Cool and damp. Overcast, with chance of sun. Which describes yesterday, and maybe today.
Spent the day messing around. Had to stay close to home to retrieve D2 from her backpacking trip, so that limited what I could do. It also interrupted any long tasks. The upshot was… did some small things around the house.
Spent a few hours working on a coffee maker from the goodwill outlet. It was worth it as it was a very expensive coffee maker. Even just for parts it’s worth several hundred bucks. Often times, they just need to be cleaner or need an inexpensive part. This one needs the pump replaced. If I was keeping it, I’d do it as the part is only $50. But I intended to sell it, and between the pump and a couple of missing trays, getting it back in order would eat most of the profit. So I’ll sell it for parts, and list the troubleshooting I’ve done so far. I’ve got a couple more in storage to do too.
I did some more sorting, some cleaning, and other small tasks, and that finished my day.
Today I will be doing more of the same unless I can get to my storage unit and pull out stuff to drop off with my auctioneer. That is high on the list but dependent on good weather.
The sense of urgency is coming back, or maybe it’s a sense of being overwhelmed. The government has gone mad. Our institutions are pushing crazy stuff that no one wants, outside of a tiny minority, who are VISIBLY far outside the norm. The inmates are truly running the asylum, and I want out before the free lobotomies get distributed.
I’m stacking, and moving stacks to somewhere safer. Think hard about doing the same. Think hard about the reality of living in a world where the woman of the year has testes and a penis, no ovaries or womb, and a whole industry exists to convince kids to let doctors mutilate them…
Crazy years? Oh yeah. Stack it deep.
nick
@Nick
A couple days ago you mentioned stacking socks. I meant to reinforce that but forgot. Most of the socks manufacturing is done in one city in China, so disrupting that supply chain is probably going to leave a few high-end manufacturers in Italy.
I stacked six dozen pairs in Dec when Northern Tool had work socks on sale for a bit over a buck a pair. Got the basic ones as well as the pricier$1.80 reinforced for steel toe wear version.
Yikes. I’ve had MCD in a drip account going back to the 90s I was in the middle of adding all of the dividend reinvestment to Quicken so I could finally see just how much it was worth.
Dollar cost averaging in the account only goes back to 2004, but currently sits at 8.84% gain per year even with the last seven years of dividends not added. Definitely “widows and orphans” level, but not a terrible return considering how mature it is.
Did someone play beef futures wrong in the commodities trading department?
At the corporate level, McDonalds is a finance/real estate management company which practices a brutal “survival of the fittest” strategy with franchise operators. Still 150k would be a lot for that kind of activity.
I sensed something was up last year when the big operator in Tampa, Caspers Company, sold off all of their restaurants to the parent company.
Caspers had run McDonalds in Florida for decades. My father knew the family personally, and they weren’t bonkers like some Tampa restaurant people.
Before flying home early yesterday, we went to look at the newly rebuilt “green” McDonalds on the Disney property, near Animal Kingdom. If that’s the future, then fast food restaurants are going to shed a *lot* of people soon.
It is warm-ish and overcast at the moment. Bus was exactly on-time so D1 had to run for it.
—–
real estate has been beaten up lately in most of the country. McD’s has an image problem- not healthy under the new propaganda, not ‘ethnic’, and not ‘fun’ or ‘hip’ enough to counter the other issues. Plus, for years they’ve been designing their environment to drive people away. It worked.
———
I don’t like seeing fast food places close, that doesn’t happen in a strong economy unless someone makes a bad choice on location.
n
I stacked six dozen pairs in Dec when Northern Tool had work socks on sale for a bit over a buck a pair.
– my costco had socks in store last month and I bought a full set of the ones I like and put them on the shelf. Thinner wool + spandex don’t last as long as heavy ragg wool, but they are more versatile. At times in the past I’ve resorted to ebay for the wool socks I was wearing (ragg wool from REI) or the thinner ones from Costco, because there is definitely a ‘season’ for good socks.
n
I’ve rarely seen McDonald’s close unless the parent company is trying to teach a franchisee a lesson.
