Sun. Feb. 19, 2023 – date feels weird somehow, what am I missing?

By on February 19th, 2023 in culture, decline and fall, lakehouse, Random Stuff

Cool here at the BOL, and damp of course.  Yesterday was nice.   Cool and clear with some clouds.  Bit nippy in the evening.  Today should be nice.

I did a couple of errands before heading up yesterday.  Dropped in on my gun store buddy.   Helped the wife and kids get ready for 6 hours of cookie booth…   then loaded up the truck and headed out.

Didn’t get much done other than putting food away, and unloading the truck.  Didn’t really expect to with the late start.

Today should be plumbing and electrical with a side of cleaning and organizing.  I might run the mower to keep the weeds down, and the gas fresh.  Battery is probably down though, in which case, I’ll get the charger going.   I need to do the full spring service before too long.   I have all the stuff but have been putting it off.

There are some branches to collect and maybe if there isn’t much wind, I’ll try burning some of my slash pile.  Lot of burning brush piles on the way in yesterday.  Given the level of the lake, there has been a lot of rain lately.  I might need to use an accelerant.  Always a good time…

The journey of a thousand steps– yada yada.

Prep.  Improve.  Stack…

 

n

73 Comments and discussion on "Sun. Feb. 19, 2023 – date feels weird somehow, what am I missing?"

  1. Ray Thompson says:

    First post.

    Nothing to say, just first post.

  2. EdH says:

    I picked up 20ft of red rope light.   I am thinking of putting it under the benches around the dock to give some light while observing.  I just want enough that you don’t bump into things and a clearly defined edge…

    Field stops…not just for eyepieces…

  3. CowboyStu says:

    “If I could sell my 3,300 ft2 house with a 1,200 ft2 garage for $1,199,000, I would list it today.”

    We bought our house, as first owners, 1900 sq. ft. two story and two car garage, for $30,000 in August, 1967.  I am in 92649, 1 mile from the beach.  Jenny has a good idea of where I am.  Now estimated about $1,100,000 and I am not moving, no elderly assisted place for me.

  4. Greg Norton says:

    Did something happen to Richard Belzer? Letterman put this on YouTube within the last hour.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5uK9pGIzW8

  5. drwilliams says:

    CBS Sunday Morning did a cursory segment on the construction of the Washington Monument. Despite showing a photo of the aluminum apex, they did not mention anything about the history of that piece.

    When it was constructed in 1884 aluminum metal was rare and prices were on par with silver. At 100 ounces it was the largest piece of aluminum ever produced, and the backup plan was to use aluminum bronze* if the casting of pure aluminum failed. The completed apex was displayed at Tiffany’s in New York before being installed on the monument.

    The original quoted price of $75 was inflated by changes in the specifications, and after some negotiation the a final price of $225 was agreed.

    https://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/9511/Binczewski-9511.html

    *Traditional bronze is about 90% copper and 10% tin. Aluminum bronze substitutes aluminum for the tin.

  6. CowboyStu says:

    YUUUP, at 5 pm today, I will be at Mother’s Tavern in Sunset Beach, Ca to enjoy live C & W music by Wreck N Sow.  https://www.facebook.com/MothersTavern,  https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=wreck%20n%20sow.

    I will be happy to see those that live within 3 driving hours, e.g., dkreck, EdH and JimB, withn 1st one on me.

  7. Greg Norton says:

    Tyler Durden cowardice reporting Stack-n-Rank is back at the tech companies, starting with “Meta”.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/prepping-more-layoffs-meta-hands-out-thousands-poor-performance-reviews-employees

    We caught hints of it being utilized where I currently work last year, but then the employee satisfaction surveys came back with dismal numbers which couldn’t be explained away with stat crunching so all talk of how the reviews would proceed stopped.

  8. Greg Norton says:

    Tetris. The Movie.

    The film answers all the questions you’re left pondering when the game is over. 🙂

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BLM1naCfME

    Ok. Not really.

    I worked for one of the principals who licensed the game for the US at the previous job. People still give him money based on the success of Tetris, but the new company was going nowhere fast in terms of its goal of becoming a DoD contractor specializing in intrusion detection systems.

    Again, Clapper sat on the board until being discredited.

  9. MrAtoz says:

    Talk about a 180:

    Biden’s Secretary of State warns China is weighing giving Russia ‘lethal assistance’ in its year-long war with Ukraine and warns Beijing attempted to surveil important U.S. military installations with spy balloon

    US (yesterday): China good. Wut balloons?

    US (today): Get those commie pinko bastards!

    China: USA = asshoe!

    I guess the polling changed overnight.

  10. Nick Flandrey says:

    65F and rising.   Mostly clear, sunny.    Slept in, then stayed in bed for a while longer.   Was dreaming about some friends I haven’t seen in years.   Nice to see them even if just in a dream.

    Laundry is folded.  breakfast is done.  Work avoidance can’t continue any longer.

    I’ve been having some comm issues, had to restart the phone several times to get data.   Frown.  So I’m even less connected than normal.

    better get to it.

    n

  11. Ray Thompson says:

    I am now running W11 on my MacBook M2 Air. I really only want to take one computer with me to Europe. I like the integration of the Apple products with my iPad, Watch, and iPhone. But some applications such as Quicken really suck on the MacBook Air. I can import my Windows file into Quicken for Mac, but it is a one direction transfer. I need to keep track of transactions while on the trip. I don’t want to do double entry. Running W11 on my MacBook Air seems like a reasonable solution.

