Cooler and wetter. Rained yesterday during the day, in places and for a while. Rained at night at the house. Certainly everything got wet. I’m expecting more of the same today.
I did my pickups. Did very little else. It’s hard to keep up the pace. I did get some Christmas presents bought, so that is something.
Today I have a couple of things I can do depending on weather. And tomorrow I’d like to finish up at my client’s house, so I can bill for some work. There is the ever present pile of stuff to do here too. And that includes trapping and moving ANOTHER stinking possum. I’m getting tired of the mess. Better than rats, because they aren’t eating my food, mostly, but they ruin it with their filth and by knocking it off the shelves.
It’s getting to the point that bear traps look good.
Ah well, you do what you can with what you have.
Stack some stuff, then stack some more. That part is straightforward and easy.
nick
Or, as I put it a couple years ago, if there’s one set of rules for the government and another set for you, then you aren’t being governed. You’re being ruled.
Can’t sleep tonight. So I’ll write a bunch.
I’ve been using that rotten tomatoes list since Thanksgiving. We are watching, on average, 4 movies a week from the list. It passes the time, and some of the movies need more wine than others do. The modern movies certainly have checkboxes, though.
I love the joke I came across. “I watched a Hallmark movie backwards. The heroine went from an ugly sweater under the Christmas tree, dumped her small-town boyfriend, and moved to the big city for an exciting career as a lawyer in pencil skirts.”
I probably misled in my earlier post. I have a favorite version of A Christmas Carol, but it is not my favorite movie.
In no particular order (except the first really is my favorite):
I’m building up the nerve to watch The Ref again. IIRC, it was a great ensemble cast, and oddly the armed burglar was the most sympathetic character, but the infidelity theme cuts too close to the bone. They gave me a huge hurdle trying to picture Judy Davis as desirable.
My funny “The Ref” story. Back when I was (probably) happily married, we rented it at Blockbuster and invited my in-laws and the parish priest over for dinner and a movie. We did not do our due diligence on this movie, obviously.
My in-laws knew all the words, but they hadn’t heard them used that frequently and energetically in a long time. The priest sat in the corner and smiled the whole time, drinking his wine. He enjoyed the movie, and I’m pretty sure he enjoyed everyone’s discomfiture.
Not a film for family watching. Just sayin’.
The George C. Scott version of “A Chistmas Carol” is a piece of computing history. When it first ran on TV, I remember the CBS Special Presentation (TM) was sponsored by IBM exclusively, shilling the then new PCs, every commercial break.
Of course it had that intro with the snippet of soundtrack from “Hawaii 5-0”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4_d_6A8nE0
It will be interesting to see who did get the money … if Bluto makes it to the stand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjIH1jdx2_A
Robert Francis isn’t a criminal. He stands to inherit a decent chunk of Lasalle Partners through his wife, and I believe the company was one of the bidders for Kohl’s in the botched sale within the last year.
Republican money. That’s the irony Robert Francis has to live with for the rest of his life, and I wish him good health for many years to come.
Another management decision which would worry me if I held Netflix stock – Mindy Kaling’s “Never Have I Ever”.
My wife and kids are running it lately. I don’t think the series is appropriate even for my almost-17 year-old.
I think the show is supposed to be funny. I haven’t heard any laughter from my family.
Correction: Jones Lang Lasalle is the proper name.
Still, the point is that Robert Francis’ wife will inherit a lot of money.
My nomination for oddball Xmas movie: “Brazil” 1985. Gotta love “designer ducts” and the nightmare of stuff inside apartment walls.
66F at 6am dropping to 59F at 7am. Light drizzle since I got up. Bus was on time.
@nick, just curious, are these auction dealers FFL holders to run gun auctions?