For example, the franchisee on the top of the list to punish is the owner of the giant McDonald’s on International Drive and Sand Lake in Orlando, one of the chain’s busiest. However, at this point, his operation has grown too large to challenge successfully with the usual games the corporation likes to play to keep the operators in line.
The store was going strong when I drove by several times this week.
Another of the auctioneers I watch is calling it quits. This is someone I’ve never bought from because his business model suxxx. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t make it. And he didn’t. His issue was buying the wrong stuff, and asking too much for it.
Oh, and he broke the rules and mentioned the source of his product (d!ck’s) directly. D!ck’s apparently has very specific requirements about how you can market the stuff they send to the surplus market. One rule is that you can’t tell people where it’s from.
His main problem though was lack of buyers. He starts all his lots at 20% of retail which is WAY too high. As an auction buyer, the bids might end up there, on some stuff, but you don’t want to start there. A buyer that pays the opening bid price and is the only bidder, will feel like they must have paid too much if no one else bid. No auction buyer wants to pay too much.
And no auction buyer will pay $20 for a nike golf shirt that retailed for $80. That’s a $10 item at best, even NWTs…
n
While we were gone, we received an interesting letter regarding a security breach at a state agency related to my wife’s Texas license. I’m wondering if our troll friend overstepped in his zeal to doxx us.
Not all of the information they’ve posted here before being quickly hammered was public record. They — I believe it is groupthink at work — may be in trouble now, at least one of the cabal members.
Oops.
LOL! 60 Minutes:
Jane Pauley: President Festerman?
Talk about bottom of the barrel boot-licking. How embarrassing. Does Pauley have dementia?
Geesh. Pauley is 72. Dementia is possible. She admits to being bipolar.
–‘nother ‘spiracy theory proved to be true…
n
Look! Rainbows!
I got my bill for the toll roads in Houston. Apparently, many of the toll roads are privately owned and do not allow DAV tags to travel for nothing. Only on the Texas owned toll roads am I able to travel for no charge. The distinction between the state owned and privately owned is subtle and well known to the locals, but not the foreigners. Some places even transition from state to private with no warning other than the toll signs with the symbols.
The total bill for taking four toll roads amounts to $35+. That does not include any penalties but does include a small handling fee. It is probably worth it for the short time I was in Houston, and the hours I was traveling. I did not notice when driving north on 288 the traffic on the non-toll portion was almost stopped for several miles while I was moving north at a good speed.
Houston, and Texas, having multiple tolling authorities is a really bad idea in my opinion.
Not quite the level of Florida where the toll signs are small, hidden by tall vehicles, all by design. Get in the wrong lane and there is no option as the lane enters the tollway. Moving over by the time the small sign is spotted is often very difficult without coming to a complete stop. Some roads in Florida transition from free to toll without any warning other than a small sign that is hard to read at speed. All done on purpose of course to trap the tourists.
Toll roads around Orlando are bad, but the point is to get tourists to buy a tag at Publix or pay the rental car company’s advance fee.
The NPR on the “conspiracy” to make you eat bugs:
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/31/1166649732/conspiracy-theory-eating-bugs-4chan
They don’t actually deny it…
>> haven’t they always? I’m missing something…
‘n
I think that Alan is making a joke.
Okay, okay, so AFD is the 1st, not the 2nd. Duly noted 🙂
Whew. Back really felt on edge so I took some meds and laid down. Feels like I headed that off, as everything feels normal again. Thank gnu for modern pharma.
Now have to do something with the freedom of motion.
n
@ray, my toll tag works on all the systems. Never noticed that there was more than one…
Yes, it does get expensive. Cost me over $5 to get the kid yesterday in tolls. No good way to avoid them either.
