Fri. Mar. 10, 2023 – … until morale improves.

By on March 10th, 2023 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Warm and damp.  Maybe the rain holds off another day, maybe not but it would be nice if it did.   Yesterday ended up being quite nice, with a bunch of sun, but a bunch of clouds.  Mostly sunny, but a lot of activity in the sky.   No rain on me though.

Didn’t quite get done what I’d hoped.   Not a big surprise to anyone here, I think, at this point….

I did get the AC diagnosed and fixed.   Saved a service call and some money there.   Knowing how stuff works, and then looking for what changed is a valuable skill.  About $150 valuable to me yesterday.  Thank you for the reminders to check the overflow pan and the float valve.   My old system had that disconnected and flooded the bathroom, so it’s not something I’d have thought to check immediately.   Turned out to be a disconnected wire nut on the control line to the condenser unit.  Easily fixed.

I then left the house to mail my ebay sale, and do pickups.   Since we’ll be at the BOL all next week for Spring Break, I had to get all my pickups done, even the one that normally has up to two weeks leeway.   And because one of the sellers is near the Sugar Land Habitat reStore, I hit that for a quick look ’round before heading back to my neighborhood.

With some time left, I went to Costco.  Which was interesting on a number of levels.

Firstly, several of the things I buy all the time were out of stock.   Ham slices for sandwiches were completely AWOL.   Smoked almonds too.   There were a couple other things as well.   I mentioned last night that they had a cheaper cut of beef in the cooler than I’ve seen there before.  And there were some more changes to the store.   The perimeter aisle had been filled with just a few really bulky items.  Armchairs.   Alternating with the boxed armchairs to create a “look” which filled the racks, but didn’t quite mask the fact that they used to be full with a dozen different articles and now had only a few of one.

There were a couple of other places where they expanded one item to cover for a lack of others.   They took about half the computer/phone/apple area away and just left it empty.  No jewelry case right there either.  Took out half an aisle of pallet rack in the same area too.   I’d guess the TV display had fewer choices than I’ve ever seen as well, maybe even one whole aisle less.

The wine selection has changed quite a bit.   I’d say that about 3/4 of the display area was wines less than $12 a bottle, and there were pallets of wine in the $7-9 range too.   They have definitely shifted downmarket for wine in their stocking mix.

There were a few more choices for rice than my last visit, but they are at least 40-50% higher priced than 2 years ago.  That’s a big jump.

Some prices have been stable though.  Lamb from Down Under is about the same.  Maple syrup from Canada might even be a dollar cheaper than it was.   And smoked salmon is close to the same at $1/oz.   Now that spiral sliced ham is back in stock, it’s actually cheaper (counting inflation) than it was a couple of years ago.     Chicken drums were 1$/pound again too.   That might be people slaughtering early to sell before they get bird flu and have to be destroyed, pushing down the value.

All in all, Costco appears to be reducing SKU count (maybe involuntarily), has gaps in supply for long time staples, has moved product mix down market, offering new and more plentiful cheaper choices and seems to be making changes that DON’T point to a return to prosperity and an expanding economy.

Or I could be reading more into it than is there, but I think what I’m seeing is real.

Stack it up, if only to get through temporary supply issues.

nick

64 Comments and discussion on "Fri. Mar. 10, 2023 – … until morale improves."

  1. Ray Thompson says:

    Off to Round Rock today. About an 8 hour journey with three stops. Two for gas, one for lunch. I think there is a Bus-ee’s on I-20 which will be a mandatory third stop. Might be able to combine that with lunch and gas. Depends on the bladder and stomach level.

  2. Nick Flandrey says:

    68F and 99%RH.  Sky is bright, but some overcast.   

    Bacon, sweet sweet bacon is in the pan, and the robot is making coffee.

    One child actually got up and showered, so she’s moving.   The other, well, not so much.

    But,   Bacon!

    n

  3. SteveF says:

    Third post!

    2
    1
  4. Greg Norton says:

    I am still fascinated by the disaster that Musk walked into at Twitter.   The company had tripled the head count over the previous 12 ? 18 ? months and revenues were declining since twitter had banned so many users.  If you ask me, I suspect that the books were cooked.

    Musk knew. Certainly the bankers did, but they wanted something better than the 3% return possible on commercial paper a year ago.

