Warmish and damp. Not pleasant at all. That’s my prediction based on last night’s conditions. It was pretty damp during the day yesterday too. It was especially unpleasant when the sun came out in the afternoon. Gah. Just like summer.
I did several pickups. Didn’t go to the massive ‘man stuff’ estate sale. I’m going today though if I can make the timing work… did hit the cr@ppiest of our local Goodwill Outlet stores. Picked up a NIB Colman camp stove oven, some stainless steel “steam table” trays (101 uses), and some other stuff for home and away. Got a nice North Face midweight technical jacket. Seems like we never have enough jackets at the BOL. It does get damp and cold on the dock at night. Picked a vintage turntable to part out to pay for the other stuff. Chatted with a young kid who approached me about finding stuff to resell there. Kid asked about the ‘vinyl playing thing’ I had in the cart, did I find it there. Yes, I did. I had the vintage turntable and one of the new “Victrola” brand record players. They are like the old portable players, and have bluetooth and an aux in so you can use them with other media too. They are cheap and cheesy but they get the kids listening to vinyl… D1 uses a slightly better model for her listening. Now D2 wants one too. They are a convenient way to listen to vinyl if you’ve gotten rid of your turntable and big system.
Wife and D2 have a GS thing today and tomorrow which leaves me with D1 AND a school friend who “needed to be out of her house for a day because it wasn’t safe there”. Hmm. I’m gonna need more details so I can decide if the ‘unsafe’ could follow her and rub off on me. In the mean time, we fed her dinner and they crashed out last night. They want to meet some school friends at the mall and look at dresses for the end of year party later today. I want to go to an estate sale. I guess we might both get our wishes, if the timing works.
I’m tellin’ ya, it’s not just houses that need maintenance and attention, and surprise expenditures and commitments. (Kid lives in the most crime ridden big apartment complex near us, so I’m not terribly surprised if life with her single mom sometimes gets out of control and she needs a break from it, but I want to know it’s a legit issue and she’s not playing us, and that none of it will splash on me.)
Meatspace can have some downsides too.
But hey, we’ve got stacks and can feed an occasional stray, and provide a night of quiet and calm.
Because I’ve been stacking it up, and because our lives are in good order. Not bad goals, btw.
nick
The demo which blew up and led to my firing from the tolling company was about new technology to retrofit better plate cameras and ORT on the bridges and tunnels in NYFC, choke points, a first step towards tolling all of the surface streets south of a certain point on the island.
I saw a story on the company web site that deployment finally happened last year. The raw data now exists about when and where every vehicle enters and exits Manhattan based on plate – not 100% but close.
The big problem will be enforcement – PANYNJ already had a problem there before the new systems arrived.
I also noted that deployment coincided with departure of two more of my former coworkers, one of which the company was high on because he was a Fancy Lad who graduated from Cornell.
Fancy Lad’s status on LinkedIn now indicates that he is “traveling the world.”
Implementation of the grand scheme will depend on PANYNJ and my former employer having impulse control, something which both organizations seriously lack in middle management.
Up long enough to get the pack members on their way…
Not raining. Sun poking over the roofs.
n
Oh, congrats to our UK visitors. There is something happening today.
I have to say that the photos show a bunch of really surprisingly grim faces. Could just be the photog picking his moment, but if so, why? And if not, why?
n
Even his own mother wanted Chuckles’ reign to be brief.
Ironically, today will also see the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, another institution where the impact of succession from the legacy authority assuming room temperature will be an unknown until the event happens, and where uncertainty from lack of a public plan will hang over the proceedings.
About that whole UK thing…
Not everyone is thrilled.
Someone did a pretty good job with the mowing. I wish my lawn guy was that accurate and fast.
n
Holy geez, plugs, POTATUS The Last, speaks on Hunter:
Justice Department investigation: President Biden speaks out, claiming Hunter ‘did nothing wrong’
Hookers, blow, gun purchase lies, child out of wedlock, shady overseas deals, damning laptop, and on and on. Crimes and disgusting behavior is the mantra of the Biden Crime Family. Child sniffing and showering and the LSM says “Nothing, I know nothing!”
Yeah, Hunter. Trump, tho.
Here’s the thing. Trump. I’m jus’ sayin’.
The memes still play in the suburbs of DC and the tech hubs.
Successfully moved the boy home from school yesterday. It’s good to have him home, if just for a bit.
Trump tho… is kinda the definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face… and a pretty good IQ test.
n
D4 and I watched a couple movies on the home projector:
Renfield: blood, gore and belly laughs. We loved it. Nic Cage is awesome.