– some of them are. Some of them are just estate agents, or licensed auctioneers acting on behalf of the owners. That is how they do the dance, they never take possession of the guns, they are only facilitating the owner’s sale. Sometimes this used to mean that an owner would be at the house and the sale would be private party (the executor) to the buyer, no FFL needed. Since most of the sales went online, the auction company just has the guns delivered to an FFL, who then does the transfer to the buyer when s/he goes to pick up the gun. USUALLY they lower their typical transfer fee, but not always. Of course the FFL does the mandatory background check and federal paperwork.
n
Mountain House is still running daily deals on packages ordered directly. I think they are pricey, but they are widely regarded as the best of the freeze drieds…
https://mountainhouse.com/collections/day-8-of-savings
n
Freeze dried is my apocalypse backup. Four months for four people (and dogs). I figure if the goobermint cheese runs out and I can’t scavenge enough food after that, it is not worth living. Unless it is like The Walking Dead where they are finding canned goods and medicine 10 years after the apocalypse.
Twinkies like in “Zombieland”.
they are finding canned goods and medicine 10 years after the apocalypse.
– depends on how many die, and how quickly. If they live long enough to use up all the stuff, it’s gonna suck double for the survivors, but if large percentages die without using up the stuff that’s at hand, the survivors might have a chance to scavenge.
n
For me, freeze drieds are for bugging out, where weight is important, or for patrolling, movement, etc.
Throw a box in the truck, a case of water, and bail.
n
(and since the storm that left me and 300 kids stranded at school for a few hours, I now have a small box of mountain house in the truck all the time.)
You will not want to enter a healthcare facility after the mops stop moving bleach, especially a large hospital.
I wouldn’t even trust a CVS with the nasty carpet common to all of the stores in the chain.
The legacy recarpeted Eckerd Drugs stores remaining around Tampa are filthy abominations which were usually spotless even during Penney’s ownership. Ol’ Jack must be spinning in his grave.
Been a while since I mentioned this kid. What a smart and motivated guy.
Cole the Cornstar (modern farming life)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePdLGIsygfE
The linked vid is of his multi year cleanup of the property he inherited. The “motivational” part starts at 45 minutes. Well worth bookmarking to point other people to, when they moan about your success after hard work, or their lack of success without hard work.
n
Quoted for truth, and if I remember (which I won’t) I’ll quote it another half dozen times.
“1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.”
“He became an overnight success after only twenty years.”
“Eat the elephant one bite at a time.”
“Get knocked down six times, get back up six times.”
There wouldn’t be so many homilies about perseverance if it weren’t an important lesson that people need to have pounded into their heads.
Nothing to see here, just the latest in ‘died of suddenly’.
n
Swindling scum meets karma:
‘It’s not fit for humanity’: Sam Bankman-Fried’s Bahamas jail is infested with rats and maggots and inmates at high risk of TB get bedsores from lying on the ground – while kids are detained with adult prisoners
Can we get some of those prisons here?
David Strom
Junk Science: p-hacking Edition
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2022/12/14/junk-science-p-hacking-edition-n517546
“p-hacking” is very common in “studies” based on meta-analyses; going back over many perhaps-not-well-correlated “experiments” to find “relationships” which may or may not be spurious. In today’s “Publish or Perish” environment, writing a dozen or so “studies” can be the key to gaining or keeping tenure, and employment. Professors who are merely excellent teachers often fail to make the grade without those nonsense papers.
In no particular order (except the first really is my favorite):
My wife loves White Christmas. I have watched it many times, if I never see it again then I am good.
Note that I left Gremlins off my list. The bad Gremlins creep me out, especially Spike.
This.
I was just reading an article about a Swiss guy who has been told his Swiis social security will stop, if he moves in with his girlfriend in Thailand. Which sounded weird, because lots of Swiss retire abroad.
Turns out that it’s a disability pension. The guy has never worked. He’s played the system his whole life, being on welfare, or disability or something. Now he’s over 65, so he gets a permanent, but minimal, pension. Which he at least has to spend locally.
It’s great to have programs for those who need help, but abusers like that piss me off.
What are the odds?
Just paid $32 for a chunk of wood. D2 would like to carve mom a figure from wood. Bass wood is the wood of choice for carvers. At retail, it’s crazy that it is more than prime beef per pound…
n
Hey a new backup coffee maker!
https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-QuikPot-Propane-Coffee-Maker/dp/B004E4IAEQ?tag=ttgnet-20
bought one at auction for 10% of that price…
n
(coffee is an essential prep.)