    When the cult turns on The Real Life Tony Stark, social media will be the conduit for their anger. Buying Twitter served as a distraction from the lateness of the Jesus Truck as well as being a proactive PR decision.

    Unlike Facecrack, Twitter was still viable thanks to the Orange Man.

  5. Greg Norton says:

    Off to Round Rock today. About an 8 hour journey with three stops. Two for gas, one for lunch. I think there is a Bus-ee’s on I-20 which will be a mandatory third stop. Might be able to combine that with lunch and gas. Depends on the bladder and stomach level.

    Buc-ee’s is on I20 and I30 east of Dallas. The Beaver is all about the tax breaks.

    Driving back from TN this Summer, I wished the one on I30 had been further NE. Texarkana is pretty grim anymore, but I guess they didn’t want to cut a deal.

    Temple and Bell County were very aggressive with incentives to get that store on I35, but those entities are tough negotiators and sensitive about being thought of as Austin exurbs.

  6. Nick Flandrey says:

    First we kill all the lawyers…   then …

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11841665/Cleveland-cops-indicted-video-stomping-civilians-tasering-cuffed-suspects-released.html 

    It is coming and it won’t be pretty.   Hopefully it won’t come to everywhere at the same time.

    n

  7. Greg Norton says:

    When the cult turns on The Real Life Tony Stark, social media will be the conduit for their anger.

    I mean seriously turn. When Show Ya realizes that he will have to shell out $80k to get his Jesus Truck when he expected to pay $40k and possibly flip it.

    And the Jesus Truck will only be $80k, base model, with Tony eating the loss in order to squeak under the cap for the tax credit.

  8. Nick Flandrey says:

    IDK, I’m starting to think that Musk really DGAF.   He controls PERSONALLY 60% of the world’s total access to space.  Practically he controls more like 90% as he is actually launching, and at an astounding rate.

    He has the .mil dependent on his company for all of their future comms and positioning plans, and unless they decide he’s not someone they can work with and remove him, he’s got shadowy friends in high places.

    Tesla cars and trucks are a sideshow, a drop in the bucket.   

    Twitter is something that either hasn’t revealed itself yet, or it is truly nothing more than a frivolity he engaged in just to poke people in the eye.   Remember that as soon as he saw the books he tried to back out, but DOJ suddenly found a national interest in forcing him to complete the deal, which he very uncharacteristically and meekly did.

    Twitter and the little bug on every freaking web page is a massive spying and data collection tool, without even considering nefarious intent.   People VOLUNTEER their movements, beliefs, known associates.   They give the .gov FAR more than Richelieu’s ‘six lines.’*  Combined with FB, it’s the most massive self-incrimination database in the history of sentient beings…

    And no tool goes unused…

    *“In the 17th century, the French statesman Cardinal Richelieu famously said, “Show me six lines written by the most honest man in the world, and I will find enough therein to hang him.” Lavrentiy Beria, head of Joseph Stalin’s secret police in the old Soviet Union, declared, “Show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.” Both were saying the same thing: if you have enough data about someone, you can find sufficient evidence to find him guilty of something.”

    Bruce Schneier

  9. Nick Flandrey says:

    {{{ ping }}}

    n

  10. Alan says:

    Tony 2024! TM

  11. MrAtoz says:

    The site was “server not found” for me for 10 minutes.

  12. lpdbw says:

    re: Cleveland

    I spent a week in Cleveland one night…

    Just one bit of that story from 1975:

     I got lost, and pulled into a gas station after midnight to ask directions.  I had a car full of fellow college students, all white.

    The proprietor told me, in no uncertain terms, to head “that way”, and don’t stop, even for red lights, for at least a mile.  For my own safety.

    Fun times.

  13. Greg Norton says:

    Tony 2024! TM

    Born in South Africa.

    The same problem as Ahhhhhnold running on the “Screw Your Freedoms 2024″ platform.

  14. drwilliams says:

    @Lynn

    “I was listening to Coast To Coast on the way home tonight.  A demographer was complaining that Gen Y people (born between 1981 and 1996), the millennials, are having a hard time affording houses.  And they are delaying having children to the point that they cannot have children.  There are 86 million of them. and they do not own much.”