  12. Greg Norton says:

    I am now running W11 on my MacBook M2 Air. I really only want to take one computer with me to Europe. I like the integration of the Apple products with my iPad, Watch, and iPhone. But some applications such as Quicken really suck on the MacBook Air. I can import my Windows file into Quicken for Mac, but it is a one direction transfer. I need to keep track of transactions while on the trip. I don’t want to do double entry. Running W11 on my MacBook Air seems like a reasonable solution.

    Via Parallels or did Apple get off their butts and deliver a Boot Camp solution?

    It wouldn’t surprise me to see Apple backtrack on eliminating Intel in order to keep a foot in the door with AI. Figure the Mac Pro and maybe a big i9 laptop are in the works. Nvidia wouldn’t surprise me either.

    Quicken doesn’t seem to be moving forward since it went to private equity ownership.

  13. Ray Thompson says:

    Via Parallels or did Apple get off their butts and deliver a Boot Camp solution?

    Parallels. Seemed to be the best solution now that Microsoft has blessed and sprinkled holy water over the use of Parallels. The reviews of Parallels were fairly good about the use of Parallels on the MAC. Installing Parallels and the software downloaded W11 Pro ARM for the installation. Everything I have tried seems to work. The important issue being Quicken which can be quirky.

    I have several W10 licenses that work just fine for W11 running on Parallels on the MAC.

    I now have just one laptop computer that I need to be able to take to Europe. It will work well with my other Apple products. Will allow me to download and watch several of my movies that I have purchased from Apple. And runs the Windows applications that I need.

    Quicken doesn’t seem to be moving forward since it went to private equity ownership.

    They do make updates to the product. Every month or so I get an update message. Nothing they have done affects me, so I don’t see any real benefit. When Intuit owned Quicken nothing was ever really done with the software. Time will tell. I have 20 years of transactions with Quicken so I am sort of stuck. Mint does not thrill me as I really don’t want my information in the cloud where it would be compromised. With the amount of hack recently I have a modest distrust with the cloud services.

    The MacBook Air does seem to run Windows 11 Pro quite nicely. The speed is excellent, as good as my Surface Laptop. Had the MacBook Air with Apple silicon (M1, M2) been available when I bought my Surface, I probably would not have purchased the Surface. The MacBook, running Parallels, is as good or better than the Surface Laptop. The keyboard and trackpad on the Air are the best I have used.

    The version of Parallels that I purchased only allows 8 Gig of memory on the virtual machine. It should not be a problem for me. To get more memory in the configuration requires the higher version of Parallels and that is $119.00 per year. No thanks. I paid $129.00 for a perpetual license, no upgrades after a year. Considering my use, good enough.

  14. lpdbw says:

    I have a few things for sale at my farm up in the Midwest, and I’m placing ads on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace.  I’ve procrastinated enough that now I have to hurry, since I’m selling the farm.

    I remember now why I gave up having garage sales.  I hate selling stuff, and I hate dealing with website interfaces, and I have no idea how to price stuff.  Since I could afford it, I generally just gave/threw stuff away and bought new when I needed it.  It would be stupid not to sell this old farm equipment though.

    I know this attitude will leave me in a weak position in a post-crash society.  But I just don’t have the energy to spend on this stuff.

    I respect those who have the skills and inclination to do the bartering/trading/auctioning like Nick does.  It’s just not in me, and I suppose I’ll have to learn it when the time comes.  And that means I’ll learn it the hard way.

  15. EdH says:

    I really only want to take one computer with me to Europe.

    A lot of people use disposable/wipeable phones and computers for travel, given the possibility for copying/scraping/malware-installation when passing through customs.  In particular I’ve heard password managers and keychains are big targets.

  16. RickH says:

    Re selling stuff: around here in the Pacific NW, there are several businesses that help with estate sales and garage sales for those that are downsizing or getting rid of relative’s possessions.

    They go through your house with the owner, and put things in three categories: stuff to throw away, stuff to take with you, and stuff to sell. They will help sell the stuff, taking a percentage, of course. And they will box up the stuff you want to keep, and get rid of everything else via the local thrift store or the local landfill.

    A variation of that is the ‘auction helpers’, who create auction listings for your stuff, manage the on-line auction, and staff the ‘pickup day’ where the buyer gets their items. One such in this area is MaxSold.com . 

    So, perhaps a local estate sales service might be found in the area of your house. They will take a commission, of course, but the advantage is that they will handle it all for you. Which might be worth the commission.

  17. RickH says:

    I really only want to take one computer with me to Europe.

    I’d take an inexpensive Chromebook with me, and only put minimal data on there. I’d assume that any data on the device might be inadvertently ‘shared’, so it would be mostly ‘disposable’ data. 

    Any financial transactions would wait until I get home. In particular, not a fan of taking years of Quicken data with me. Too much personal information in there. Even with password managers (which have their own problems).

    I’d be using the Chromebook only for web surfing and email and messaging. In fact, a phone might be enough for those needs. 

    YMMV, of course. But I’d be concerned about data theft. 

    If you are taking your computer with you, I’d assume you will be doing full backups of everything before you go.