Pearls Before Swine: Pig is holding a Telethon
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2022/12/14
Oh my, he went there ! That is hilarious !
“Putin ‘readies nuke missile for LAUNCH’ as Yars rocket able to strike UK and US is locked and loaded in silo near Moscow”
https://www.the-sun.com/news/6911324/putin-readies-nuke-launch-missile/
Putin is missile rattling. I am getting rattled. I would feel a lot better if we had a real ABM (anti ballistic missile) system.
Hat tip to:
https://www.drudgereport.com/
“Twitter Suspends @ElonJet, Even Though Elon Musk Said He Wouldn’t Ban It”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/twitter-suspends-at-elonjet-even-though-elon-musk-said-he-wouldnt-ban-it
Security violation.
Hey a new backup coffee maker!
https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-QuikPot-Propane-Coffee-Maker/dp/B004E4IAEQ?tag=ttgnet-20
bought one at auction for 10% of that price…
n
(coffee is an essential prep.)
Don’t forget the manual coffee bean grinder. Bummer, ours that performed well during Winter Storm Uri is out of stock.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XPVEKXY?tag=ttgnet-20/
While both can be carved, the bass wood will last a lot longer, so the correlation is price to longevity, but it’s probably not linear.
My gate opener has died. It’s a Mighty Mule 660 that I bought from Tractor Supply. A similar model, because they gotta get all wi-fi enabled and sheet, costs about what I expected but I don’t feel like dropping $550 for a complete system.
The battery went bad. Just a little 200 amp hour riding lawnmower battery. I give it a bit of water once a year. It’s been happy for about five years. I pulled the battery from the riding mower, it’s been on a Battery Minder for several months and showed 13.6 volts. Replaced the gate’s battery that was showing 3.2 volts and after a bit of time, the solar charger indicator showed the new battery was on float. Good. The solar panel is fine.
I checked all of the connections in the control box. Disconnected the remote entry sensor. . . it didn’t work anyway. Nice to have, too expensive to replace. The push button switches test good. The remote control works. The control box chirps a couple of times and clicks a couple of relays. Everything appears to work. The gate arm does nothing.
Best I can tell, there’s a limit switch in the arm. Moisture, dust, and spiders can mess it up. I’m taking the arm apart before replacing the entire system. It has been stopping at full close about 6 inches from actually being closed for a couple/three months. I confess to being too lazy to open the control box and reset the limits.
For those that think the gate sends an alarm to the house to announce your arrival, yeah, it can be done, but the gate has nothing to do with that.
Added:: And with the gate WIDE OPEN, yesterday’s Amazon delivery was left where? Care to guess? Not at the Front Door. There’s not a house in sight at the gate. Jerks.
Oh yeah, and wi-fi for the gate? They say half a mile range. Maybe that’s true. But my phone on wi-fi has no signal if I can’t see the house.
A puzzle.
You would be in a constant state of urinating here in TN. The welfare leaches abound. Complaining they don’t get enough. Restricted to SIX ER visits a month. Oh, the horror.
And in other news. Returning from Atlanta and the CEL came on. Traction control turned off and cruise control no longer functional. I am guessing a speed sensor somewhere, maybe on one of the axles or one of the two drive shafts. Probably a $150.00 part and $150.00 to repair. I blame Mr. Lynn as his Highlander started the problems and mine decided misery loves company. Look out Mr. Rick, you could be next.
It’s time to renew my hosting plan at JustHost (not the hosting plan for this place). I have the “Pro” plan (due to file size needs, mostly, because of all the sites I have), so can’t downgrade to a cheaper plan.
Renewal for 3 years was going to cost over $1K. So, did a chat with them and got the renewal price down to $345.00 for 3 years.
Not a bad deal, savings were more than moving to the next lower plan’s regular price. I got the ‘new customer’ price.
All done via Chat (much easier than phone support in most cases, so I prefer chat over phone call).
Now, off to work on the various web projects. Some sites have some minor error messages cluttering up the logs.