    They’ve establised different priorities—$200 a month cable bills, $100 a month phone bills, and an additional $50-100 a month for phone hardware in perpetuity—and have an inferior education that left them with no analytical ability to realize a solution. 

  15. SteveF says:

    the “Screw Your Freedoms 2024″ platform.

    That would be an interesting social experiment, to run on exactly that slogan. “It’s for our safety! Screw your freedoms!” “We’ll all die from warming if we don’t act now! Screw your freedoms!” “Children are hungry! Screw your freedoms!”

  16. RickH says:

    Regarding driving and trucks: maybe a dash cam could be used if you are inclined to report the truckers to their companies. 

    I’ve been looking into dash cams, in preparation for the ‘big road trip’ planned for May (WA-UT-TX-CA-WA, roughly). There are some inexpensive ones, although I went with a ones with a few more features.

    I bought this one “REDTIGER Dash Cam for Cars,4K UHD 2160P Car Camera Front, Wi-Fi GPS,3.16″ LCD Screen,Night Vision,170° Wide Angle,WDR,G-Sensor,24H Parking Monitor, Support 256GB Max”, about $120, plus the cost of the memory card (here).

    It has a smaller screen, so is unobtrusive when mounted just to the left of the rear-view mirror. Not directly in driver’s field of view. Works well, but the screen being small it is hard to see with my aging eyes.

    So, I have this one coming next week: “Rove R2- 4K Dash Cam Built in WiFi GPS Car Dashboard Camera Recorder with UHD 2160P, 2.4″ LCD, 150° Wide Angle, WDR, Night Vision”, currently $102, here.  It has a larger screen, plus a button to immediately record/save a specific video segment (as when you see a crash, etc). 

    All do rotating saves to the memory card, and will save during crash detection, etc. Both have parking monitors, but only for a short time unless you hook it up to always on 12v. Both use cig adapters, and there is the issue of the cord routing.  Both mount to windshields, but won’t mount to the pebbled surface dashboard; although the Rove comes with a 3M sticky mounting that I assume will work for dashboards.

    Routing the power wire is an issue. Both come with long power cords so you can mount across the top of the windshield, then down the door pillar and under the dash to the cig socket. Both have available 12-5v adapters you can connect to your fuse box. 

    I’m hoping the Rove will work with the dashboard mount, and then the cord routing can be less obtrusive. Some folks have connected to the powered interior rear-view mirror using a 12-5v adapter and a ‘y’ cable connector to the back of the powered mirror. Others have used the 12-5v adapter to wire to the interior lights. If the dashboard mounting works, then I’ll get the 12-5v adapter kit to connect to the fuse block (which is in the engine compartment of my 2019 Highlander, but there is an existing hole through the firewall for routing).

    But, any dash cam will record to a memory card, and you use those videos to send to the trucking companies, with a bit of work. 

    It will be interesting to see how the Rove works when it gets here. Since I bought from Zon, I can return the first one easily for credit. I think the larger screen, plus easier to access buttons, might be better for these tired eyes. And it might be useful for the upcoming long road trip.

  17. Denis says:

    {{{ ping }}}

    Pong?

    I was supposed to be going to Aldi to grab the Saturday deals (gardening equipment) before they close but after they stock the aisles for tomorrow, but there is a blizzard blowing and ice forming on everything outdoors. Car is encrusted and roads probably similar. Aldi can wait until tomorrow…

    A propos “ping”, I have this old, old Longshine network print server that I need to connect to the network at the BOL in order to run an even older HP laser 1100A printer that has only a parallel-port interface, but the Longshine defaults to an IP network address in the 192.168.0.xxx range. For reasons I don’t understand, I couldn’t get it to become visible on a bilateral connection from either my Linux or my Windows laptop, so I had to install the ancient Longshine Windows-based SNMP software on the Mrs’ Windows 11 PC. Amazingly, it actually installed and spoke to the printer server quasi immediately, allowing me to reprogram it to take a static address in the 192.168.50.xxx range that I wanted. Clearly, I am a network guru 🙂

  18. Greg Norton says:

    “I was listening to Coast To Coast on the way home tonight.  A demographer was complaining that Gen Y people (born between 1981 and 1996), the millennials, are having a hard time affording houses.  And they are delaying having children to the point that they cannot have children.  There are 86 million of them. and they do not own much.”

