need to find a magical way to just put them out of mind, but I find that difficult…

    It’s probably not possible.  But you can learn coping skills, the largest of which is acceptance.  Your crazy neighbors are crazy.  You can’t fix it; you can only deal with the fallout.  It looks like you’ve finally brought in some professional help with that.  Feel confident that you’ve handled some of this by handing it off, and realize that this is only a part of your life, not the driving factor.

    There should be support available for helping you deal with mentally damaged people.  My path was through a group modeled on al-anon, when I was dealing with my son’s alcoholism.  

  20. lynn says:

    Merry Thanksgiving !

  21. lynn says:

    “For 50 years, I did the same thing day after day without repeating myself.”

    “If I were a better artist, I’d be a painter, and if I were a better writer, I’d write books.”

    Who said this ?

  22. lynn says:

    I am thankful for the portable six foot long ramp that I installed on the back door so my Mom can be with us for Thanksgiving.   Dad and Mom are on their way from Port Lavaca with oyster and Serrano cornbread dressing.

    I am thankful that I was born and mostly raised in the South so I love oysters in my dressing.

  23. Geoff Powell says:

    @lynn:

    If I were a better artist, I’d be a painter, and if I were a better writer, I’d write books.

    Charles M. Schultz, of Peanuts fame, according to AZQuotes.

    Maybe the first quote is also atributable to him, but the Chocolate Factory didn’t surface the quote immediately.

    G.

  24. lynn says:

    My wife was born in Japan and lived there for three years but she dislikes seafood.  Go figure as my father in law said they ate a lot of sushi and sashimi and she ate it all back then.

  25. lynn says:

    Charles M. Schultz, of Peanuts fame, according to AZQuotes.

    Yup.  He would have been 100 on Saturday.  There are a lot of dedications showing up.

    I am grateful for the people who make life more interesting.

  26. MrAtoz says:

    Another old sci-fi series I liked:

    War of the Worlds (1988 TV series)

    They changed the whole premise in the second season and I didn’t like it as much. My late Mom loved it and we watched it several times. I have the DVD set.

    I also watched the later UK series.

  27. EdH says:

    re:Schultz. 
     

    Odds that we will see Dogbert as Snoopy on Saturday?

  28. Greg Norton says:

    My wife was born in Japan and lived there for three years but she dislikes seafood.  Go figure as my father in law said they ate a lot of sushi and sashimi and she ate it all back then.

    I grew up in Florida and dislike seafood. I have allergy issues with shrimp, but beyond that I’m not a fan.

    What people find more surprising is that I am not a fan of Mississippi native Jimmy Buffett’s music and consider him a cultural weapon of mass destruction who has done more damage to the state than any nuclear weapon ever could.

  29. drwilliams says:

    What people find more surprising is that I am not a fan of Mississippi native Jimmy Buffett’s music and consider him a cultural weapon of mass destruction who has done more damage to the state than any nuclear weapon ever could.

    On the other hand, Parrot Heads would have found some other cult, possibly more dangerous.

  30. drwilliams says:

    I recently had to ship an instrument probe that was almost 40 inches long.

    Under a pound, but USPS website showed a $26 charge. WTH?

    Did some digging, and found that surcharges for long packages were buried in the changes last November, and implemented in April 2022:

    $4 over 22″

    $15 over 30″

    Fortunately UPS and Fedex have not followed, yet.

    I shipped it Fedex Gound for $12.

    Talked to my USPS delivery person recently. They are having trouble hiring. I remember when it was impossible to get a USPS job unless you were a vet who got the extra points added to the civil service test.

    ADDED:
    https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/abblog/blog.pl?/pl/2021/12/1638719411.html

  31. Brad says:

    @lpdbw: Thanks for the kind words. 

    @EdH: I like the way you think, but SteveF is probably easier to contact.

    @SteveF: Are you busy next Tuesday? 

  32. lpdbw says:

    I want to buy a 102″ stainless steel whip antenna.

    DX Engineering will sell me one for under $30.

    But because of the increases, the shipping charge is twice as much as the sales price, ultimately tripling the cost.