“Tim Canova: Supreme Court Considers Case Seeking to Overturn 2020 Presidential Election”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/12/tim-canova-supreme-court-considers-case-seeking-overturn-2020-presidential-election
Wait, what ? The time to do this was two years ago.
Pretty good deal, Rick.
My usual technique, on the rare occasion that I bother to do some hard bargaining, is to ease back on the price a bit. eg, argue them down from $1000 to $345, then tell them I’ll pay $400. This lets an agent get some commission or save some face and gets goodwill for the next time I go there. That said, I haven’t done it in years and never over text chat, so it might not matter – who cares about a “customer care” contractor for a big corporation, whom you’ll never talk to again?
The Old School Marm may have another lesson plan for voters about “foolish” political choices being remedied by the courts.
OTOH, hearing the case at the beginning of January will put the DC swamp on notice. The vote usually happens right after arguments with writing responsibilities assigned for opinions, but the actual decision isn’t final until published, and that could happen anytime between the hearing date and the end of June, when the court recesses for the Summer.
Any stunning revelations coming out of the House could see an immediate response from The Court.
Oh, what fun. None of the three remaining liberals are on the level of Breyer when it comes to writing dissent with the possible exception of Hermione Granger Kagan.
>> At retail, it’s crazy that it is more than prime beef per pound…
Something’s only worth what someone else will pay for it.
“Elon Musk’s Twitter isn’t paying its bills”
https://www.axios.com/2022/12/14/twitter-elon-musk-paying-bills-rent
Not good. Obviously Twitter is spending more than it is earning and Musk does not want to borrow the money or advance the money to the corporation. I suspect that the corporate coffers were empty when he took over.
Something’s only worth what someone else will pay for it.
There are two sides to that transaction. Something is worth what the seller is willing to sell it for and what the buyer is willing to pay for it. My old real estate buddy said he only thought that a truly priced transaction was made when both parties left the bargaining table upset, the seller that they left money on the table, the buyer that they paid too much.
For instance, there is no way that I would sell my office complex for a million dollars. But five million dollars, I would do that in a heart beat. But no one in their right mind would pay me five million dollars. But any one in their right mind would be willing to buy my office complex for a million dollars. The actual value is somewhere between those two numbers.
BTW, somebody stopped by the office the other day and asked my wife what the owner would sell it for. I emailed the guy back and said five million dollars. I am still waiting for his reply.
The local Ford dealership calls me about once a month asking what I will take for my truck. I tell them I paid $54K, I will now take $40K. They laugh, sort of, and then say that is unreasonable. I say that is what the truck is worth to me. That is my offer, take it or leave it. The dealership leaves it until some “hotshot” new lot lizard takes a job and gets access to the dealership files.
“Shelters, backpacks and FM radios: Kyiv prepares for nuclear war”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/shelters-backpacks-and-fm-radios-kyiv-prepares-for-nuclear-war/ar-AA15fQBQ
“KYIV, Ukraine — If Kyiv is struck by a nuclear bomb, Serhiy Dmytruk’s biggest fear is that he will survive the blast but die anyway from hunger, thirst or cold. So he has assembled what he calls his “nuclear backpack,” crammed with enough provisions and survival paraphernalia to sustain him for a week.”
“an elaborate device that includes a flashlight, an FM radio, and a windup charger.”
– that’s the most florid description of a chinese p.o.s. “survivial radio” that I’ve ever read. He’s better off with batteries and a small multiband radio that includes short wave.
n
“Shelters, backpacks and FM radios: Kyiv prepares for nuclear war”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/shelters-backpacks-and-fm-radios-kyiv-prepares-for-nuclear-war/ar-AA15fQBQ
“Natalia Sulima fears only that she will be separated from her 5-year-old son Misha, and she has been drilling him on the importance of following adults to a shelter whenever sirens sound. She won’t let him out without his own version of a nuclear backpack, a school bag containing a Transformers toy, snacks, and his favorite book: “The Boy Who Lives With Dragons.””
I am going to create my own nuclear backpack and put a copy of “Mutineer’s Moon” in it. I am not sure what my favorite toy is.