Houstonians are adverse to tolls for the most part, which keeps the toll roads moving for those of us willing to pay. There are places that back up every day though. It’s not uncommon for one ofthe toll roads to be empty while the parallel freeway is stopped when one is an alternative to the other.
There were days (and are,but less often) that my auction pickups include $20 or more in tolls.
n
Nuts and bolts—under the hood of the police state:
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2023/04/03/did-twitters-algorithm-have-a-back-door-for-govt-censors-n541323
We watched Avatar 2 on the 100″ projector last night.
I’m…meh.
BTW, John Wilder and I are in each other’s heads today.
and this. It’s an industry, and they want the money, no matter what it does to the kids.
America’s strong-arming gender clinics REVEALED: Most parents of trans kids say they were ‘pressured’ into transitioning their child
n
@lynn, any improvement with your Starlink service?
I have not tested the Starlink yet. The Peplink 30 is still ignoring it which means it thinks it is slow.
@Nick
A couple days ago you mentioned stacking socks. I meant to reinforce that but forgot. Most of the socks manufacturing is done in one city in China, so disrupting that supply chain is probably going to leave a few high-end manufacturers in Italy.
I stacked six dozen pairs in Dec when Northern Tool had work socks on sale for a bit over a buck a pair. Got the basic ones as well as the pricier$1.80 reinforced for steel toe wear version.
I wear Dickies crew work socks, size 13 to 15, from Walmarts. $11 for 6 pairs. The quality has noticeably decayed. I am concerned.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Genuine-Dickies-Men-s-Dri-Tech-Crew-Socks-6-Pack/180636645
While we were gone, we received an interesting letter regarding a security breach at a state agency related to my wife’s Texas license. I’m wondering if our troll friend overstepped in his zeal to doxx us.
Not all of the information they’ve posted here before being quickly hammered was public record. They — I believe it is groupthink at work — may be in trouble now, at least one of the cabal members.
Oops.
Mr. Elbow Patches ? One can only hope.
Houston, and Texas, having multiple tolling authorities is a really bad idea in my opinion.
I only know of two tolltag authorities in Texas, the EZ Tag and the TX Tag. Looks like there is a NTTA Tag in north Texas also. Texas is really infested with tollways, north Texas (Dallas – Fort Word) is the worst.
https://www.hctra.org/FAQ/Interoperability/2/50
We watched Avatar 2 on the 100″ projector last night.
I’m…meh.
I am meh and I did not see Avatar 2 yet. I suspect John Wick Chapter 4 was better.
>> I wear Dickies crew work socks, size 13 to 15, from Walmarts. $11 for 6 pairs. The quality has noticeably decayed. I am concerned.
Uhh…
“Country of Origin: Imported”
“Oil price forecasts rise on Wall Street as OPEC cuts signal ‘geopolitical posturing’”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/oil-price-forecasts-rise-on-wall-street-as-opec-cuts-signal-geopolitical-posturing-150058073.html
“The OPEC+ cuts consist of a voluntary reduction of 1.157 million barrels per day which will take effect in May. Additionally, Russia is extending its reduction of 500,000 barrels per day for the rest of the year.”
The Saudis have decided that the price of crude oil is too low so they are cutting production. Given that the price of crude oil is the most heavily fluid item on the world market, a little cut has a big swing.
And the USA Eagle Ford and Permian Basin are unofficially in decline now. The latest fracking results are coming in and the news is disappointing. Looks like all of the best fracking spots have been taken. However, there are good fracking results coming from the 50+ year old wells in central Texas though. Wells that were previously only dry natural gas (no crude) are now mixed crude oil and natural gas after fracking.
>> I wear Dickies crew work socks, size 13 to 15, from Walmarts. $11 for 6 pairs. The quality has noticeably decayed. I am concerned.
Uhh…
“Country of Origin: Imported”
Yup, China, China, China, China. I am wondering if some of the Dickies socks that I have bought at Walmart are actually counterfeits.