  33. Paul Hampson says:

    I am thankful that I was born and mostly raised in the South so I love oysters in my dressing

    I wasn’t raised in the south but my mom spent a couple of years with her grandparents in Louisiana when very young and I am grateful that many of the culinary features got passed on to me, including oysters in the dressing.

  34. Rick H says:

    Interesting:

    A new battery technology developed by Swiss startup Morand could see electric vehicle (EV) batteries charge in less time than it takes to fill an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle at a gas station, the company reveals.

    The new technology, which can charge electric cars in only 72 seconds, is a hybrid system that uses technology from traditional batteries and ultracapacitors.

    Another benefit of eTechnology, according to Morand, is the fact that it can also offer much longer lifespans than the lithium-ion batteries traditionally used in EVs.

    The startup says that, during testing, a prototype of its eTechnology solution was able to recharge to 80 percent in just 72 seconds, 98 percent in 120 seconds, and 100 percent in 2.5 minutes at up to 900 A/360 kW. The company also states that Geo Technology performed independent testing.

    While those times obviously won’t apply to the larger 100-kWh+ battery packs used in the world’s longest-range EVs, Morand says it is well-suited to small city cars, such as the Citroën Ami, which has a 5.5-kWh battery pack. The technology could also be helpful for drones and e-bikes that require quick turnarounds enabled by fast charging.

    https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/a-game-changing-new-hybrid-ev-battery-recharges-in-only-72-seconds 

  35. Brad says:

    I wondered when some company would look at ultracapacitors instead of batteries.

    There are practical problems to overcome, though. Short circuits are much more…exciting…than with batteries, because capacitors will happily discharge their entire load instantly. Voltage is not constant. And charging with 900 amps – imagine the connectors and cabling that requires.

    Still, the fast charging is the obvious plus. Be interesting to see where they can go with it… 

  36. Greg Norton says:

    While those times obviously won’t apply to the larger 100-kWh+ battery packs used in the world’s longest-range EVs, Morand says it is well-suited to small city cars, such as the Citroën Ami, which has a 5.5-kWh battery pack. The technology could also be helpful for drones and e-bikes that require quick turnarounds enabled by fast charging.

    No word on cost.

    Americans have not been promised “city cars” with 5.5 kWh battery packs.

    The masses still believe they will drive to work at “Ludicrous” speed in either a Tonymobile or a Jesus Truck. By the time they figure out they’ve been scammed, it will be too late.

  37. Nick Flandrey says:

    HDMI is  a fickle beast.   There are apparently 2 different major implementations and the chipsets do not play well together.   We used to have the issue all the time when I was still working with video.   If we found a signal chain that did what we needed, and didn’t have issues, we locked that design.

    Sometimes, seemingly identical gear from the same manf will not perform identically.  And I’m talking about pro level gear from the biggest names in the field, not chinese knock off shite.  

    It’s a minor miracle when they work.

    n

  38. Nick Flandrey says:

    @lpdbw ,

    I just picked up 5 of those whips at auction, but they are listed at 108″ for CB use,   I haven’t checked.  If you want one, we can probably meet up at some point…

    n

  39. lpdbw says:

    108 inches works for me, I’m using a Wind River adjustable loading coil for the HF bands.  But there’s a chance what you’ve got is a 102 inch with the expectation you’ll mount it on a 6 inch spring.  They marketed them that way at one time.

    We can discuss more via email.  actual dot lpdbw at gmail dot com.

  40. paul says:

    HDMI is  a fickle beast.  

    Yes, it is.

    When I bought the 55″ Vizio about (jeebus!) 11 years ago, I also bought a Sony Blu-ray player.  Hey, if you’re dropping two grand plus tax for a TV, what’s an extra $95 anyway? 

    It took several power cycles of TV and Blu-ray before they “paired” or whatever they did.  Never a problem since. It felt like tinkering with IRQs to make a sound card and video card and a network card work at the same time. 

    I blame the Sony Blu-ray because (long story) the DirecTv DVR zapped one of the HDMI inputs.  So I signed up for the maintenance plan.  Why they push it, I don’t know, I considered the DirecTv box as their problem if it fries.  But if they want to cover my TV and everything connected to their DVR, cool.  After several months I called the problem in and a couple of nice guys showed up with the input board for my TV.  They saw the DVR box I had and said “those run hot on the output”. 