Monster truck with bulletproof glass and a 100-gallon gas tank?
Monster truck with bulletproof glass and a 100-gallon gas tank?
How about a M1135 Nuclear, Biological, Chemical, Reconnaissance Vehicle ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1135_Nuclear,_Biological,_Chemical,_Reconnaissance_Vehicle
At my age* it’s an ammo can with a P226, one regular and two extended magazines, and as many rounds as will fit the remaining space.
*In 1968 it would have been Barbi Benton
At my age* it’s an ammo can with a P226, one regular and two extended magazines, and as many rounds as will fit the remaining space.
I guess that my favorite toy could be my Ruger GP 100 seven shot .357 with the 2.5 inch barrel.
https://blog.k-var.com/reviews/pistols/ruger-gp100/
@Lynn
Acceptable*
*Sorry to hear you’re out of your Barbi Benton stage, too.
*Sorry to hear you’re out of your Barbi Benton stage, too.
That would be Farrah Fawcett and Linda Ronstadt. I had both of their posters.
I went to high school with Farrah’s youngest brother. She came by once and picked him up. The weasel told everyone so there was a big crowd waiting for her.
I need to get that Starlink installed. I am uploading a 180 MB patch for a user. It is taking 30 minutes at 1 mpbs upload.
Every boy of that time had the Farrah poster!
n
Lynn:
Starlink works GREAT for me, but at that speed, it might be cheaper to drive to a McDonalds or Starbucks and use their wifi!
Fixed one of my many ‘pulled from service’ TVs for the BOL. It needed a new power supply board. $20 and it was saved from the landfill for a while longer. A 46 or 48″ regular HD only brings about $30-40 in the auctions anyway, but it’s more than we need at the lake, the fix was easy and cheap, and it’s good for a while. That is the real “green” choice.
n
>> That would be Farrah Fawcett and Linda Ronstadt. I had both of their posters.
I went to high school with Farrah’s youngest brother. She came by once and picked him up. The weasel told everyone so there was a big crowd waiting for her.
Went to HS with Spike Lee…never had the inclination to put up his poster.
Something weird going on with the up and down votes. Votes are disappearing.
n
David Strom does some energy accounting and speaks truth to fusion:
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2022/12/14/my-take-fusion-breakthrough-a-total-dud-n517800
I propose turning this whole process upside-down from the way it’s been done since WWII: We quit pissing money down a rathole, wait for someone else to do it, and then steal it.
>> I am not sure what my favorite toy is.
Monster truck with bulletproof glass and a 100-gallon gas tank?
How about a M1135 Nuclear, Biological, Chemical, Reconnaissance Vehicle ?
I was gonna say a Slinkie, but maybe I need to rethink that. Always had one on my desk at the office as a stress-reducer.
>> Then there is the laser problem. Each laser is vastly expensive, inefficient (see above), and incapable of firing often. In order to generate electricity they will have to fire 10s of times a second, and right now they can use the lasers about 10 times a week. They have no idea how to get from here to there.
They’ll figure it out in…what’s the going SWAG?…ten years?
Since the Russkies are bombing the crap out of the traditional energy infrastructure of Ukraine, wouldn’t it be a perfect time to replace it with cheaper energy in the form of solar panels and wind turbines? The EU can lead that effort and show the world what the future looks like.
>> And in other news. Returning from Atlanta and the CEL came on. Traction control turned off and cruise control no longer functional. I am guessing a speed sensor somewhere, maybe on one of the axles or one of the two drive shafts. Probably a $150.00 part and $150.00 to repair. I blame Mr. Lynn as his Highlander started the problems and mine decided misery loves company. Look out Mr. Rick, you could be next.
@Ray, ymmv but I’d check the codes first. I’ve seen a few cars with CELs on where the traction control and cruise control were shut down but the real issue was a problem with some component of engine functionality (air/spark/fuel). The traction control and/or cruise control dash lights come on to get more attention to the fact that there’s an issue and to temporarily disable ancillary functions that may not work properly due to the underlying issue.