  18. paul says:

    Big River says I have a package coming tomorrow.  The tracking number is USPS.  Since it’s Washington’s Birthday (says my tracking device) I suppose it will arrive on Tuesday.  Not a big deal, just a curiosity.  What happened to President’s Day?  Is Lincoln being erased for some reason?

    Hold on.  I just looked at my tracking device and it’s President’s Day tomorrow.  It said Washington’s Birthday last time I looked.  What the heck Google? 

    The van is at the Ford dealer.  Hopefully they will be gentle.  The check engine light comes on, code says it’s high pressure on the fuel rail.  Could be a bad sensor or a bad wire.  The van runs fine.  The ABS light comes and goes and the right rear brake makes noise.  Oh, and while you have it, can you check some of the ground cables because the power locks sometimes work, sometimes don’t.  Which is a pain in the you know where when you have a bunch of groceries behind the back seat and the tailgate refuses to unlock.  It needs inspecting, too.

    $175 just to look at it but that applies towards the work.  I don’t expect to like the total bill.  But hopefully Ford trained eyes will be worth the expense.  The van is a 2004 and has all of 53,000 miles on it.  If we can get another ten years, hey, someone, not me, will be too old to drive by then. 

     For more not fun to deal with stuff, I bought a couple of batteries for LG V20 phones.  From Brooklyn.  December 31.  Somehow eBay supplied a tracking number that goes to Canada.  I did their “file a complaint” thing and it’s all on hold until the 24th.  It’s just $20 and change.  If eBay says “suck it” or something like that, I’m calling Discover. 

    Meanwhile, I bought another battery from a different seller in the Dallas area.  It sat in the post office for a week for some reason and then showed up in two days.  It had 80% charge.  I topped it off and well, with the phone just laying on the desk, it’s down to 17% after four days.  Just like a new phone.   Don’t know what is using wi-fi.  Wi-fi is turned off. 

  19. paul says:

    A few years ago a couple of friends did the Viking River Cruise.  Stockholm, somewhere in Denmark, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Moscow and I forget the rest.  One took a Kindle Fire.  The other a laptop.  The Kindle just worked and the laptop never did manage to connect to any wi-fi anywhere.

    So that’s a option for being able to do e-mail and some web surfing. 

  20. drwilliams says:

    USPS continues it’s death spiral.

    I got a surprise a couple months ago when I priced the return of a thermocouple. 3″x3″x30″ long ( less than 0.20 ft3 and USPS wanted a $14 surcharge for the length. Shipped it UPS instead.

    Found out last week that USPS discontinued their Priority Mail Regional A and B boxes and service. For those not familiar, it was a zoned service started in 2011 that shipped for the 2-lb rate with a 15-lb limit. The boxes looked like USPS Flat Rate boxes and were only available in the online USPS Store. Likewise, the rate was only available online, not at the retail counter.

    Regional A and B boxes each came in two shapes: chunky and skinny. I used a ton of the chunky A box (10.125 x 7.125 x 5″) over the years.  Very handy for tools and machine parts. The skinny A box (13.063 x 11.063 x 2.5″) came in handy for large flat items and some books.

    The USPS website states:

    After conducting a Return on Investment analysis, the Postal Service™ decided to discontinue further production of these boxes as part of an effort to simplify the Priority Mail products offering. Customers who currently use these boxes are encouraged to place orders before supplies are depleted.

    The recommended alternative to these boxes is Priority Mail Cubic. Priority Mail Cubic is a sub-service of Priority Mail in which the commercial customer ships using their own packaging and the pricing is based on the outer dimensions of the package rather than its weight. Additionally, this option offers similar cost savings. Priority Mail Cubic packages must:

    n Measure 0.5 cubic feet or less;

    n Weigh 20 pounds or less; and

    n May not exceed 18 inches (at the longest dimension).

    Priority Mail Cubic offers zone pricing with five price tiers up to 0.5 cubic feet

    and the pertinent page of the DMM is here:

    https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm

    (scroll down to Commercial—Cubic)

    Note that PM Commercial Cubic is not available online at USPS. Neither is Media Mail (books), and it’s not hard to imagine that making it more difficult results in more money for USPS*. Likewise, there’s no indication that PMCC will be available through eBay or Amazon Shipping.

    PMCC is available through stamps.com, and this latest change will doubtless push me to combine all my shipping under that umbrella. In the case of eBay it will be interesting to compare prices. eBay charges their commission (12-15%) on the full amount that buyer’s pay, including the tax that the seller never sees. I have no doubt whatsoever that the somewhat compensatory “discount” that eBay gives sellers on shipping Priority Mail is after some of the shipper discount sticks to their fingers. 

    I’d be interested if anyone has any additional perspective.

    *The post office has been playing games with shipping for years. Take a look at the First Class section in the link above. 

  21. drwilliams says:

    @paul

     If eBay says “suck it” or something like that, I’m calling Discover. 

    Make sure you know how many days you have with Discover. You’ll be close to 60 .

  22. Greg Norton says:

    A few years ago a couple of friends did the Viking River Cruise.  Stockholm, somewhere in Denmark, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Moscow and I forget the rest.  One took a Kindle Fire.  The other a laptop.  The Kindle just worked and the laptop never did manage to connect to any wi-fi anywhere.

    Windows 10 Home has a lot of problems connecting to WiFi on the road in my experience.

    The upside of Amazon spyware is that they will want to know where you are at all times and connections from a Fire to a hotel or airport WiFi will be easy and reliable.