    Lots of screws to open the TV.  Lots.  I saw three circuit boards.  I’m guessing power supply, inputs, and video.  They replaced the board and the TV has been fine ever since. 

    The guys were ah, what’s the word?  But they didn’t have a power cord.  Just a plain old PC power cord.  I gave them a couple and they acted like I made their day. 

    The above is not like filling the radiator with Bars Leak to hide a bad head gasket.  I paid the for the maintenance for a couple of years. 

    And now the new computer or the new monitor will randomly drop the audio.  It’s just one HDMI cable.  Win11 defaults to the headphone jack. No problems with video.  I don’t know.  I unplug the HDMI cable from the monitor for a moment and everything works again.  I should try a different cable.  I have extras somewhere.   In a safe place.

    Idle thought.  If Optical has so much bandwidth, why are we using HDMI at all? 

  41. MrAtoz says:

    The new technology, which can charge electric cars in only 72 seconds, is a hybrid system that uses technology from traditional batteries and ultracapacitors.

    Why back this when fusion power is just around the corner.

    I almost backed a crowd sourced ultra capacitor back up battery, but the company couldn’t demo a useable prototype. A postage stamp sized cell could not be scaled to 10-20K backup battery, so they folded.

    I’ve read about several ultra’s over the last couple of years, but none have shown a useable prototype.

  42. Greg Norton says:

    Sometimes, seemingly identical gear from the same manf will not perform identically.  And I’m talking about pro level gear from the biggest names in the field, not chinese knock off shite.  

    HDMI is about copy protection and forced obsolescence, but the manufacturers have yet to exercise the latter “feature”.

    Don’t worry. Its coming.

  43. MrAtoz says:

    This guy is auditioning for FauXi’s job:

    Data disprove WH COVID Response Coordinator’s claim about vaccines and boosters the very next day

    Sure, take the pseudo-mecho gene-splicing vaccine and it’s umpteen boosters and you won’t die from COVID. An out and out lie. I guess the CDC will just change died “FROM” COVID to died “WITH” COVID and Bob’s your uncle.

    EDITED: added link.

  44. Greg Norton says:

    This guy is auditioning for FauXi’s job:

    Data disprove WH COVID Response Coordinator’s claim about vaccines and boosters the very next day

    “That’s why God gave you too arms. Get one in each arm if you want.”

    … Skippy.

    Regardless of whether or not the red wave happened, the election was the end of the White House’s credibility on the pandemic even among the press corps.

    IIRC, the briefing room sits on top of the old indoor swimming pool. I’ll bet some of the few real reporters left on that beat were wondering if they could pry up the floor boards to see if there was still water down there.

    Geesh, back in the day, Helen Thomas would have figuratively b*tch slapped the response coordinator for that line about two arms. Maybe even literally.

    Sam Donaldson? Maybe not, but steam would have been pouring out from under his hairpiece.

  45. drwilliams says:

    The startup says that, during testing, a prototype of its eTechnology solution was able to recharge to 80 percent in just 72 seconds, 98 percent in 120 seconds, and 100 percent in 2.5 minutes at up to 900 A/360 kW. The company also states that Geo Technology performed independent testing.

    as Brad pointed out

    There are practical problems to overcome, though. Short circuits are much more…exciting…than with batteries, because capacitors will happily discharge their entire load instantly. Voltage is not constant. And charging with 900 amps – imagine the connectors and cabling that requires.

    The charging station looks like a long windowless car wash built like a nuclear bunker. You drive the car to the entrance belt, turn it off, and exit the vehicle, then take the shuttle to the lounge. The blast walls are artfully decorated with climate change slogans.

    When the previous vehicle is charged–one in the building at a time–and exits on the discharge belt, your vehicle is moved in. As it reaches the charging station the interlocks are engaged ensuring that no one can enter the building. The specially licensed technicians–recertified every six months by the federal government–connect your car. After they leave the area the second set of interlocks is engaged and the computers–MS Windows 13, anyone?–check the connections. Only then does charging commence.