    They’ve establised different priorities—$200 a month cable bills, $100 a month phone bills, and an additional $50-100 a month for phone hardware in perpetuity—and have an inferior education that left them with no analytical ability to realize a solution. 

    Is the eviction ban still in effect?

    Just wait. Taco Tuesday Boomers will have to cash out of their Stucco Sarcophagi* sooner or later. Most were not much more fiscally responsible than subsequent generations with the possible exception of X-ers my age who are currently on mop duty cleaning up after War Baby and Early Boomer parent messes.

    *Thank you Doctor Housing Bubble.

  19. Greg Norton says:

    That would be an interesting social experiment, to run on exactly that slogan. “It’s for our safety! Screw your freedoms!” “We’ll all die from warming if we don’t act now! Screw your freedoms!” “Children are hungry! Screw your freedoms!”

    If I had to guess, I think he regrets the statement. He’s pretty much forgotten at this point.

    Any chance we will see a “King Conan” film or limited series before Ahhhhnold passes is pretty much done.

  20. Alan says:

    >> It has a smaller screen, so is unobtrusive when mounted just to the left of the rear-view mirror.

    @Rick H, any windshield mounted ‘advanced safety system’ cameras in your Highlander? If so, make sure your proposed mounting location for the dashcam won’t interfere with the OEM equipment. Should be detailed in your owner’s manual or online in a TSB. Search on ‘toll tag’ mounting for your year/model.

  21. Greg Norton says:

    Supply chain note – The local HEB was completely out of their private label laundry detergent when I stopped today. All of the usual national brands were available, however.

    Seeing that was a first for me in nearly nine years of buying it on a regular basis. The detergent really cuts the funky smell of bath towels so I’ll have to try another store.

  22. Greg Norton says:

    @Rick H, any windshield mounted ‘advanced safety system’ cameras in your Highlander? If so, make sure your proposed mounting location for the dashcam won’t interfere with the OEM equipment. Should be detailed in your owner’s manual or online in a TSB. Search on ‘toll tag’ mounting for your year/model.

    Toyota mounts the saaaaafety cameras on the Camry/Highlander platform in a box behind the rearview mirror, bonded to the glass.

    $1200 new if you have to replace the assembly, but I don’t think it is as integrated as some new Subarus, which make windshield replacement a $2000+ job.

    I have paid $750 for the windshield on the Exploder twice. The additional cost isn’t due to electronics but two rubber moldings which have to be replaced and glued into place with the glass each time. $400.

    Guess what the latest recall on the Exploder covers. The moldings are prone to popping loose at highway speeds and damaging trailing vehicles.

    Tommy Boy has another problem to fix.

  23. Lynn says:

    My Graphics prof in grad school had a personal theory he was cooking that a fourth eye cell type exists in a certain percentage of the female population.

    I’m not trying to be funny.

    He was color blind, and his theory was that the fourth type of cell was tied to that gene. Given that the third type of cell was only discovered in the 90s, it is definitely possible.

    We’ve lost a lot giving up tube VGA monitors, more than most people realize.

    The one thing that we have not lost in those tube VGA monitors is all that weight.  We had one of the 40 inch Sony tube 4:3 TVs.  It must have weighed 120 lbs.  My 55 inch 16:9 4K LED TV only weighs about 30 lbs.  Much better.  And, much less power, 30 watts instead of 300 watts.

  24. Greg Norton says:

    The new captain on “Picard” is seriously damaged but really good at his job.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI7W3AiAVso

    Yeah, naughty words.

  25. Lynn says:

    IDK, I’m starting to think that Musk really DGAF.   He controls PERSONALLY 60% of the world’s total access to space.  Practically he controls more like 90% as he is actually launching, and at an astounding rate.

    DGAF = Does Not Give A F***.

    And Musk’s rockets do not blow up like the Chinese rocket that blew up over Texas yesterday.

       https://www.thedailybeast.com/chinese-rocket-broke-up-over-texas-in-uncontrolled-reentry

    Uh, those articles about the Chinese rocket are disappearing. I wonder if the CCCP is ordering takedowns ??? Here is another article.
    https://news.usni.org/2023/03/09/chinese-rocket-that-delivered-military-spy-satellites-breaks-up-over-texas

  26. Lynn says:

    @Lynn

    “I was listening to Coast To Coast on the way home tonight.  A demographer was complaining that Gen Y people (born between 1981 and 1996), the millennials, are having a hard time affording houses.  And they are delaying having children to the point that they cannot have children.  There are 86 million of them. and they do not own much.”

