Cool to start but warming later? Maybe. Yesterday was pretty nice, sunny and warm. Windy as Chicago until afternoon. Decided not to burn my slash pile.
Also didn’t mow the lawn. It would look better but I spent the time doing plumbing. Took a while in the attic to get holes where I needed them. Lots of belly crawling, lots of kneeling. Lots of fiberglas. Old boy used a kraft faced batt, and the facing is brittle and weak, so every time you touch or move it, it crumbles. My N95 mask is filthy but my lungs are probably ok.
I didn’t buy the right sized adapter to connect to the existing tub controls, so I’ll head into town today and see if I can find what I need. If not, I can solder on a copper to pex adapter, and leave a little stub of copper attached to the tub. I’d prefer to do it without soldering, but if that is what it takes, well, that’s why they make that adapter.
Getting pex to the last hose bib was a challenge too. I couldn’t get access from above, so I removed more paneling (fortunately in the bedroom closet behind the bath) and made a horizontal run, through a 90 degree bend where the walls meet… couldn’t have done that with plastic or steel pipe. I’ll feed it from the toilet feed, and will put a valve on it. It’s not ideal to have a valve in the closet, but there are nifty ‘snap in’ plastic access panels that will hide the mess. As long as I get the valve in, I can turn the water back on to the toilet and tub, and worry about the hose bib later, with all the other spigots.
Getting the pex dropped into the wall for the toilet supply involved a lot of belly time, with my face down in the insulation. I pick up yoga mats when they are cheap for just that situation. Cardboard works too. No matter what, it’s unpleasant and good PPEs are recommended. Pex makes it a lot easier to do retrofit than any other system besides copper tube, and we don’t use copper tube for that anymore.
Finishing the tub/toilet/hose bib will leave just the hall bath sink, and the master bath shower on the old copper. The sink should be straightforward if I remove the vanity. The master shower is NOT straightforward, unless I open the wall in the bedroom. Not looking forward to that. That shower was replaced recently so I’m hoping the pipes are in good shape. Yeah, I know. Unlikely.
So today will be more plumbing. Maybe some organizing. And later a fire. Hope the music is more uptempo though.
Stack some stuff and the skills to use it.
nick
Oh yeah, it was pretty clear when I started my fire, but got hazy later. The lake was dead flat- I could see the reflection of airplane lights in it. I did see one long shooting star before the haze got too bad.
Nice trick
https://spectrum.ieee.org/mainspring-energy
I missed Jenny’s comment yesterday. Just wanted to chime in – even as a non-religious person, I cannot imagine having chairs instead of pews. That’s just not right. It’s not a business meeting, or a conference.
Like the last church service I visited, where the pastor used PowerPoint. No. Just no. Completely inappropriate. In a sermon, there is no information that needs to be put on a slide. It’s fundamentally a philosophical talk, where the audience should focus on the speaker, not on visual fluff.
I noted this summer that The Ryman in Nashville has pews instead of seats.
The Mother Church indeed!
Many thanks to the Hammers of Bob.
Cities in Texas get around the free speech issue by banning the driver from touching any handheld electronic device as long as the vehicle is in motion. In Austin, this is a $500 fine, and when the law first went into effect, the police set up what I call “Waze Traps” on the main freeway at the city limits, officers scanning approaching vehicles with binoculars and radioing down to motorcycle cops to pull over the violators.
The laws were a response to the “Cannonball” cross US driving speed record being broken in 2012 with one of the lesser online mapping startups certifying the attempt by Ed Polian.
The traditional Cannonball route goes through the Texas panhandle, but the laws are wildly inconsistent since a state-wide standard was never settled in the Legislature.
IIRC, the Cannonball number now sits at something ridiculously low, having been broken multiple times during lockdowns for Covid in 2020.
I personally like chairs. It gives each person their own space. Unlike pews where one sits down with two other people in the pew, then the rest of the family of the other people arrive and cram 11 people in a pew designed for 10. If I wanted to sit that cramped, I would a UT football game.