    When your number is called in the lounge–after you have relieved yourself, had a Big Guy Burger (only $71 after 22% tax and $10 to TBG) and watched a movie or taken a short nap–you take the shuttle to retrieve your vehicle and head for the toll road to the exit ramp. 

    Three hours later and $500 poorer, you are back on the road. It’s unfortunate that the new charging stations require over 1000 hectares due to parking and zoning regulations, but after the East Saint Louis Instantaneous Demolition Incident, it’s safety first. President Crump says costs might come down after survivor reparations are paid in forty years.

    ADDED:

    Short circuits are much more…exciting…than with batteries,

    And snipers are so rare now that the new 2″ reactive armor has been added.

  46. drwilliams says:

    @Greg Norton

    Sam Donaldson? Maybe not, but steam would have been pouring out from under his hairpiece.

    Not for a Democrat. Eyebrows would have caught the little puffs.

  47. Greg Norton says:

    @Jenny – We’re leaving the house tonight to see the “Knives Out” sequel.  See if it is playing near you.

    Nothing says “Happy Thanksgiving” like James Bond doing a fake Southern accent.

    If nothing else, it should be good for a couple of hours of escape featuring grown-up content with popcorn.

  48. lpdbw says:

    but after the East Saint Louis Instantaneous Demolition Incident, it’s safety first.

    LOL.  I grew up near ESL, and during tornado season, the joke was “Did you hear East St. Louis got hit by a big tornado?  It did 4 million dollars of improvement.”

  49. Greg Norton says:

    Not for a Democrat. Eyebrows would have caught the little puffs.

    I don’t know. The old school guys knew the score.

    I still remember John Chancellor’s opening of the “NBC Nightly News” on the day that Gary Hart finally got caught. Chancellor, on fill-in duty for Brokaw that night, could barely control his glee.

    I’m sure that some of the glee was “I’m on duty and not the punk.”

  50. drwilliams says:

    East Saint Louis Toodle-00 (Duke Ellington via Steely Dan)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5cifJ225Tw

  51. lynn says:

    Ultra capacitors are awesome until they suddenly discharge.  And then they can discharge everything in a tenth of a second.   Totally awesome.

  52. lpdbw says:

    Ultra capacitors are awesome until they suddenly discharge.  And then they can discharge everything in a tenth of a second.   Totally awesome.

    That could lead to some interesting traffic events during Houston rush hours.  I can imagine I-10 at 5:00 some night, when a crash happens and there’s a fractional kiloton explosion.

  53. Alan says:

    >> >> No Christmas until after Thanksgiving. That means decorations, movies, music, etc.

    We haven’t watched Charlie Brown Thanksgiving yet. Definitely the weakest of the big 3,   but I still like it. 

    >> Don’t forget “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” is a Thanksgiving movie. Steve Martin and John Candy. 

    And speaking of this movie…

    ‘Planes, Trains And Automobiles’ 4K Ultra HD With Deleted Scenes From John Hughes Archive Released

    Just in time to take home for the Thanksgiving holiday, an updated version of the classic film Planes, Trains and Automobiles is being rereleased with more than an hour of additional footage.

    The Steve Martin and John Candy comedy is now on 4K Ultra HD and includes a bonus “lost luggage” Blu-ray disc with recently found deleted and extended scenes from director John Hughes’ archives.

    And a joyous Happy Thanksgiving to everyone here and their families!

  54. Alan says:

    >> Dilbert: Answering Emails

        https://dilbert.com/strip/2022-11-23

    Can I ?  Dare I ?

    One of the weird things when I went out on disability was walking away from my work inbox and its hundreds of unread emails. After about a week I forgot all about them.

  55. Alan says:

    >> This isn’t a place to put an office if you want to avoid the kind of liberal orthodoxy which doomed Twitter in San Francisco. 

    All cities of a million and over are full of liberal orthodoxy.  It is a disease that spreads quickly.

    We’re about half a million and happy to keep it in check. Now if we can only figure a way to keep the snowbirds away! Border walls maybe??