    I added a Kindle Fire with a big SD card to my travel bag last year. I watch movies I rip myself.

  23. paul says:

    Postage is all whacked.  I use to have a ton o’ fun buying Pez dispensers on eBay.  The local stores don’t stock much. A cheap hobby and the kids think it’s cool. 

    Postage now?  Last time I looked the Priority Mail box the size of a U-Matic tape was about $8 instead of $4.80. Which kills buying a few $1.49 things when postage costs more. 

    What’s a stamp cost now?  I have a roll of Forever Stamps I’m working on from when they cost 42¢ or so.  I mail about eight xmas cards year and that’s about all.  They are old enough that the self-stick isn’t working. 

    I know.  I’m full of hate or something and should check my privilege.  Check it where has never been clear.  

  24. paul says:
    Windows 10 Home has a lot of problems connecting to WiFi on the road in my experience.

    This was Win7.

    The Win10 thing may be valid.  I can hot spot my phone with wi-fi and this Win11 box will not connect.  It acts like it’s going to work but nope.  Tether with a cable and BOOM it works.  I have no idea what the problem is.  Stupid PC connected to my LAN via wi-fi just fine with out asking when setting the PC up.   

  25. Ray Thompson says:

    A lot of people use disposable/wipeable phones and computers for travel, given the possibility for copying/scraping/malware-installation when passing through customs.

    I thought about that possibility. This will be my 10th trip to Europe. The previous 7 trips I carried a cellphone. Customs or immigration never even looked at my phone which was in my pocket powered off, entering into Germany and returning to the U.S.

    I don’t think I am a high value target or someone which they are concerned. I am also not visiting a turd-world country like Mexico.

    I’d take an inexpensive Chromebook with me, and only put minimal data on there. I’d assume that any data on the device might be inadvertently ‘shared’, so it would be mostly ‘disposable’ data. 

    I don’t think there is any bigger worry or concern than in the U.S. I have carried laptops before in Germany, Spain, Croatia and Norway without any problems. I don’t connect to public WiFi while doing financial transactions as I am using the WiFi of our hosts.

    The Chrome OS will not support the applications I need while traveling. I might as well carry a flat brick.

    Windows 10 Home has a lot of problems connecting to WiFi on the road in my experience.

    I never had any issues connecting to WiFi while traveling in Europe. I have used W10, W8, W7, and W98. Again, no public spots, only consumer WiFi locations for sensitive stuff.

    A SIM card is being ordered for my iPhone to use while in Europe. About $13.00 for 15 gigs of data, unlimited talk and text. I have done this on my last three trips.

    I plug in the SIM after passing through immigration and customs. I save my old SIM to plug back in went I return to the U.S. after passing through customs and immigration.

    The need for the SIM is to access the German train schedules, text people about arrivals. I don’t know if the SIM I am getting will allow tethering. I need to access the credit card processor to make certain there are no fraudulent transactions happening.

    I am more concerned about my credit card being compromised than my laptop. I was able to spend $200.00 on train tickets in Norway using my credit card with no PIN and no verification. Just insert the card into the ticket booth. I do inform the credit card issuer which countries I will be visiting and the dates of the visits. That is necessary to allow the card to work and helps avoid fraud.

    If I was going to a turd-world country, like Mexico, India, Chicago, I would really consider a burner phone and just get a local SIM. Throw the phone away when I got home.

  26. drwilliams says:

    Thomas Massie (R-KY) runs his home off the battery from a wrecked Tesla

    https://hotair.com/headlines/2023/02/19/thomas-massie-runs-his-home-off-the-battery-from-a-wrecked-tesla-n531768

    from the Twitter link in the above comes this link to an interview from 2018:

    https://cheddar.com/media/rep-thomas-massie-r-ky-powers-his-home-with-a-tesla-car-battery

    and i found this from 2022 with more details and photos:

    https://teslanorth.com/2021/12/12/salvaged-tesla-model-s-battery-and-solar-used-to-power-home-by-u-s-representative/

    The comments are worth reading. 

  27. paul says:

    Stupid question.  

    Supposedly you’re supposed to run a new cell phone battery all the way down like three or four times, to “train it” and then you can charge at will.  Something about memory.  It all smells of bovine processed grass but let’s go with it just in case it’s true.

    Is a 7% charge after 97h 22min enough low enough to put on charge?   

    I’d like to know why wi-fi has used 23%.  When wi-fi is turned off.  Just saying. 

    The phone has just decided 5% is the “charge me” point.  Ok. cool. Then it complains about “slow charging” which is fine.  I’m not using the phone’s “charge in an hour” power supply, the previous phone charger gets it done in three hours or so.  Phone doesn’t get hot, so…

  28. Ray Thompson says:

    Supposedly you’re supposed to run a new cell phone battery all the way down like three or four times, to “train it” and then you can charge at will.  Something about memory.  It all smells of bovine processed grass but let’s go with it just in case it’s true.

    No, you don’t. The chemistry used in the batteries does not suffer from memory effects. That was a problem with NICAD cells, not with Lithium ION. Some say a complete discharge is bad. Phones today have a lot of smarts to protect the battery. Well, decent phones anyway. A $35.00 Walmart special is probably questionable. Supposedly running a battery to depletion is supposed to re-calibrate the battery level algorithm. Bull fecal matter.