I have heard that LI-ON cells used in phones, tablets, portables, do not like to be completely discharged. The circuitry in the phone is supposed to prevent 100% discharge. I have also read that the batteries don’t like being charged to 100% and kept on charge. Again, the device is supposed to manage that charge level.
My EGO batteries have intelligent chargers. If the battery is not used for 30 days, the charger will drop the charge on the battery to 20% and hold the charge at the level. I found that out when I went to use a tool in the spring after sitting all winter. I now remove and insert the batteries just before the first mowing.
Personally, I think there is a lot of misinformation, including what I have read. I just use the device, charge when needed, and don’t worry about the battery. I will probably get a new device before the battery is a problem.
At my last church when I was the media director, we put many things on the screens. We put scripture references, we put message points, we sometimes put images. All text was in the lower thirds, images full screen. This was done mainly for the TV audience and was supplied to the main screens. We had the option to not include those items on the main screens, but the people liked them on the screens.
These were overlaid on the video broadcast feed. The pastor was always visible on the large screens while preaching.
Of course, music lyrics were on the screen during the singing. No more hymnals, please. I was never a fan of motion backgrounds behind the music lyrics.
My nephew is a Texas state trooper. I asked him how many people he has caught using phones. He said it was very common, especially for out of state vehicles. He also said it is illegal to use a phone, not a navigation device. If the device being handheld is being used for navigation, no fine. When he stops people he asks if they were on the phone or navigating. If phone, ticket; if navigating, no ticket.
In TN the state has resorted to a couple of semi tractors to catch people. The operator of the truck sits up high and can look down into the vehicles. The trucks are painted in normal trooper colors. The truck does not stop people but radios ahead to a trooper driving a couple of miles in front of the truck.
Back in the late 70’s when CB’s were king, the police in Schertz TX, north of Live Oak, which is north of San Antonio, would monitor the CB channel 19. People would ask if there were any bears as Schertz was a known speed trap. The Schertz police would respond there were no bears and put the pedal to the metal. People would get caught.
In one incident a chap from the FCC asked the question. When he got pulled over, he stated he was told the road was clear. The officer told him that he, the officer, was the one that said it was all clear. The FCC chap told the officer that it was illegal, against federal FCC laws, for the police to use the citizens band unless there is an emergency. The Schertz police department received a hefty fine and the practice was immediately stopped.
The thing I don’t like here about the local speed traps, yes, my city does them, is that the police are waiting in their cars on private property. To me that is trespassing without the property owner’s permission. I would think someone could fight the ticket in court by stating the practice of finding someone doing something illegal, while the officer was doing something illegal, would void the ticket. Courts do not provide relief to a plaintiff while that plaintiff is doing something that is also illegal.
In Oak Ridge the main highway into Oak Ridge comes down a hill. The speed limit is 45. People exceed that constantly. It is four lanes with a middle turn lane. More than once, at night, dark, I have seen an officer parked in the turn lane. No lights on the vehicle, no turns for ¼ mile, so no reason to be turning. Very dangerous.
It is illegal to park on a public highway unless it is an emergency. Even then emergency lights are to be used. If there ever was a collision I would think the officer, and the city, would be almost 100% at fault.
Once again it’s Presidents Day.
If you haven’t read it I would like to suggest David McCullough’s 1776:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FCK5YE/ref=x_gr_bb_kindle?caller=Goodreads&tag=ttgnet-20
And if reading (or Audio listening) isn’t your thing his biography John Adams adapted to screen is not bad:
https://www.amazon.com/John-Adams-Paul-Giamatti/dp/B000WGWQG8?tag=ttgnet-20
I use my phone for navigating, but I don’t need to touch it while driving. I start the route and then it sits in a cup holder on the console. Alternatively, we have a phone-mount, but the cup holder works just fine.