>> Freeze dried is my apocalypse backup. Four months for four people (and dogs). I figure if the goobermint cheese runs out and I can’t scavenge enough food after that, it is not worth living. Unless it is like The Walking Dead where they are finding canned goods and medicine 10 years after the apocalypse.
What I remember from watching TWD is the difficulties the survivors had sustaining vegetable gardens (pests, lack of potable water) and how unappealing fire-grilled horse meat tasted.
>> depends on how many die, and how quickly. If they live long enough to use up all the stuff, it’s gonna suck double for the survivors, but if large percentages die without using up the stuff that’s at hand, the survivors might have a chance to scavenge.
Also from the show a lot of the scavenging was done by the ‘Mad Max’ type groups.
But TWD is fiction, so YMMV when it’s really TEOTWAWKI.
“Elon Musk’s son X ‘followed by stalker who climbed on car hood’ as Twitter CEO suspends Jack Sweeney jet tracker account”
https://www.the-sun.com/tech/6919934/elon-musk-twitter-sweeney-suspended-stalker-lil-x/
You know, when you terrorize the two year old son and the girlfriend of a billionaire, pray that he comes after you legally. Because people like that know people and California has some really deep lakes.
>> Then there is the laser problem. Each laser is vastly expensive, inefficient (see above), and incapable of firing often. In order to generate electricity they will have to fire 10s of times a second, and right now they can use the lasers about 10 times a week. They have no idea how to get from here to there.
They’ll figure it out in…what’s the going SWAG?…ten years?
“DOE hails fusion technology breakthrough on path to achieving abundant zero-carbon energy”
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/doe-hails-fusion-technology-breakthrough-on-path-to-achieving-abundant-zero/638585/
“Commercializing fusion ignition will probably take decades, Budil said. “Not six decades I don’t think. Not five decades, which we used to say,” she said. “I think it’s moving into the foreground and probably with concerted effort and investment a few decades of research on the underlying technologies could put us in a position to build a power plant.””
And we have 20 years plus 20 years plus some.
The new Matilda movie is weirdly brilliant. Musical. Looking forward to taking my ten year old.
Had the friends children last few days. Another snow day. grades for term were issued today. One child passed all of her classes and improved her grades in many classes from first term. Other child passed all but one class, which she would have passed if her father hadn’t kept her up past 11 pm the night before an important test last week. Two more points on the test would have brought her to a C in that class. dammit. I’m patting my back on this one – I stayed on top of the homework with them every time we had them, navigated the teachers, and practiced organizational skills. I think moms ready to pull the trigger on the big D. Not what we ever hope for, but almost certainly the least harmful path forward in this case. The children start therapy soon. I’m grateful mom is listening. My heart aches for this family.
My sister died today. It’s not unexpected. She’s been I’ll from her lifetime abuse of alcohol and drugs, it finished catching up with her. I lay her death at the feet of my (also dead) alcoholic parents. She got a double helping of my dads side of the family and couldn’t struggle past the brokenness. it’s just myself and my oldest sister left of my immediate family. I can’t say I was ever close to the sister who died. We despised each other as children, and I didn’t think much of her as an adult. I feel bad for not feeling a deeper grief. Guilt sucks. I’m sorry she had a crappy life and wish things had been different. While I won’t miss her, I am sad.
Christmas shopping as a distractor tonight. More snow has fallen. The streets are a wreck despite city plow operators best efforts. It was dodgy navigating the streets in my Mini Countryman. I swear I’m getting that 2” lift kit.
I need to clear the roof of the rabbitry again. I need to wrap Christmas presents. I need to be still and contemplate life. All in good time.
@SteveF
yesterday – thanks for a much needed laugh. Yeah, I figure I’m headed for the reeducation camps with most of my friends.
@lynn
pantyhose. Who knew? I’ll give it a shot.
@jenny, my condolences. Even given the circumstances, it still sucks.
You are doing what you can to balance the scales by helping with the kids. You might be saving their lives. See about re-taking the failed test. Our district has very liberal re-take policies, with upper limits on the grade you can get the second time around, but always better than a failing grade.
You are fighting the good fight.
n
I agree with Nick!