From Walmart in the store? That merchandise is not going to be counterfeit or there would be h*ll to pay with the FTC.
As for a third party seller on their website, who knows.
Of course, Walmart does pinch pennies with suppliers so Dickies may be cutting corners on the line they send to Bentonville vs. elsewhere.
“A World War I relic sees action again in Ukraine”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2023/03/a-world-war-i-relic-sees-action-again.html
That is an amazing idea for a drone killer. Just don’t be downstream of the target drone, might be a lot of bullets dropping in on a position. BTW, for those who do not know, both sides are using drones to drop grenades on individual soldiers. Really messes with your day. This is truly a war of devastation and attrition.
At one point. I dealt with a fiasco at NETRMA, who runs what is currently a two lane toll road around Tyler. There is also CTRMA.
“When a Deer Hunter Wins The Lottery”
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid1cDXn2cWWfg5sjofjtFIR459n-TonM7b-RSspz01K-3FwzNXf9zjZyfCaNNIyGDm6U5V47SvpArjT9vSlA-SFU5BfS6VYBA4jKYWJ6x4sFvtL3QhrpKMaxViZFyltM0dnN4YDIIPNqDhCL7thdNiUb6w8P4eF4VoqQg4Czssf42EdQeRTdR1OHHS/s600/Meme%20-%20deer%20hunter%20wins%20lottery.png
What the heck ? Those stairs are going to get old after a while.
From
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2023/04/memes-that-made-me-laugh-153.html
From Walmart in the store? That merchandise is not going to be counterfeit or there would be h*ll to pay with the FTC.
As for a third party seller on their website, who knows.
Of course, Walmart does pinch pennies with suppliers so Dickies may be cutting corners on the line they send to Bentonville vs. elsewhere.
Yup, Walmarts in the store. I am not surprised at anything nowadays, our high trust society has definitely turned into a low trust society.
I bought a bunch of the Dickies work socks at auction. Didn’t really like them. To much cotton, and I could feel the ribbing.
I’ve got them as “second tier”, but don’t wear them in my daily rotation.
n
I finally did the taxes. I used http://www.olt.com again. I filed, received an e-mail a few minutes later, and 23 minutes later another saying the IRS accepted my return. A little refund, about as much as expected.
Now to learn how I’ll get the whip from selling my mom’s house last week.
Those are the multiple agencies I am probably talking about. One allows DV tags to travel freely, the other charges the same as the rest of users. The transition from one to the other, or which is which, is not readily identifiable by the casual user. For a foreigner a toll road is a toll road. All designed to confuse the unsuspecting user. Locals know the difference, know the nuances of the system. Some roads had both tags displayed on the overhead sign if I remember correctly, or maybe it was directions. Too difficult to tell while keeping the eyes on the traffic on the crowded roads.
The bill I got was from the Harris County Toll Road Authority. I have no idea which of those programs they are associated. I suspect EZTag as I got a bill. There is nothing on the bill that states it is EZTag. Is Harris County Toll Road Authority private or just a revenue stream for Harris County?
TXTag I can apparently use the toll roads at no charge as I am guessing that is state owned. EZTag is full charge as I think it is privately owned. And figuring out what the toll is going to be traveling a certain distance on the EZTag is not so EZ. Multiple toll stations along the route with prices sort of displayed.
When I visit the area it makes no sense to get the EZTag for the vehicle. That costs $20.00 to get the tag, money has to be added to the account. What happens if I add $40.00 and only use $32.00? I suspect I can never get the money back.
Of course the letter says “Violation” in multiple areas with the accompanying threats if payment is not made. Up to and including a traffic citation resulting in fines and court costs.
The use of the toll roads was really not a violation. It was using toll by mail, perfectly legal. Nothing has been violated. Seems scare tactics are being used by the Harris County Toll Road Authority.