Seems to me you shouldn’t be actually holding it while driving – that’s going to be distracting…
The statewide standard is different than that in specific cities like Austin. I believe San Marcos also enforces a “no touching” rule. I’m not sure about San Antonio.
My nephew is enforcing the state law, not the local law, as he is a state trooper.
He was stationed in Orange TX, has since transferred to Brenham TX. I told him to make friends with the security and other people at the Blue Bell ice cream factory.
I also asked if he caught me speeding in Texas if he would write me. He said in a heartbeat, probably have drug dogs show up. Eliminates any claims of favoritism.
Yes, it would seem. But probably not much more than looking at the navigation screen on a phone or GPS unit or the large screen in newer vehicles. Too many distractions in almost all situations.
There are no laws that I know of that keep a person from using their Apple Watch. For text messages, responding, and even navigation. The few times I have tried to respond to a text on the watch it was terrible. Too much distraction and attention diverted from the road. I now ignore texts while driving, on the phone and the watch.
I use Siri to answer texts while driving. I’ve found it very effective. Not driving, if I answer a text on the watch, I always pick one of the canned answers. I use Car Play in the Subie, so I guess that gets around the “hand held” law.
The Governor and the Legislature felt it more important to spend political capital increasing abortion restrictions during the first regular session of the Legislature after the cities started setting their own laws for device usage. The same thing happened with mandatory paid sick leave – Austin has a different set of rules than other places in the state.
The “Move Over” law has a uniform standard in Texas IIRC. I faced the possibility of having to head back to Alabama to contest that ticket to avoid having that citation go through DPS and onto my driving record, which is something to avoid if at all possible given the points involved.
Alabama just sees “Move Over” as a source of revenue. I still paid court costs.
@brad:
In UK, mere holding a device while in motion is illegal, under penalty of fine and points on your licence – I think 3 points (12 points equals disqualification for a minimum of 1 year) This also applies if you are caught adjusting a satnav while in motion (even if said satnav is on a mount, and all you are doing is prodding the touchscreen).
The legislation is sufficiently broad that, if Mr. Plod is so minded, being in a parked vehicle, with the engine running, and using a phone or satnav, might get you penalised. ISTR reading of cases where the person sitting in the driving seat, without the engine running, was accused, unsuccessfully, under this law.
Going further back in today’s comments, Waze may be illegal in UK, since there is legislation that forbids your acting on, or publicising, things you have learned about police actions. This also applied, a fortiori, to things learned by listening to police radio. That can’t be done any more, because encrypted TETRA.
G.
Waze has settings toggles which allows the user to enable or disable “Police (show on map)” and “Police (alert while driving)” reports.
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. Communing with God is tough with all of the distractions that we have in daily life. And if you were mistreated in a church, that makes it difficult to dismiss that crap from your mind. Just find the place where you are comfortable.
We have only been to our church once this year. Between being sick and trying to isolate for our daughters sake, we usually end up doing the online church thing which is not nearly as good.
plugs The Last hereby decrees:
Thread BUSTS Biden and his EO delivering ‘environmental justice’ via Marxist Justice40 initiative
Amish leading members, defund the police, banish prisons, hair sniffer at his finest.
Biden is a stooge for many unconstitutional activities. I don’t know where we are going but, we were born free.
In the US the electromagnetic spectrum is deemed to be a public resource owned by the public. The FCC only ‘manages’ it.
Like gun laws and the 2A though, this is often abused or conveniently forgotten.
When I was a kid, the interpretation was that using the public airwaves required a permit, while LISTENING was you god given right, and protected by your ‘ownership’ of the airwaves.
Then some senators or congressman got caught talking about stuff he shouldn’t on a cordless phone. Then it happened with a cell phone. Suddenly we have a shiny new law saying that this person has more rights to the spectrum than others, he’s special. And now scanners don’t receive cordless phone freqs, or cell phone freqs.
Somewhere in that same time frame certain states made it illegal to use OR POSSESS radar detectors for your vehicle. Since they are just specialized radio receivers, this should have been struck down, but wasn’t because – money. (and early ‘only ones’ syndrome.)