Dungeons and Dragons: Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez have no range in acting. The supporting cast mostly did period piece accents and voices. Those two talked like they just walked out of a Starbucks. We gave it a meh. The CGI was great, though.
– and they can’t keep him whacked out on whatever keeps him upright and semi-coherent for that long. Watch any speech this year or last, after 20 minutes he starts to visibly degrade.
n
We saw “Air” last weekend while the kid went to “Dungeons and Dragons” with her friend.
“Air” was decent, but Amazon spent too much … again.
Not a fan of Charles, but not a fan of public vandalism either.
I believe there is still a Tower for miscreants?
We have a culture and government run by and for Amish women.
I don’t think that the Dems can credibly run the new Governor of Maryland for President this time around, but if they got desperate enough, Oprah could sell it.
2028 definitely.
@EdH:
I believe there is still a Tower for miscreants?
There is still a Tower, but it is no longer a prison, not even for traitors. And yes, in theory, the UK still has the death penalty for such people. Whether it would be upheld in this day and age, deponent sayeth not. Nor do we have a state executioner, the last such, Albert Pierrepoint, retired in 1956 and died in 1992.
G.
GoFundMe is a woke bastion. They drop anybody to the right of Stalin. They dropped my lawsuit against my former employer for the vaxx mandate.
You meant to say get this kid a GiveSendGo.
Warmish and damp. Not pleasant at all. That’s my prediction based on last night’s conditions. It was pretty damp during the day yesterday too. It was especially unpleasant when the sun came out in the afternoon. Gah. Just like summer.
The wife and both got hot on our dusk walk yesterday. It was warm and steamy.
And the outside thermometer says 95 F already.
Urk. A bit TMI …..
Biden Regime Approves Nation’s First ‘Congestion Pricing’ Tolling Plan For New York – Drivers Entering Manhattan at Peak Hours will be Charged
– turning the US into all the bad parts of europe.
n
I don’t care about their congestion pricing. I have not been in NYC for 60 years, they are all crazy. The authorities are trying t force more people into the crowded and unpoliced subways. My niece just moved there, my brother put her into an building with an armed guard in the lobby.
Some guy just killed a guy attacking people in the subway. They are considering charging him with murder. Absolutely crazy.
https://apnews.com/article/subway-chokehold-new-york-87807c40386707ed665cfbfb339e08f9
Lynn’s six star list (or top ten list) in May 2023:
1. “Mutineer’s Moon” by David Weber
2. “Citizen Of The Galaxy” by Robert Heinlein
3. “The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress” by Robert Heinlein
4. “The Star Beast” by Robert Heinlein
5. “Shards Of Honor” by Lois McMaster Bujold
6. “Jumper” by Steven Gould
7. “Dies The Fire” by S. M. Stirling
8. “Emergence” by David Palmer
9. “The Tar-Aiym Krang” by Alan Dean Foster
10. “Under A Graveyard Sky” by John Ringo
11. “Live Free Or Die” by John Ringo
12. “Footfall” by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
13. “Lucifer’s Hammer” by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
14. “The Zero Stone” by Andre Norton
15. “Going Home” by A. American
16. “Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card
17. “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline
18. “The Martian” by Andy Weir
19. “The Postman” by David Brin
20. “We Are Legion” by Dennis E. Taylor
21. “Bitten” by Kelley Armstrong
22. “Moon Called” by Patrica Briggs
23. “Red Thunder” by John Varley
24. “Lightning” by Dean Koontz
25. “The Murderbot Diaries” by Martha Wells
>> Ironically, today will also see the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, another institution where the impact of succession from the legacy authority assuming room temperature will be an unknown until the event happens, and where uncertainty from lack of a public plan will hang over the proceedings.
Being broadcast live on CNBC. Geez, these two seem closer to room temp than Plugs. Placecard for Warren says “Available For Sale” and the one for Charlie says “Held To Maturity.” And thanks to a question from the audience, we now know that Charlie does not wear Garanimals underwear!
Thanks Lynn; I’ve read 13 of these, so now I have 12 prospects.
@Lynn: thanks for the 6-star update. I found a couple of treasures on the last list, and it looks like a couple more on this one.
—–
Regarding Charles: I stand by my impressions that he is a decent fellow, not terribly bright, and unsuited to be head of state. Also, he is too old to begin such a role.
He should have immediately passed the crown to the next generation.
Vanity. It’s his turn to be König von Großbritannien and by golly he’s going to do it.
@paul:
He was 5 when his mother became Queen, so he’s been waiting for 70-odd years, nearly all of his life.
Given that his family is pretty long-lived, he could reign for another 20 years, which is a decent length of time. And remember, he is now Head of State, not Head of Government, so his health will have no effect on the Government, unlike certain others I could name.