When I tell my GPS that toll roads are OK to use, there is no option to have it avoid private (if Harris County Toll Road Authority is private) toll roads. A toll road is a toll road as far as the GPS is concerned. That would be a nice option.
The bill I got was from the Harris County Toll Road Authority. I have no idea which of those programs they are associated. I suspect EZTag as I got a bill. There is nothing on the bill that states it is EZTag. Is Harris County Toll Road Authority private or just a revenue stream for Harris County?
HCTRA is owned by Harris County (the central county for Houston nine+ county region). HCTRA owns about 200 miles of toll roads in the Harris County area. I buy my EZ TAGs from them which work all over Texas and parts of other states.
If you use the tag on HCTRA toll roads you get a small discount that will eventually pay for any transponder fee. For ordinary users anyway.
They have eliminated coins and human toll takers in favor of pay by mail. I think they figure they’ll get more turnstile jumpers with pay by mail, then if they had other systems in place.
n
FLOUR? Srsly?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11934011/CDC-urges-Americans-stop-eating-raw-cookie-dough-suspected-salmonella-hospitalizations.html
n
It’s a big club….
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11934111/Malia-Obama-joins-Bidens-lunch-swanky-NYC-restaurant-ahead-Trumps-arrest.html
n
I’m not ordinary.
I wonder what would happen if I had my bike rack on the back with a bicycle in the rack? Or if I left the tailgate down on my truck? The license plate is partially obscured. There is no front plate requirement in Tennessee.
I just checked the HCTRA site. Transponders are at no charge for new accounts. A $20 balance is required.
Flour? Nah, just stirring the pot. A few years ago you weren’t to eat cookie dough because of the raw eggs.
A lot of this stuff happens because people are lazy / stupid. Or ignorant. Like, just wash your hands after going to the potty and before leaving the room, much less handling food of any kind.
You know, some dude named Semmelweis figured this out around 1840 or so that having the doctors wash their hands between patients was a good thing. As in (with a quick look) only killing 1.5% instead of 20% of women with child-bed fever.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ignaz-Semmelweis
All you need is some soap.
I think, I forget, TXtag tags are free but you set up a credit card to fund your account. $20 for a start sounds about right. I’m pretty sure you can set how much they charge your card when your balance gets to $x. I think the default is $20 increments but you can crank it down to $5.
In the meantime, tote that bike rack! 🙂
“New government report says Social Security will be broke in 10 years”
https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/new-government-report-says-social-security-will-be-broke-in-10-years-146647/
“Three days ago (last Friday March 31st) the Board of Trustees for Social Security released its annual report. According to the report, Social Security has been paying out more than it takes in since 2021, and “Social Security’s total cost is projected to be higher than its total income in 2023 and all later years.” And at that rate, “reserves become depleted in 2033, one year earlier than projected in last year’s report.” So the situation is actually getting worse.”
Why wait ? Social Security is broke today as the federal government is broke.
“New government report says Social Security will be broke in 10 years”
And yet, welfare and foodstamps and gazillions of dollars to Ukraine and as much in foreign aid to where ever are hunky-dory.
So, if I am going to travel to Katy TX next month (current route through Lubbock and Abilene to Katy/Fulshear), should I worry about avoiding toll roads, or just drive through the cameras?
I will have a wheelchair lift on the back hitch, which might obscure the back license plate. Should I leave the front plate on? Is it illegal for an out of state car to remove/not have a front plate while in TX? Or not worth the effort?
I use Waze to avoid the toll roads around here.
That route from Lubbock down through Temple will not involve toll roads until you get close to Katy.
Just watch for Gypsies working SE of Lubbock if you stop for gas.
I occasionally have to drive to Dallas from San Antonio and take the toll roads. I don’t have a tag and just drive through the cameras. I get billed in the mail. Never had a problem.
If your State only requires one tag, it shouldn’t be a problem. Use a GPS with tolls on to get where your want the fastest.