Once the slippery slope was engaged, questionably legal “spectrum auctions” became a HUGELY profitable activity for the FCC and fedgov.
When it comes to the cops and listening to them, lawsuit after lawsuit has established that we have a right to monitor those that we have appointed to act in our stead. At least technically, iirc, in other places the cops work for the Crown. Here they work for the people, essentially we’ve outsourced our personal authority and rights to the police departments. See also “citizen’s arrest”. Thus we have a right to oversee their actions.
From a practical pov, many areas use encryption. You can still ‘monitor’ and receive the transmissions, you just can’t understand them. And you can’t decrypt them due to the POS telecommunications act and DMCA. Journalists have sued to require agencies to NOT encrypt most of their traffic so that people can engage in ‘oversight’ of the PD. Houston uses encrytion for SWAT and ‘tactical’ channels, and to protect ‘personally identifiable information’. A lot of it is moot as that traffic is now text on their in car terminals and not voice over the air. (and therefore covered by digital data privacy and protection acts)
There is still useful information that can be extracted from SIGINT even if the traffic is encrypted. Which units are active? What is their operational tempo? Are some units using encryption that don’ t normally?
FEMA default and doctrine is to NOT use encryption during an emergency, because of INTEROP requirements, and the fact that not all radios or systems are capable of proper decryption (there are a couple of incompatible systems in use, and key distribution and configuration are always difficult.) FEMA also requires ‘plain language’ even to the extent of not using “10 code” since they are not standardized across agencies.
There are a lot of very small points which are foundational, and make a BIG difference.
n
(and I’ll give up my in car nav when they make eating or transporting other people illegal. Once again we find that there are existing laws (about paying attention and operating safely) but new ones are promulgated)
Stooging:
Air Force confirms: Multiple personnel files leaked to House Dem oppo-research firm
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2023/02/20/air-force-confirms-multiple-personnel-files-leaked-to-house-dem-oppo-research-firm-n531891
From Nick:
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?
RIP
Letterman’s YouTube channel beat the mainstream media again.
https://cbsaustin.com/news/entertainment/richard-belzer-stand-up-comic-and-tv-detective-dies-at-78-02-19-2023
Long before “Law and Order” was “The Groove Tube” starring Belzer and pre-SNL Chevy Chase.
Richard Belzer was also yet another challenger sent up against Carson in the mid-80s on basic cable, on Lifetime of all places IIRC.
OH yeah, 89F in the sun, and gusting wind. Otherwise very nice.
Body is complaining about yesterday’s abuse. I say crawling on my belly, but it’s really more like planking for several minutes at a time, doing pushups with very widespread hands, and other unpleasant shite.
n
>> I find it rather shocking, but here it is illegal to share information about speed traps. Radar detectors are also illegal.
Years ago, radar detectors were illegal in Virginia and traffic on I-95 (east coast north/south Interstate) always slowed up a bit as you crossed the state line. My dad had a heavy right foot so he took a travel box of Kleenex, took most of the tissues out, cut out the bottom and secured the box to the dash with his radar detector inside. Saw plenty of speed traps but he never got stopped. Probably just lucky for the most part as I’m sure there was a ‘no obstructing the windshield’ statue that could be cited. At the time there were also some high-end detectors that had available additional radar sensors the you could install in the grille and connect to the main unit which then could be mounted out of sight under the dash.
Two pieces of Tyler Durden cowardice today. You’re kidding yourself if you think they are unrelated
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/james-okeefe-out-project-veritas
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/trials-should-have-been-stopped-rate-serious-adverse-events-closely-tracks-spike-post-vax
I expect that this video will disappear shortly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5n7RRKgDog
It’s turning into Spring. The Arizona Ash has had a green tint on a few branches for the last week. Today it has several branches with little quarter inch long tufts of leaves. It didn’t at 7 AM, did at Noon.