    A lot of this stuff comes from geeks who don’t see the sunlight for days, maybe weeks, at a time. The old argument of turning off a PC at night, or let it run. I have had more stuff fail on startup than leaving it on. Even spinning rust seems to work better left spinning, bearings warm, lubricants warm, no current surge on startup.

    Only time I would shut down is with a laptop that I am carrying so the heads are parked if I drop the laptop. With an SSD laptop, just close the lid and move on, no need to shut down.

  29. Greg Norton says:

    Thomas Massie (R-KY) runs his home off the battery from a wrecked Tesla

    At this point, it appears that recycling the cells to recover the lithium and cobalt looks like it will never be possible at commercial scale. I’m seeing more stories like this, attempting to establish the narrative that the batteries will be repurposed and/or the cars will act as household storage.

    No one talks about the costs of wiring the garage for two way power transfer to/from the home grid.

  30. Greg Norton says:

    No, you don’t. The chemistry used in the batteries does not suffer from memory effects. That was a problem with NICAD cells, not with Lithium ION. Some say a complete discharge is bad. Phones today have a lot of smarts to protect the battery. Well, decent phones anyway. A $35.00 Walmart special is probably questionable. Supposedly running a battery to depletion is supposed to re-calibrate the battery level algorithm. Bull fecal matter.

    Pre uni-body Intel MacBook Pros have circuitry in the battery for monitoring discharge, and a common “training” procedure when the battery is brand new is to charge it to full and then turn off all of the power saver options so the laptop can run until the battery depletes.

    I’ve never had the third party batteries for my 2007 MacBook Pro last much beyond the warranty period. I held off buying a new battery for the machine until just recently, when the 6.1 version of Linux meant the machine could come off of the scrap heap and be usable again.

    “Usable” is of course relative. My current “road” machine is an old Inspiron 14 which is not good at doing much beyond running Fedora Linux minimally enough for web, mail, and light development. Of course, I’m old school and don’t play with VS Code so “light” for me is actually pretty heavy duty.

    OTOH, no one in their right mind would steal the laptop. The SSD might be worth a few bucks, but that’s it.

  31. Ray Thompson says:

    a common “training” procedure when the battery is brand new is to charge it to full and then turn off all of the power saver options so the laptop can run until the battery depletes

    I have heard that but have not found any viable sources. Maybe my Duck-duck-go Kungfu is lacking. I have seen many references that indicate fully discharging a battery is bad for the health of the battery. The circuits should know when a battery no longer has enough charge to operate the system. There is not that much difference between batteries that it is necessary to calibrate the monitoring parameters.

  32. Nick Flandrey says:

    @lpdbw ,   ditto for what Rick said above.   I’ve shopped with MaxSold in houston and wasn’t impressed but everywhere is different.

    You should also check estatesales.net    (and possibly estatesales.com- they are dfferent platforms.)   If there are estate sale companies working that area, they  will probably use one of those.   In houston .net is a better platform and most of the sellers I’ve talked with prefer it.   It isn’t an auction site, just a “look what’s there” site.

    Also try hibid.com and look at the area.   Most local companies that do estate sales will also use an online auction platform like hibid.

    The bonus to using a company is they deal with customers.   They deal with money, and when it sells, it’s GONE.  Cheaper than calling 1800 got junk.

    I’m gonna go down and lay my fire before I lose the light.

    n

  33. Ray Thompson says:

    OTOH, no one in their right mind would steal the laptop

    Anyone dumb enough to steal the machine would probably not know that. I had a GPS stolen, old unit, as in really old. Thief stole the unit and ripped the power cable. GPS wasn’t worth $0.89 at that point as it was a proprietary cable.

    Thieves are not known for being even close to the upward slope on the left side of the bell curve. But they are “a bright boy wida future dat twould give da mama da shirt offen der back” once they have been shot to win the lawsuit lottery.

  34. RickH says:

    Another thought about estate sales companies in an area – a good local realtor should know of what companies serve the area.  

    2
    1
  35. drwilliams says:

    World Health Organization Recommends Stockpiling Meds for Radiological Catastrophe

    Tim Newcomb, January 27, 2023

    https://news.yahoo.com/world-health-organization-recommends-stockpiling-192600787.html

    WHO report is 66-page download here:

    https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240067875

    The report has a readily recognizable typeo in the ToC.

    The prepper utility of this is marginal. It’s more on the order of “How is the goobermint doing with respect to recommendations for stockpiling drugs which may be useful after a nuclear exchange and what is the logistical plan for distribution to affected areas.” 

    The current administration is completely corrupt and insists that a bunch of poor white folks in Ohio have nothing to worry about in a situation that would make a liberal enclave in Cali crap themselves inside out while having millions of dollars in assets going their way with the appropriate chest thumping from Joey Hairsniffer and Petey Bootyjuice while the media interviewed Sam the Luggage Thief on “What they’re doing wrong”!” as Keith and Rachel scream the “It’s all Trump’s fault” chorus. 

  36. drwilliams says:

    @lpdbw

    I would check the online for “farm equipment auctions in xxx”.

    A local ag paper would be another source, as would the county extension.

    The firms that specialize in farm equipment are most likely to properly value that equipment and have the eyeballs and bidders on their listings to get a goodly fraction.

  37. drwilliams says:

    https://ace.mu.nu/archives/021923%20you%20suck%20chart%20scaled.jpg

    Needs a smaller bull with a “make correction” ring, but otherwise looks pretty good.