50 years ago this month, “Paul McCartney & Wings – My Love (Official Music Video)” with Denny Laine (former Moody Blues) on the lead guitar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5g9ZwxFKdg
A probably pregnant Linda McCartney there also. She was taken away from us by breast cancer just 25 years after this music video at the young age of 56 in 1998.
My wife successfully fought advanced breast cancer in 2005 just a few years after Linda McCartney passed away. The technology had radically improved with the invention of the targeted therapy cancer drug Herceptin.
So, if I am going to travel to Katy TX next month (current route through Lubbock and Abilene to Katy/Fulshear), should I worry about avoiding toll roads, or just drive through the cameras?
I will have a wheelchair lift on the back hitch, which might obscure the back license plate. Should I leave the front plate on? Is it illegal for an out of state car to remove/not have a front plate while in TX? Or not worth the effort?
Don’t worry, they will send you a bill or five, just like they did for Ray. I would not worry about it, it is difficult to avoid the toll roads around here.
If you are from out of state, I don’t think DPS is going to care if you don’t have a front plate because your state says you need one. See: Corvettes.
Get you a Dixie flag plate or similar. Or remove the front plate holder entirely. Mostly though, don’t drive like a jerk and the cops won’t even see you.
And, “Is it illegal for an out of state car to remove/not have a front plate”, I don’t know why the local PD or DPS would even care about having a front plate. Texas says yes, have one. Folks with Corvettes wave Hi!. Why a cop would care what the rules are in Oregon or anywhere else is a mystery. It’s cool. Don’t sweat it.
UPS usually delivers around 2:30. They don’t deliver anymore, they toss my package off at the property line. On the neighbor’s side and they have horses that like to chew on stuff. I don’t know why.
So I’m waiting for the van part to show. And nothing, still “out for delivery by 7PM”.
I’d like to install the part tomorrow (Tuesday) when it’s suppose to be pushing 90f compared to Wednesday being 70f with 20 mph north winds. But that’s just me. Just thinking of myself.
I kind of like being able to feel my fingers….
Got warmer here too, although the sun didn’t come out.
Sweaty too.
n
“A flood? How did you arrange a flood???”
Lord of the Rings set lies in ruins after studio fire: Photos show damage to backlot where filming of Amazon series was brought to a halt by blaze
n
Arson for the insurance money.
“A flood? How did you arrange a flood???”
–punchline for a joke.
Three old jewish business men are sitting on the beach in Miami.
First one introduces himself and says “A couple of years ago there was a terrible fire, so now I’m retired from the furniture business in NYC”. The other two say “A fire, how terrible.”
Second one introduces himself and says “A couple of years ago there was a terrible fire, so now I’m retired from the restaurant business in NYC.” The other two say “A fire, how terrible.”
The third guy introduces himself and says “A couple of years ago there was a terrible flood, so now I’m retired from the clothing business in NYC.” The other two say “A FLOOD! How did you arrange a FLOOD?!!”
n
Don’t forget to tip your waitress…
>> Had to stay close to home to retrieve D2 from her backpacking trip
Count the days ’til you’re waiting for her to drive herself home from a trip and the current waiting will seem wonderful.
>> Caspers had run McDonalds in Florida for decades. My father knew the family personally, and they weren’t bonkers like
somemost Tamparestaurantpeople.F I F Y
(Present company excluded of course.)
Iger could arrange a flood in the Galactic Starcruiser experience in Florida. I imagine the plumbing for Catastrophe Canyon is still buried under the Millenium Falcon somewhere. They might even have the pipes built and ready to go.
My wife and I laughed each time we passed that sign for the exit. “An authentic Star Trek experience.”
We wondered where Gates McFadden stayed this weekend when she was in town to sign autographs.
BTW, McFadden looked *great* in person when we walked by her table on our way out of the autograph area.
Coming through the toll road sensors there was a motorcycle rider who took his left foot up and back and placed it over the license plate. Adios Muchacho!