  56. Alan says:

    >> Bitcoin miners have a problem: a lot of people invested a lot of money in hardware, because the price was going up. Now that the price is down, there is a huge oversupply of miners trying to justify their investments. 

    Bitcoin Miners Face a Squeeze as BTC Production Cost Remains Well Above Spot Market Value

    OUCH!

    3
    1
  57. Greg Norton says:

    >> Bitcoin miners have a problem: a lot of people invested a lot of money in hardware, because the price was going up. Now that the price is down, there is a huge oversupply of miners trying to justify their investments. 

    The graphics card market for 8 GB and below has opened up quite a bit in the last year. Plus, new hardware is coming to put the previous generation into the $70 discount bin, something long overdue for the GTX 1650 series.

  58. Kenneth C Mitchell says:

    Odds that we will see Dogbert as Snoopy on Saturday?

    Quite good. 

  59. Lynn says:

    “The Scoop: Twitter’s ongoing cruel treatment of software engineers”

        https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/the-scoop-twitters-ongoing-cruel

    “Twitter has become the most toxic workplace amongst any major tech company in 2022. But why is Elon Musk treating developers in an unusually cruel way?”

    Elon Musk is doing things his way.  His company, his money.  Seems like a strange way of running things though.

  60. Nick Flandrey says:

    Seems like a strange way of running things though.  

    – but who is telling the stories?

    My questions, 

    WHY did Musk abandon his efforts to force the company to reveal its true metrics?

    WHY did fedgov get involved and force Musk to complete the deal?

    WHY did he do so without even another peep about the price being too high?

    n

  61. Nick Flandrey says:

    @lpdbw , I’ll email you when I get back to my home pc.   I don’t do email on this pc.

    n

  62. Nick Flandrey says:

    Turkey was good.  Done early, so just a bit on the dry side of done when we ate.   The ribs were an excellent snack.   Turkey took only ~5 hours.   Sides were ready though so we just ate a bit earlier than we’d normally have done.  A fantastic meal, with just us.  It was nice to be more relaxed and not have to manage guests or meet a timeline.

    Rained most of the day, alternating between misty drizzle and heavier rain, with a real gully washer thrown in mid morning.

    I even fished for a bit, since I was already geared up for the rain.  Lost a lure on my neighbor’s roof.  Yep.  Dock roof, but still got it hooked on a ROOF.   Did I mention I am not a fisherman?  

    No movie night as it’s cool and wet.  60F but feels colder.   And the damp is making all the normal spots hurt.   I will try for an early night, I think.  

    I hope everyone had an enjoyable day.

    n

  63. Lynn says:

    “Howls Of Outrage After New York Times Confirms SBF To Speak Alongside Zelenskyy, Yellen”

         https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/howls-outrage-after-new-york-times-confirms-sbf-speak-alongside-zelenskyy-yellen-dealbook

    “As we discussed last night, Sam Bankman-Fried has now demonstrated that he is both a pathological liar and a sociopath, the kind who in “explaining” to his employees how he stole billions (over $4 billion according to new FTX CEO John J. Ray) from the now bankrupt FTX, an act which left it insolvent and without liquidity, called it “loans” which were “generally” not used for “large amounts of personal consumption” (just “small amounts” used for such trivial items as $40 million penthouses and private jets).”

    “And the only reason we don’t officially call him a criminal just yet, is because he has not yet confirmed he used client money from his exchange to fund his personal hedge fund, an act which would cost any other individual decades in jail… but not prominent democrats like SBF or Jon Corzine, of course. Plus it’s the US legal system’s job to do that, not ours. Although we are growing increasingly skeptical this prominent Democratic donor will ever see the inside of a courtroom.”

    Wow.  Me or you, we would be inside a federal holding cell many days ago.

  64. Lynn says:

    I even fished for a bit, since I was already geared up for the rain.  Lost a lure on my neighbor’s roof.  Yep.  Dock roof, but still got it hooked on a ROOF.   Did I mention I am not a fisherman?  

    If I don’t lose at least two rigs, I ain’t fishing.  Worst is getting a ball of line and spending an hour trying to get it undone, then giving it up and cutting it off.