    (okay, really, Weasel has some pretty good advice on the bad days)

  38. drwilliams says:

    Mount Olive Pickles Tour Video

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MgYPB0O1nI&t=791s

    1100 pickle vats on-site. 

  39. Greg Norton says:

    a common “training” procedure when the battery is brand new is to charge it to full and then turn off all of the power saver options so the laptop can run until the battery depletes

    I have heard that but have not found any viable sources. Maybe my Duck-duck-go Kungfu is lacking. I have seen many references that indicate fully discharging a battery is bad for the health of the battery. The circuits should know when a battery no longer has enough charge to operate the system. There is not that much difference between batteries that it is necessary to calibrate the monitoring parameter

    When I received the latest replacement battery from MacSalesOWC, the instructions for first use included a charge/discharge completely procedure.

    I don’t think it makes a difference, but I played the game. I made a warranty swap with the last battery I had.

    I’ve never replaced the battery in either of our unibody MacBook Pros.

  40. Nick Flandrey says:

    63F and still.   Wind was blowing pretty hard last night, made it quite chilly.   Hoping for more comfortable listening tonight.

    Very pretty sunset.  No fish biting though.

    Spent half the day in the attic.   Picked up some coveralls at goodwill, and they are far more comfortable than tyvek and still cover arms and legs to keep the fiberglass off you.

    I have the wrong size fitting for the tub supply so I’ll be headed to the store tomorrow.   

    Moved my cell booster.   Think it’s a bit better coverage.   Looks better where it is.

    Tired.   Crawling around on my belly is hard work.

    n

  41. lynn says:

    Left the house at 1030am, am running 60 to 80 mph with one excursion to 100 mph to beat a surprised MB coupe, have traveled 350 miles so far at 21 mpg in my 2019 F-150 4×4.  Not bad for a lifted brick.  100 miles to go. 

    Got passed by one of those new supercharged Hemi Dodge Grand Waggoner going at least 120 mph.

    Oklahoma has joined the modern age and raised their interstate speed limit to 75 mph day and night like Texas and several other states.  Really eats the miles.

  42. ITGuy1998 says:

      Crawling around on my belly is hard work.
     

    It’s work for the young. I swear if I ever move, I’m not only not buying/building a house on a slab, but it will be on a full basement for ease of access.

    .

  43. Ray Thompson says:

    Oklahoma has joined the modern age and raised their interstate speed limit to 75 mph day and night like Texas and several other states.  Really eats the miles.

    That 85 mph speed limit on the toll road from I-10 to north of Austin is really too fast a speed limit. I found myself doing 80 as a comfortable speed.

    Lousy-Anna will never change to 75 or 70.  Too much profit in I10 east when crossing the state line from Texas. Where 3 miles inside the LA state line half a dozen patrol cares wait in ambush. Nabbing the people traveling from Texas who failed to drop their cruise control from 80 to 65.

  44. RickH says:

    When I travel, I always use the Waze app to be alert to any concentration of possible speed enforcement. There is the slight possibility that my speeds might be over the posted speed limit. Awareness is always helpful, so I use Waze on long trips. 

    I’ve made trips to UT and CA often (from here in WA), so am aware of the spots where a radar gun is more likely to be used.

    But planning for a possible trip through Yellowstone NP, Colorado, then Nebraska south to FulshearTX. And a return trip up through New Mexico to the Four Corners area then up to SLC. And take the long way home into Northern CA before returning home. This will be a sightseeing trip to check out some touristy places, so minimal long driving days.

    So will be using Waze for that trip to be aware. Don’t know the timetable yet, maybe late spring. 

    Considering getting a dash cam of some sort for the trip. Haven’t determined which one yet, but something under $200. Just need a forward facing camera. Still researching, but open to suggestions.

  45. dcp says:

    a sightseeing trip to check out some touristy places

    If you haven’t tried them already, I highly recommend taking a day to enjoy a narrow-gauge train trip out of either Chama NM or Durango CO.

  46. lynn says:

    I listened to Meatloaf and the Eagles all the way up here. 

  47. Ray Thompson says:

    What gives you the authority to tell others they can’t travel at 85 mph, if that’s the legal limit and their preference?

    Nothing. When I stated it was too fast, that was for me, not others. So I traveled at 80, where I was comfortable. Others can travel 95 mph for all I care. I have driven the Autobahn at 122 mph, too fast for me. Others traveled much faster.

    narrow-gauge train trip out of either Chama NM or Durango CO.

    Durango is a nice train trip to Silverton. The trip back, the last 15 miles, is really boring. Sit on the right side of the rail car for the best views.

  48. SteveF says:

    Rick, I’ve installed and used a handful of dashcams or combo front/rear cams. (As part of evaluating them for manufacturers.) I’ve found that pretty much any of the newer models is good enough – resolution will generally be enough to make out license plate numbers and that’s the main issue. I suggest getting one which has enough battery to last for several minutes after losing power from the car, and getting a big enough memory card for a couple hours of video.

  49. drwilliams says:

    @Lynn

    I listened to Meatloaf and the Eagles all the way up here. 

    I hope that doesn’t mean “Bat Out of Hell” and Eagles “Greatest Hits” played 3 times each? Are you playing CD’s or files?

    The Eagles “Very Best of…” (Rhino, 2003, 2 discs, 33 songs) is a good overview without getting too much in one sitting. 