Induction loops or optical system?
The induction loops can be gamed by a motorcycle, but they’re falling out of favor partially because of accuracy but mostly because the people who understand how to build and configure those systems are dying off.
Ok, Bob, $17 billion … eventually … on what, exactly?
https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/iger-reveals-disney-planning-17-billion-investment-walt-disney-world
The other night, riding the Disney resort bus back to our hotel, I looked over at the Japanese tourist sitting across from us, and I noted that she was decked out, head to toe, in Super Nintendo World merchandise, including her water bottle.
The clock is ticking.
>> McD’s has an image problem- not healthy under the new propaganda, not ‘ethnic’, and not ‘fun’ or ‘hip’ enough to counter the other issues.
Surely then you’ve forgotten all the “Celebrity Meals.” Ohh, wait, they all are made with the same food as the “regular meals.” No wonder nobody cared…and at least with a kid’s Happy Meal you got a toy.
I’ll take Culver’s over Mickey D’s any day of the week (and yes, open on Sundays,) especially for their shakes, which are made from their made-on-premises frozen custard.
For the locals, closest Culver’s are in Atascocita and Kingwood.
ADDED: and they’ll give you a small dish of vanilla custard if they see your canine companion riding in the car with you. If they don’t notice Fido through your tinted windows, just ask for a ‘Pup Cup.’
>> I only know of two tolltag authorities in Texas, the EZ Tag and the TX Tag. Looks like there is a NTTA Tag in north Texas also. Texas is really infested with tollways, north Texas (Dallas – Fort Word) is the worst.
A lot more than two…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_electronic_toll_collection_systems#United_States
@Lynn
Good video–remastered.
Denny Laine was a founding member of the Moody Blues and Wings. He sang lead on “Go Now”, the Moodies first hit, but that success was not repeated, despite taking on Brian Epstein as a manager and opening for the Beatles on their last British tour. Laine and Warwick (bass, another founding member) left in late 1966.
They were replaced by Justin Hayward and John Lodge. That created the lineup of the classic years, but the band’s fortunes continued to spiral downward for another six months, until Tony Clarke took over as manager. and the ship righted with the release of “Fly Me High”.
They were so well-respected by Decca that they got the assignment of making an album with the London Symphony based on Dvorak’s music, to show off their exciting new stereophonic process. The final key to future success fell into place when Peter Knight was assigned to produce. He was sufficiently impressed with new music written primarily by Hayward that he stealth-changed the assignment, and their collaboration produced the classic “Days of Future Passed” and the monster single “Nights in White Satinn”. Some critics credit this as the founding of progressive rock and Michael Pinder’s use of the Mellotron* as a milestone.
*The Mellotron was a tape-based music synthesizer. Pinder worked at one of the manufacturers and was an early enthusiast, introducing Lennon and McCartney to it. You can hear the Mellotron on “Strawberry Fields Forever”, and the “magical Mystery Tour” and “Whit” albums. The sound of King Crimson is heavily based on their two Mellotrons, and one of their instruments was sold to Tony Banks of Genesis.
Now it’s all synth and autotune. I think the only post-2000 music in my collection is country.
“letters I’ve written, never meaning to send..”
Love the Moody Blues.
n
I’m still trying to accept the idea that raw FLOUR harbors samonella. In what? From where?
n
The movie 2001: A Space Odyssey was released 55 years ago today.
https://twitter.com/ATRightMovies/status/1642901211933179904
https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2023/04/03/australian-gunsmith-n69153
Time sink for everyone. Softball pictures at https://www.raymondthompsonphotography.com/Anderson/index.html
@Nick
There is no single disc compilation that even begins to touch the surface.
I have two of the 1996 4-cd box set “Time Traveler”. Haven’t compared it track by track to “The Essential”, which is 3-cd. Both have about 60 tracks.