    They’ve establised different priorities—$200 a month cable bills, $100 a month phone bills, and an additional $50-100 a month for phone hardware in perpetuity—and have an inferior education that left them with no analytical ability to realize a solution. 

    Those amounts are trivial compared to the cost of a kid.  And if the kid is disabled, wow !  Five figures every year.

  27. Lynn says:

    “Regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank in biggest collapse since 2008 financial crisis”

         https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/crisis-silicon-valley-bank-shows-tech-sector-worries-spilling-wall-str-rcna74311

    “The FDIC took over the lender — the 16th largest U.S. bank and a tech industry favorite — after a run on deposits and concerns about a broader crisis that led investors to dump other bank stocks.”

    Nothing to see here, just move along.

    Hat tip to:

       https://www.drudgereport.com/

  28. drwilliams says:

    “Taco Tuesday Boomers will have to cash out of their Stucco Sarcophagi* sooner or later.”

    No stucco, but I’m going to hang on to mine until the neighborhood turns over, then sell to illegals who want a place that will sleep 20and park 12. 

  29. Lynn says:

    “The End of Obesity?”

        https://reason.com/2023/03/10/the-end-of-obesity/

    “The advent of effective new weight loss drugs offers hope for millions of overweight people.”

    I have to admit, I am tempted.  I would pay $1,000/month to weigh 40 lbs less.

  30. Lynn says:

    “CNBC’s Jim Cramer urged viewers to buy Silicon Valley Bank stock last month”

        https://nypost.com/2023/03/10/cnbcs-jim-cramer-touted-silicon-valley-bank-stock/

    Um, buy what Jim Cramer does not recommend ?

  31. Lynn says:

    “LA Times Says White Drivers Cause Air Pollution in Los Angeles Which Negatively Impacts People of Color”

        https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/la-times-says-white-drivers-cause-air-pollution-in-los-angeles-which-negatively-impacts-people-of-color/

    This is so ridiculous that I don’t even know where to start.

  32. Jenny says:

    @lynn

    I have to admit, I am tempted.  I would pay $1,000/month to weigh 40 lbs less.

    My weight crept up thru Covid. I’m ridiculously short so it doesn’t take much excess poundage to look way too roundage. Zaftig aside it’s unhealthy and slows me down. 
     

    I signed up for an inexpensive no frills gym (Planet Fitness) between work and home, and have started food tracking again (LoseIt paid edition). I need a handy phrase to condition when I’m reaching for sugar. Last go around it was a line from a Marian Call song – “I want a smaller waist, I want donuts too”. Statement of truth, there. 
     

    Gonna be cranky while I readjust my food / exercise priorities. 

  33. drwilliams says:

    As I’ve pointed out previously, it is illegals who disproportionally buy old cars that are not well-maintained and emit more pollutants. FJB’s open borders policies are killing people in this and many other ways. 

  34. Greg Norton says:

    Um, buy what Jim Cramer does not recommend ?

    I saw an article this week about an ETF that plays against Cramer.

    I’ve noted before that Cramer was a newbie crime reporter at the Tallahassee newspaper who got lucky and landed the Ted Bundy trial as his first big story out of J school. It has all been downhill from there.

  35. lpdbw says:

    “The End of Obesity?”

    I, too, would pay a lot of money to lose weight in the fashion claimed for these drugs.  No hunger, no cravings, no pain.  You just mostly stop cravings, and you eat for fuel, not pleasure.

    I was about to pull the trigger on it, but I heard some discouraging news in studies quoted by Dr. Eades.  I decided to try one more round of (mostly) carnivore, and wait for more research.

    As a class of drugs, there’s evidence they decrease the size of fat cells, but encourage them to create new, additional, smaller fat cells.  Then, when the drug is discontinued, the old and the new cells both increase in size, causing the chance of gaining even more weight than you lost.