    Add Don Henley “Actual Miles” if you want his “best of”.

    Glenn Frey never got a real “best of”, so “The Allnighter” or  “Live” (MCA, 1994) would have to do.

    Randy Meisner’s 1982 self-titled is worth looking up.

    Bernie Leadon didn’t have much success as a solo, so his efforts are scattered.

    Added:
    If I needed more of the country rock I’d retro into some Poco and James Gang, maybe throw in Linda Ronstadt.

  50. Nick Flandrey says:

    Fire and smoke are done.   Shortwave music was a bit down and maudlin.   2 hours of 70s pop, recognized all but 4 songs.

    Left me feeling a bit depressed, then I get here and [the troll] reminds me that no matter how I feel at the moment, AT LEAST I’M NOT HIM.

    Suddenly I feel better.

    And by the way, the 70s were a damn depressing decade.   Had to pull the plug on the radio when “we’re so sorry, uncle albert” started.

    @lynn, glad you arrived safely.

    Time for a shower and jammies.

    n

  51. Nick Flandrey says:

    I worked The Eagles during their “Hell Freezes Over” tour.   What a sorry bunch of losers.    If you didn’t want to do it, (and that was the whole schtick) then DON’T.     Worst concert I ever saw.   They were in their plane and spooling up for takeoff before the applause even died out.  No encore.   Just the most lackluster, half assed show I’ve ever seen.

    n

    They took the money. Supposedly $1M for this one performance (private show for an investment bank). The least they could have done was a professional effort. Phoning it in would be a step up from the crap they did.

    added more– the previous year Billy Joel played in the same setting and rocked the house.

  52. Greg Norton says:

    Lousy-Anna will never change to 75 or 70.  Too much profit in I10 east when crossing the state line from Texas. Where 3 miles inside the LA state line half a dozen patrol cares wait in ambush. Nabbing the people traveling from Texas who failed to drop their cruise control from 80 to 65.

    Alabama heading into Mobile was working the (then) new “Move Over” law with traps three years ago when we drove through. $99 ticket. $149 “court costs”, even if the cop doesn’t show at the hearing.

  53. Greg Norton says:

    That 85 mph speed limit on the toll road from I-10 to north of Austin is really too fast a speed limit. I found myself doing 80 as a comfortable speed.

    The Spanish are going broke operating that road. The speed limit is all about attracting business.

    1
    1
  54. Greg Norton says:

    But planning for a possible trip through Yellowstone NP, Colorado, then Nebraska south to FulshearTX. And a return trip up through New Mexico to the Four Corners area then up to SLC. And take the long way home into Northern CA before returning home. This will be a sightseeing trip to check out some touristy places, so minimal long driving days.

    Try to hit one of the landmark BBQ places in Luling if you have the time.

    Black’s. Kreuz. Smittys. City Market. All are good, but BBQ in Texas is a noon-ish thing with many places closed Sundays. Most are also BYOB if you want anything beyond sodas, water, or iced tea.

    Lubbock to Moab via Albuquerque  is a hard day’s drive. And be aware of Gypsies SE of Lubbock.

  55. Greg Norton says:

    Marcia. Marcia. Marcia.

  56. Nick Flandrey says:

    Just caught a comment about using portapotties.. before I clicked on delete…

    Just wanted to mention that I was earning $1000 a day doing festivals… and that was almost 20 years ago.  I’ll use a portapotty if that is what the job takes.

    n

  57. lynn says:

    I listened to Meatloaf and the Eagles all the way up here. 

    I hope that doesn’t mean “Bat Out of Hell” and Eagles “Greatest Hits” played 3 times each? Are you playing CD’s or files?

    I have 200 albums ripped to a single thumb drive.  Two Meatloaf albums and six Eagles albums.  Four Beatles albums.  Three ? McCartney albums.  One Train album.  Lots more and 200 more albums need ripping.

    4,000 songs so my stupid Ford Sync 3 cannot index the artists to albums search feature properly.  I either have to say the artist name or the album.  Oh and the voice recognition sucks.

  58. lynn says:

    Thanks for hammering.  Mr. Elbow Patches troll is too dainty to use a portapotty.  

    Now what I hate about portapotties is having to take off your gun belt before sitting down.  Because I know somebody who dropped a 9mm in the drink and had to go fishing for it with a coat hanger.  And, a round in the chamber to boot.  That got him a special lecture from the senior range instructor while he was fishing.  And, it was not me.

  59. Alan says:

    >> I have heard that but have not found any viable sources. Maybe my Duck-duck-go Kungfu is lacking. I have seen many references that indicate fully discharging a battery is bad for the health of the battery.

    IIRC it is (was?) a problem with sealed lead-acid (ie 12v auto batteries) where a full discharge does some small amount of permanent damage. 

  60. Greg Norton says:

    Now what I hate about portapotties is having to take off your gun belt before sitting down.  Because I know somebody who dropped a 9mm in the drink and had to go fishing for it with a coat hanger.  And, a round in the chamber to boot.  That got him a special lecture from the senior range instructor while he was fishing.  And, it was not me.

    We had people lose phones into the muck using the flashlight app at night.

    The solution was glowsticks. The vendor was not happy about that, however.

  61. lynn says:

    Yeah, I forgot my books on tape thumb drive so I had to listen to music.  Now my ears are ringing since I was rocking out.  I have all of the Sean Dillon books on tape and a few others.