I got the “5 Classic Albums” set to fill in the early albums on CD. Unfortunately, the 9-disc “The Polydor Years” is plateaued around $140, and ain’t going to happen soon.
I think “Seventh Sojourn” was the first of their LP’s that I bought. Played it until my needle bled, and had to retire it when the bass notes started poking though from opposite sides. (yes, kidding, but pretty sure that album was played 2-3 times a day on average for two semesters, and frequently after that)
@Ray Thompson
Thanks! Timing on many of those is exquisite.
I do wish the catcher had her eyes open in #2 as she does in #1. If it was my kid I’d be looking for some Photoshop help and then have a poster made.
@lynn, any improvement with your Starlink service?
I have not tested the Starlink yet. The Peplink 30 is still ignoring it which means it thinks it is slow.
The Starlink is faster now but still kind of slow compared to the DSL lines. Here is a ping and tracert to my big website:
C:\dii_16>ping winsim.com
Pinging winsim.com [216.92.179.57] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 216.92.179.57: bytes=32 time=76ms TTL=49
Reply from 216.92.179.57: bytes=32 time=80ms TTL=49
Reply from 216.92.179.57: bytes=32 time=102ms TTL=49
Reply from 216.92.179.57: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=49
Ping statistics for 216.92.179.57:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 70ms, Maximum = 102ms, Average = 82ms
C:\dii_16>tracert winsim.com
Tracing route to winsim.com [216.92.179.57]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms balance-664d [192.168.0.1]
2 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms homeportal [192.168.1.1]
3 69 ms 45 ms 58 ms 100.64.0.1
4 * * * Request timed out.
5 * * * Request timed out.
6 * * * Request timed out.
7 * * * Request timed out.
8 * * * Request timed out.
9 * * * Request timed out.
10 * * * Request timed out.
11 66 ms 71 ms 79 ms winsim.com [216.92.179.57]
Trace complete.
“letters I’ve written, never meaning to send..”
Love the Moody Blues.
n
“Nights In White Satin” is freaking awesome. And it fit perfectly in the Dark Shadows movie. Foreshadowing using music …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwleloRuaEw
Joe Cocker made a Moody Blues story into a song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5g_9PqyMbw
The young lads:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRQ3MwA4Nws
and two years later:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPLWBhNW3FM
Man that little bit of reverb on the lead vocal for Tuesday Afternoon is brilliant, and kinda defines the sound of the song.
n
The latest fracking results are coming in and the news is disappointing. Looks like all of the best fracking spots have been taken. However, there are good fracking results coming from the 50+ year old wells in central Texas though.
It’s crazy, how volatile this is. I have some oil rights up in the TX/OK panhandle area. Some years ago, a company bought the rights to explore for fracking, but they never did anything. The rights have now expired. Maybe someone will take it up again?
I also wonder how – or if – these rights ever get legally cleaned up. Right now I have 1/4 on this quarter section, 1/32 that quarter section, down to (iirc) 1/128 in some cases. Nuts. Here, this is often a problem with old farming/grazing rights. They’ve been divided so many times that kids will have a few square meters here, another few over yonder. All too small to do anything with, and sometimes not even really accessible. Eventually, the government steps in and forces swapping or selling, so that the fields have an actual, useful size. Seems like the same could be done for mineral rights…
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Granted, salmonella is no joke, but: 12 people hospitalized in a country of 300 million, and the CDC has to get involved?
Also: These are idiots eating pre-prepped cookie dough, which has been in transit or sitting on a shelf for…how long? Make it fresh yourself, eat some, and bake the rest. Danger level approaching zero.
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I’m just grousing, because I’m actually a bit nervous about a course that starts today. A pack of kids, probably around 15 or so – the youngest students I’ve ever taught.
In Europe there is a trade-level IT apprenticeship. You get your network techs, your base-level web site developers and such from this group. They go to school part-time and work part-time in their apprenticeship. The good ones usually go on later to get a CS degree.