Some of the elms are greening. Many of the Live Oaks are turning golden brown and starting to shed.
I like this time of year.
Here in the Olympic Peninsula (WA), storm coming in. Supposed to get a bit windy – 30mph, with gusts to 55mph. That will probably mean a few power outages (trees/branches blown into power lines); in fact, one power outage just south of us.
Winds are coming from the south, so directly into the Hood Canal Bridge (floating bridge), which may cause them to close the bridge to traffic to open the span to reduce water pressure against the bridge. Especially when coupled with high tides at the moment.
So, hunkering down. Generator and FLASHLIGHTS are ready. Phones charged up. Staying home.
Not unusual weather for us, but some cold air coming tomorrow that might cause a bit of sea level snow, with minimal accumulation. More intense snow in the northern US, though – travel advisories in effect through tomorrow.
Meanwhile, at 20K words into the latest literary (term used loosely) effort. A strong ⅓ of the way, I think.
@ayjblog
Yes, “nice trick”. Some good engineering. Please do not consider any of the criticism below to be directed at you.
The article ends with:
“And yes, Professor Edwards, we think we have answered that question you posted some 20 years ago: “What is the most efficient and practical way possible to convert chemical-bond energy into useful work?” It’s the linear generator.”
They report having delivered 230kW commercial units running on natural gas beginning in June 2020.
So coming up on three years of operation, where are the numbers:
Installed cost?
Operating cost?
Payback?
Efficiency?
ROI?
Reliability?
The claim is that the linear generator can run on a variety of fuels, including “Green” ammonia and hydrogen. “Green” ammonia and hydrogen are simply marketing inventions, and the problem is that both are simply storage systems for energy produced by non-dispatchable power sources such as wind turbines and solar cells.
Biogas (methane) produced by landfills, sewage treatment plants, and agriculture could possibly be used to power a linear generator. So what’s the cost of electricity produced by a metro area’s sewage and landfill, and what percentage of the metro electricity use could be supplied by biogas?
These are the types of questions that were commonly asked in freshman engineering classes decades ago. The absence speaks volumes.
I’ll take a swag at the last two:
cost of electricity produced by a metro area’s sewage and landfill: 10-30x that delivered by a conventional natural gas plant
percentage of the metro electricity use could be supplied by biogas: 0.1%
ADDED:
There are farming operations, specifically swine confinement (hogs to city folk) that have designed and built systems which produce heat and electricity from methane produced from manure. Incorporating a linear generator in such a setup might be worthwhile if the gain in efficiency could offset the equipment cost with a reasonable payback period (3-7 years).
Khosla Ventures and Bill Gates investing in the company speaks volumes. Both could probably use a little positive PR right now.
230 kW is 10 Jesus Trucks worth of overnight charging. Gonna need a bigger boat -er- generator.
Which reminds me. Ooops. 100? How many more “execution issues” are out there, Tommy Boy?
https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2023/02/17/ford-f-150-lightning-power/69915555007/
Water is back on, and is staying in the pipes where it belongs. Had to redo one crimp. Had to redo one fitting (tape instead of dope.) crossthreaded the connection to the toilet tank. Fixed that too.
If everything holds thru the night, I’ll put the covers back on in the morning.
Very damp here atm. Got condensation on cold water lines.
74F and 75% RH after sunset.
HungryMan is in the nuke, I’ve got my crocs on, and thinking about a nice relaxing fire.
n
So that linear generator looks like a one cylinder IC engine, combined with one of those shake lights, or am I missing something?
Cool engineering for sure.
I thought reciprocal motion was wasteful though and rotational motion was the most efficient?
Seems like mounting it vertically might help but I guess any gain you get from the weight’s return, you lose on it’s launch…
n
>> Cities in Texas get around the free speech issue by banning the driver from touching any handheld electronic device as long as the vehicle is in motion. In Austin, this is a $500 fine, and when the law first went into effect, the police set up what I call “Waze Traps” on the main freeway at the city limits, officers scanning approaching vehicles with binoculars and radioing down to motorcycle cops to pull over the violators.