  62. Greg Norton says:

    Just wanted to mention that I was earning $1000 a day doing festivals… and that was almost 20 years ago.  I’ll use a portapotty if that is what the job takes.

    I’m sure you also had an insurance card with your name listed as the primary policy holder.

    Filthy lucre.

  63. lynn says:

    We had people lose phones into the muck using the flashlight app at night.

    The solution was glowsticks. The vendor was not happy about that, however.

    You know, that sounds hilarious.   The glowing pile of poop.

    BTW, you can drop a Glock 19 into the pile of poop, fish it out from the bottom (density matters), hose it off, and it still fires just fine.  Not many semi automatics will do that.

  64. Nick Flandrey says:

    We were working Micheal Martin Murfee’s Westfest one summer, and a lady came to the production trailer wanting to speak with management.   I was there, with my boss and some other people, but since I was in charge of grounds I took her complaint.   She’d dropped her phone in and wanted to let us know so we could get it for her.   I offered her a stick.

    Everyone else thought it was funny…

    Good times.   

    n

  65. Nick Flandrey says:

    The solution was glowsticks

    –If I was in charge, and had the budget, I always put a clamp light with a 15w appliance bulb on the top of each potty.   It cast an even but low glow in the whole thing.   Enough to do your business, but not enough to gross you out.  And since it was sitting on the roof, no one could mess with it.

    n

  66. Nick Flandrey says:

    We had an intern drop a $2000 motorola walkie talkie into the blue water.  Made him get it out too.  Needed it to give back to the radio rental company to get the insurance claim paid.   No one tried to use it.   That blue water is corrosive as heII.

    With my experience working with portajons I don’t take anything into a bathroom that I would have to fish for.   Even at home. 

    n

  67. Nick Flandrey says:

    And I’m off.   Ignore the black hole of emotional need if he de-lurks, I’ll clean it up later.   If someone else doesn’t get it.

    n

  68. Jenny says:

    First baby rabbits of the year. 11 Kits. Very large litter. 
     

    Couple buildings collapsed this past week, presumably from snow load. Library in a small town an hour north, and a gym here in Anchorage. One death at the gym. 
     

    Noticed a soffit with icicles. not good. Up onto the roof. Shoveled a lot of heavy snow. Gravity was my friend. Had some help. Still a lot of weight. Tired. 
     

    Family visit going well. Good service at the rock n roll church today. I havent been to a service at our normal church since the first of the year. I’m heartsick over the chair vs pew thing and currently cannot abide being in the building. Pathetic of me I know. 
     

    Lots of puttering about the house, bringing order to chaos. I cannot control others but perhaps I can sublimate the cranky into something useful. 
     

    Made feta with the visiting family. Hoping for clear skies so we can see the Aurora. More snow to move tomorrow. 

  69. brad says:

    Some say a complete discharge is bad. Phones today have a lot of smarts to protect the battery.

    It’s surprising how varied the success is. My Huawei phone seems to do a really good job – after 2-3 years, no noticeable change in battery life. My wife’s Samsung, on the other hand, has lost a lot of battery capacity after the same time.

    From what I’ve read, it’s important to keep the battery mostly between 20% and 80% charge.

    I always use the Waze app to be alert to any concentration of possible speed enforcement.

    I find it rather shocking, but here it is illegal to share information about speed traps. Radar detectors are also illegal. While I accept that some restrictions on “speech” are a good thing, this goes way to far.

  70. Denis says:

    Left me feeling a bit depressed, then I get here and [the troll] reminds me that no matter how I feel at the moment, AT LEAST I’M NOT HIM.

    Just goes to show that everything under the sun is good for something, even trolls! Mosquitoes, now, are perhaps another matter…

    I’m heartsick over the chair vs pew thing and currently cannot abide being in the building. Pathetic of me I know. 

    Not pathetic at all. I am not a very regular churchgoer, but at the beautiful little church within walking distance of my in-laws’ home, some soi-disant progressive elements have switched the seating from pews to concentric circles of chairs. I find it distracting and impious, detesting it to the extent that I would rather drive somewhere else instead. My MIL feels the same way, but is reticent to say so because she doesn’t want to rock the boat.

  71. EdH says:

    Now what I hate about portapotties is having to take off your gun belt before sitting down.  Because I know somebody who dropped a 9mm in the drink and had to go fishing for it with a coat hanger.  And, a round in the chamber to boot.

    Little known fact:  Archaeologists and Historians love old outhouse sites because people have been accidentally dropping their everyday belongings from their pants or togas or whatever for the past 10 millenia.  Not just the high priests and rulers.

  72. Roger Ritter says:

    Try to hit one of the landmark BBQ places in Luling if you have the time.

    Black’s. Kreuz. Smittys. City Market. All are good, but BBQ in Texas is a noon-ish thing with many places closed Sundays. Most are also BYOB if you want anything beyond sodas, water, or iced tea.

    Those are good BBQ, but they’re in Lockhart, not Luling. Luling has its own good BBQ joints, right downtown along the RR tracks.

  73. CowboyStu says:

    From Nick:

    We were working Micheal Martin Murfee’s Westfest one summer, ….

    I have one of his albums in my Jeep’s player.  Also, have been to two of his concerts here.

    Is that where I conceived my nickname above?

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