  65. Nick Flandrey says:

    Wow.  Me or you, we would be inside a federal holding cell many days ago.

    or had CNN get a tip off about the tac team coming for us in our pajamas…

    n

  66. SteveF says:

    It’s a big club…

  67. Greg Norton says:

    “Twitter has become the most toxic workplace amongst any major tech company in 2022. But why is Elon Musk treating developers in an unusually cruel way?”

    Elon Musk is doing things his way.  His company, his money.  Seems like a strange way of running things though.

    Nothing in that article surprises me. I’ve worked at some real sh*t shows.

    Kharma always catches up with the bad managers, however. I’ve never seen it fail to happen.

    Tony’s Waterloo is coming.

  68. Lynn says:

    Goodbye Sars-Cov-2

        https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/goodbye-sars-cov-2/

    “Some happy news this Thanksgiving:  Three years after the first atypical pneumonia patients started showing up at hospitals in Wuhan, looks like we can officially put the novel coronavirus behind us.”

    “After crashing in the spring, Sars-Cov-2 deaths have remained a rounding error worldwide ever since, about 1 percent of total deaths. And they continue to fall. Sars-Cov-2 is now roughly as big a killer worldwide as esophageal cancer.”

    Awesome graph.

    “The average age of death was 80, give or take.”

    “They don’t make plagues like they used to.”

  69. Greg Norton says:

    I hope everyone had an enjoyable day.

    “Knives Out: Glass Onion” was packed for both 8:30/9:00 shows tonight.

    I don’t know if the film was worth Netflix paying $400 million for the series rights sight unseen, but it was a nice piece of work for everyone involved.

    Well, except for NFLX stock holders.

  70. Lynn says:

    Pearls Before Swine: 450 Million Turkeys

       https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2022/11/24

    Heh !  There are 8 billion humans.

  71. Alan says:

    >> Anyone else had problems with UPS deliveries lately?

    My most recent was on time, but was delivered by a guy driving a sedan (probably his own car) with the trunk open and filled with packages. He was in civvies but with a reflective mesh vest that said on the back “UPS Seasonal Worker.”

  72. Alan says:

    >> My questions, 

    WHY did Musk abandon his efforts to force the company to reveal its true metrics?

    WHY did fedgov get involved and force Musk to complete the deal?

    WHY did he do so without even another peep about the price being too high?

    You might eventually get some “answers,” but not the answers, those TPTB don’t want you to know.

  73. Alan says:

    >> “After crashing in the spring, Sars-Cov-2 deaths have remained a rounding error worldwide ever since, about 1 percent of total deaths. And they continue to fall. Sars-Cov-2 is now roughly as big a killer worldwide as esophageal cancer.”

    Like Fauxi & Co don’t have Sars-Cov-3 already cooking in the lab…

  74. EdH says:

    Thanksgiving dinner was at my place this year. Two brothers, two friends, and one cancellation. 
     

    I went with a small bird, 13 pounds, and used an 18qt. electric roaster pan (GE & Walmart). I used this last year and ended up with a very dry bird. Talking to an experienced neighbor he said that an hour and a half would be more than sufficient, plus about a 45 minute push. I went for two hours, and the measured temp was 170, so I think his number was actually a better time.

    The bird was still  tender and juicy, and friends brought stuffing and biscuits, and we made some good gravy, and a good time was had by all.

  75. Brad says:

    Funny, y’all talking about HD I problems. I never had any until last week. Friend came over for a movie night, brought his laptop with Netflix. First stop in my setup is a splitter, to send video to the projector and audio to the stereo.

    It was weird: Certain combinations of cable and input device worked, while others didn’t. No rhyme or reason that I could find. It was really strange.

  76. Lynn says:

    >> “After crashing in the spring, Sars-Cov-2 deaths have remained a rounding error worldwide ever since, about 1 percent of total deaths. And they continue to fall. Sars-Cov-2 is now roughly as big a killer worldwide as esophageal cancer.”

    Like Fauxi & Co don’t have Sars-Cov-3 already cooking in the lab…

    They already have Sars-Cov-3, they cooked it up with Sars-Cov-2.  I suspect they released the wrong variant.

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