If put put in your route before you enter the freeway, once you’re on the freeway why would you need to touch your phone? Am I missing something here?
Also another reason for tinting your vehicle windows as dark as your state allows.
>> IIRC, the Cannonball number now sits at something ridiculously low, having been broken multiple times during lockdowns for Covid in 2020.
Not to worry, President Buttplug will lock us all down as soon as Fauxi and Friends have “COVID-20” ready for the next Chinese ‘weather’ balloon.
And when does McCarthy start the Repub COVID hearings…do I recall correctly during the 14(?) rounds of voting that it would be “Day 1.”
Reporting speed traps, disabled vehicles, debris in the road, and other traffic issues. I can do it without looking on Waze.
Also, at times, Waze can get weird ideas about what is “most efficient” so the only way to avoid the nagging of the voice prompts is to turn off the navigation for a while.
Google maps offers me choices along the way, to avoid traffic, if the original route develops a delay. But you have to click on it, and in a timely manner, too. Also, sometimes, I like to zoom in on the map when I’m close to a turn, or zoom out to see if I understand the whole route. Also, sometimes I accidentally touch it, like when putting it in the phone holder, and I need to eventually press “recenter”. And occasionally, I decide I want a stop along the way at a store/restaurant.
Fussy fiddling with the phone is dangerous. But as usual, laws are written one-size-fits-all.
Traffic congestion to get another route.
Almost. There’s one law for the more-equal pigs and another for everyone else.
If the stupid pigs can fiddle with radios and computers while driving, then I do not acknowledge any law which says that I cannot do so.
If the stupid pigs are allowed to carry loaded firearms while off duty, then I do not acknowledge any law which says that I cannot do so. (In fact, I do not acknowledge any law restricting the right to keep and bear arms, but this serves as additional grounds for refusal.)
When I said “written one-size-fits-all”, I didn’t say “enforced”.
Stay in your place, peasant.
Greg Norton:
True dat! Before we left CA, Waze would occasionally route me away from the “main artery” streets through town onto small stop-sign-at-every-intersection SIDE streets. I stopped using Waze very much after 3-4 examples of that.
Straight google has been doing that more often too as they integrate parts of waze. Sometimes it will get me off the freeway and back on one exit later, without any traffic to avoid. Sometimes it will make 5 turns on side streets to ‘cut a corner’ when I could continue straight toward the onramp I can SEE from the major street.
I still have only beaten it’s time estimate using my local knowledge ONCE. I try a couple of times a month, but never have much luck.
n
>> Personally, I think there is a lot of misinformation, including what I have read. I just use the device, charge when needed, and don’t worry about the battery. I will probably get a new device before the battery is a problem.
There was/still is? someone on here that had an extensive knowledge of batteries. Unfortunately I don’t recall their name.
Here in OZ, well at least my state, using a mobile device is illegal, with hefty fines and licence demerit points deducted.
It’s a nice little earner for the police, with motorcycle cops “lane splitting” at traffic lights to check the waiting drivers for illegal use.
Now of course “lane splitting” is illegal, even though many motorcyclists do it to be first off the line when the lights change.
As Mr SteveF mentions, one rule for them and one for us….
Yes, “nice trick”. Some good engineering. Please do not consider any of the criticism below to be directed at you.
Note that:
Caught a great display of northern lights with visiting family tonight. Mission accomplished.
Two litters of rabbit kits down in the rabbitry. Mothers are well and managing the 15° F weather well.
Very late. Very tired. Appreciate the comments regarding pews / chairs. Eases my frustration. My thanks, gentlemen.
drwilliams, Greg, Lynn, Nick
thanks for your comments! I was pretty sure
Everything you stated is true, it was a nice trick, It reminds me all the strange things of 1970s post embargo.
best wishes
PS I always learn here