    I’m not prepared to go on a weight loss drug for lifetime maintenance.  Not yet.  At the very least, if I wait a bit, the patents may expire and generics will become available.

  36. Greg Norton says:

    “The FDIC took over the lender — the 16th largest U.S. bank and a tech industry favorite — after a run on deposits and concerns about a broader crisis that led investors to dump other bank stocks.”

    Nothing to see here, just move along.

    Payroll will be a problem at a lot of startups in The Valley today, possibly elsewhere too. The FDIC won’t have the insured deposits covered until Monday.

    I didn’t know SVB had offices in Austin until yesterday. 

    A *lot* of tech bro management types are in town for SxSW. That is a big “shots of Pappy and steaks” sales event, and the SVB ATM cards aren’t going to work.

  37. SteveF says:

    it doesn’t take much excess poundage to look way too roundage. Zaftig aside it’s unhealthy and slows me down. 

    You’re looking at it wrong. You’re not round enough. Keep eating until you’re truly round and then you can roll everywhere at great speed.

  38. Lynn says:

    I’m not prepared to go on a weight loss drug for lifetime maintenance.  Not yet.  At the very least, if I wait a bit, the patents may expire and generics will become available.

    I would like for the drug to be over the counter before I use them.

  39. Alan says:

    >> $1200 new if you have to replace the assembly, but I don’t think it is as integrated as some new Subarus, which make windshield replacement a $2000+ job

    When I had the Forester there was a TSB that you printed out and cut up to use to affix your toll tag so as to not interfere with the Eye-Sight cameras.

  40. Lynn says:

    Ugh.  Sunday is Fall Back Sunday.  I hate Daylight Savings Time.

    2
    1
  41. Lynn says:

    “REVIEW:  2023 Toyota Highlander Turbo Limited AWD”

        https://www.carpro.com/vehicle-reviews/review-2023-toyota-highlander-limited-turbo-awd

    Whoa, there is now a longer Grand Highlander so that real people can sit in the third row of seats.

    And the standard engine has moved from a V6 to a turbo 4 cylinder for better mileage.

    $53K, are you kidding me ?  We paid $32K for our 2019 Highlander LE V6 which I considered to be good deal.

  42. paul says:
     I hate Daylight Savings Time.

    No, I don’t.  I hate the whole changing of the clocks.  Anyway, I’ll get most of the clocks reset tomorrow.  The computers and phones and my truck do it automatically.

    I might remember to do the TV this time so the guide is correct.  Might not.  Might wait until someone complains. 

    The dogs run on solar time anyway. 

  43. RickH says:

    $53K, are you kidding me ?  We paid $32K for our 2019 Highlander LE V6 which I considered to be good deal.

    Well, the new one (isn’t it what was going to be called the “Grand Highlander”?) is a step above the Platinum level, which was around $50K, I think (or more). 

    I’d be interested if the rear window opens (not just the tailgate). They took that away starting with the 2020 Fourth Generation design.

    $32K is about what I paid for my used 2019 in 2020 . Still runs well. And now, it’s paid off. (My wife hates car payments.)

  44. lpdbw says:

    Hey!   There’s footage of Jenny playing the pipes!

  45. Lynn says:

    Looks like my neighbors cows got onto the office property yesterday.  I now have deposits XXXXX XXXXXX cow pies XXXXX XXXX delightful nuggets around the place including right smack dab in the middle of the one lane cutoff road.  

    I guess that I will be bringing a shovel to the office on Saturday work day tomorrow.  The insurance guy inspected the place last month and I’ve got some electrical work to get done.  And shoveling.

  46. drwilliams says:

    One of the twentieth centuries greatest cinematic moments occurred in The Electric Horseman

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE6BOu2dAlk

    (dimmed in the trailer, about one minute in)

    and caused Vietnam vets all over the world to stand up and cheer, and probably wear out the video a few years later.

    (Yes, Willie Nelson’s poolside line is also on the list, but a lot further from the top)

    Today we have:

    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/03/hanoi-jane-sharpens-her-knife.php

    and everyone who forgave her, passed up the chance to spit on her or just kick her dog has the chance to regret their decision.

  47. drwilliams says:

    “I was listening to Coast To Coast on the way home tonight.  A demographer was complaining that Gen Y people (born between 1981 and 1996), the millennials, are having a hard time affording houses.  And they are delaying having children to the point that they cannot have children.  There are 86 million of them. and they do not own much.”

    They’ve establised different priorities—$200 a month cable bills, $100 a month phone bills, and an additional $50-100 a month for phone hardware in perpetuity—and have an inferior education that left them with no analytical ability to realize a solution. 

    Those amounts are trivial compared to the cost of a kid.  And if the kid is disabled, wow !  Five figures every year.

    True, but the real point is that if they’re too stupid to figure out a budget, they should be childless and stop propagating bad DNA. The irony is that they’re even more hopeless now–not being able to differentiate between the sexes and letting the country get flooded with illegal invader that don’t have that problem.

  48. drwilliams says:

    @Lynn

    Looks like my neighbors cows got onto the office property yesterday.  I now have deposits XXXXX XXXXXX cow pies XXXXX XXXX delightful nuggets around the place including right smack dab in the middle of the one lane cutoff road.  

    I guess that I will be bringing a shovel to the office on Saturday work day tomorrow.  The insurance guy inspected the place last month and I’ve got some electrical work to get done.  And shoveling.

    My advice would be send them a bill annotated with “No charge for first offense. If there is a second offense the rate goes way up and may be levied as fresh ribeye.”

    Lynn: “Hey, neighbor, glad I caught you. Your part of the carcass is hangin’ and can be picked up any time. Bring beer if you want to use the barbie.”

  49. nick flandrey says:

    Cleveland.   For some reason my dad and one of his cronies used to quote this at each other…

    <<barker voice>> “Hai watch hay lookie boys, it’s lovely Lonette from the Roxy Theater in Cleveland.  She walks, she talks, she slithers on her belly like a reptile!”

    n

    The ROXY THEATER was the best-known burlesque house in Cleveland

  50. Alan says:

    >> I have paid $750 for the windshield on the Exploder twice. The additional cost isn’t due to electronics but two rubber moldings which have to be replaced and glued into place with the glass each time. $400.

    @Greg, no glass coverage? Or have you dropped Comp coverage?

  51. Alan says:

    >> Ugh.  Sunday is Fall Back Sunday.  I hate Daylight Savings Time.

    Arizona welcomes all DST refugees – proof of citizenship required though.

    (DST pet peeve – it’s Saving, not Savings, please.)

    P. S. Sunday is “Spring Forward” Sunday. Hand over that hour of sleep (or reading time.)

  52. Ray Thompson says:

    Currently in Cedar Park TX for the night. Hampton Inn. Cannot stay with the nephew as his wife is having problems and her mother came to stay. The nephew’s wife was born with significant heart problems and her intestines were outside her body. Lots of surgeries and there are still lingering issues 35 years later.

    Will leave tomorrow afternoon for San Antonio to visit wife’s friend. Will be staying one extra night replacing the one we were supposed to spend in Round Rock. Not a problem.

    We have been advised to head to Marble Falls and taking 1431 from Round Rock. Then take 281 south to San Antonio to avoid Austin. Nephew says construction on 281 is done and traffic moves OK. We will see. The toll road would take us far east of San Antonio so that is not an option.

    I-35 south is a mess, and I suspect will be even worse in Austin. Almost all the way from I-35E (south) was loaded with traffic. In Waco and all the way through Temple traffic was stop and go, moving at less than 20 mph. Approaching Round Rock and things were snarled again.

    Lots of trucks. When the I-state opened up the trucks would stay in the lane, driving next to each other, seeing who has the biggest piston, blocking traffic. Nothing in front of them for a couple of miles but they persisted. A couple of trucks decided the left lane suited them well even though the left is verboten to trucks.

    Gaaccckkkk, I could not stand living in this traffic. Most housing subdivisions are packed close together with yards that can be mowed with hand scissors. Ugh.

  53. Alan says:

    >> I-35 south is a mess, and I suspect will be even worse in Austin. Almost all the way from I-35E (south) was loaded with traffic. In Waco and all the way through Temple traffic was stop and go, moving at less than 20 mph. Approaching Round Rock and things were snarled again.

    “…stop and go…” Adaptive cruise control FTW. Our LEAF has it.

  54. nick flandrey says:

    The replacement TV came in so I headed over to my client’s house today.   Hung a replacement camera, put the new tv in the bedroom, moved the bedroom tv to the fireplace, took the fireplace tv down and will look at getting it replaced under warranty.   It’s another of the TCLs that I took a chance on.   Looked great, don’t hold up.   But with the warranty and a few hoops, you get your money back or a new one.

    Located the coax and made the final connection to the cell booster antenna.   Big improvement in signal in the home office.  Should be no issue with calls in there now.

    Did a  bit of head scratching with a network switch up grade.   Had 4 port switches in the attic, but needed one more, so I got a ubiquiti 5 port PoE “Flex” switch.   It wouldn’t power on.  Tried the small black ubi injector.   Tried the line from the ubi switch.   Nada.   Finally dug a 48v injector out of my truck and that did the trick.   One thing that has always plagued ubiquiti gear is the need for special PoE injectors.     Use their recommended thing, and it will work.  Assume your other thing will work, and you’re rolling the dice.   

    I still need to hang the Nanostation M2 to light up the front yard and the gate, and then add a Ring intercom at the gate.  I’ll need to figure something out for the mount though.

    And there are two more outdoor TCL tvs that have vertical lines in the image, so those will need to be warrantied or replaced at some point.      I’m mostly caught up though for now…

    n

  55. nick flandrey says:

    Predictable and predicted.

    US Cattle Prices Hit Nine-Year High As National Herd Drops To Half-Century Low

    “It takes a long time to build a herd back up again.”

      herds were being sold off in October, so no surprise really.   I’m amazed that there are any sales in the stores at all  (discounted prices)

    n  

  56. Ken Mitchell says:

    DST? One of the nice things about being COMPLETELY RETIRED is being able to ignore it. I no longer wear a watch, don’t watch TV, and get up and go to bed when I feel like it. If I want to know the time, I look at my PC or cell phone. There are only three days in the calendar; yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and they’re all pretty much the same. 

  57. drwilliams says:

    There are only three days in the calendar; yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and they’re all pretty much the same. 

    I’m thinking of a woodworking project…

  58. Lynn says:

    >> Ugh.  Sunday is Fall Back Sunday.  I hate Daylight Savings Time.

    Arizona welcomes all DST refugees – proof of citizenship required though.

    (DST pet peeve – it’s Saving, not Savings, please.)

    P. S. Sunday is “Spring Forward” Sunday. Hand over that hour of sleep (or reading time.)

    Sigh.  Thanks for the correction.  Spring Forward Sunday.  I get my lazy butt out of bed at 645am for church at 830am.  So, it will really be 545am and the sun wont rise until 740am DST.

  59. drwilliams says:

    Every day the sun rises is a good day.

  60. Lynn says:

    “A.F. Branco Cartoon – Bipartisan”

         https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-bipartisan/

    “McConnell and Schumer of the Uniparty call for censorship of the whole complete truth of January 6th. Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2023.”

    WOW !  Nailed it.  OFD would be so proud.

  61. Greg Norton says:

    $53K, are you kidding me ?  We paid $32K for our 2019 Highlander LE V6 which I considered to be good deal.

    The most desirable Toyota right now is the RAV4 Prime Hybrid. ADM on those was running as much as 100%, making the vehicle a $90k+ purchase.

  62. Greg Norton says:

    I-35 south is a mess, and I suspect will be even worse in Austin. Almost all the way from I-35E (south) was loaded with traffic. In Waco and all the way through Temple traffic was stop and go, moving at less than 20 mph. Approaching Round Rock and things were snarled again.

    Downtown Austin was a mess tonight.

    1431 out to Marble Falls then south is a long drive. Stop at the Blue Bonnet Cafe in Marble Falls if you aren’t in a big hurry.

    Make sure to get the pie. 

    Yes, it is Shrub’s picture on the wall.

  63. Greg Norton says:

    >> I have paid $750 for the windshield on the Exploder twice. The additional cost isn’t due to electronics but two rubber moldings which have to be replaced and glued into place with the glass each time. $400.

    @Greg, no glass coverage? Or have you dropped Comp coverage?

    The first time, insurance replaced the windshield. A week later, I popped it replacing the wiper blades so I wrote the check.

    We are on a “no forgiveness” policy with The Lizard  since moving to Texas.

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