His elder son, and heir, William, Prince of Wales, is 40, so likely the next generation will be younger, and reign for longer, albeit not as long as Her late Majesty.
Incidentally, I’m a month older than H.M. Charles III – I was born in September, 1948, he was born in October of that year.
G.
I doubt Chuckles was as driven to sit on the throne and hang on until the end before the divorce and public humiliation that came with it.
The fear is that Warren has left everything to the former waitress who became wife #2.
The name to watch for is Greg Abel. Regardless of who ends up in control of the company, Abel will most likely take on the CEO role.
This is the first year I did not receive a printed annual report or postcard to get shareholder credentials for the meeting.
“Stroke of the Pen, Law of the Land”
https://areaocho.com/stroke-of-the-pen-law-of-the-land/
“Another bureaucratic action is being taken by the Biden administration. This time, the EPA submitted a proposed rule for public comments that would ban most refrigerants by January 1, 2025. Industry experts weighed in against the rule, or at least pointed out that it wasn’t feasible on the timeline. As usual, the government ignored the comments and is passing it any way.”
“The replacement refrigerants are all toxic and flammable, with equipment needing to be redesigned and technicians needing to be trained to handle them safely. This cant be done in only 18 months. The EPA doesn’t care.”
“This regime is deliberately destroying the US. They’ve told you that’s the goal, why do so few people believe it?”
Kiss off your soft serve ice cream, flammable refrigerants are not allowed in food equipment.
Pearls Before Swine: Croc’s Guiding Principle
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2023/05/06
Oh yeah, don’t be slow.
There goes the plan to replace all of the outside fast food franchises at Pilot/Flying-J with Dairy Queen after Warren closes the buyout next year.
Plus, no more Slurpees.
Biden Regime Approves Nation’s First ‘Congestion Pricing’ Tolling Plan For New York – Drivers Entering Manhattan at Peak Hours will be Charged
When I lived on Long Island and would travel into Manhattan to visit, if you were going in with three or more people it was cheaper to drive in than take mass transit. The train isn’t as convenient as driving, the stations are often dirty as are the cars on the train, crowded and undesirable people hang out in the stations. A big part of the problem is the MTA. No matter how much money they charge for tickets and receive as handouts from the state and federal governments they always seem to be in the red. This causes them to skim on maintenance with causes reliability issues. It’s a no win situation.
I read somewhere that propane makes a good refrigerant. It’s cheap, too. Ammonia is supposed to be good also.
So. If .gov is going to make us switch to “whatever”, I suggest they start with all of the buildings in DC.
Let a leak blow the place up or let a leak poison everyone. Sauce for the goose and all that.
I replaced the window unit in the EDC last summer. Another Frigidaire. This one had a funny smell and for something new, a sticker about something being flammable. I don’t see what it’s using for “freon” but by the smell, yeah. Not ammonia anyway.
Kids are at the mall, and a movie. Maybe a date, maybe not. Boy bought the tickets… One star, can not recommend.
Man stuff estate was a bust. Everything was still there. Three days of sale, and all the pictured items were still there. * Prices were WAY high. 100USD for a cardboard flat of resistors and capacitors. No thanks. “I looked up those things (resistors) and they were $7 a package so I priced them at $1 each, that’s were I get the $100.” Yeah buddy, not at an estate sale. $600 for a tablesaw. $600 for a planer. He had $30 on an ordinary Chicago Cutlery chef knife that sells for $3 at goodwill. Place was packed. About the only thing moving was gem and rock stuff, and it wasn’t flying out the door.
He had $500 on a unimat lathe. Should be $350 max.
*almost everything. The ham radio wasn’t on the shelf with the ham stuff, but I didn’t ask if it was somewhere else in the house.
The guy’s hobbies were woodworking, photography, gem cutting, ham radio, and custom golf clubs. The house was full to the brim with accumulation.
There was a lot of vintage boy scouting stuff too.
I bailed after getting a price for the stuff. I did get an early apple printer that will pay for my time. THAT was only $10 and should sell for $80 to $100. I’m sure there was more apple stuff, cards and disks sell well, but I didn’t want to waste any more time.
BTW, there is an estate company scam that works this way. Price everything high. Nothing sells, particularly the major value pieces. The company then makes a buyout offer for all the stuff that is left, a very lowball offer, because “after all, it didn’t sell”. Company then sells the items themselves for the right prices and pockets a LOT more money than they would have. It’s sleazy and unethical, breaches their fiduciary duty to their customer (the estate) but I know of one company that seems to do this all the time, and a couple I suspect do it. IDK if this particular guy does, but some of the other people there said he’s always pricing WAY high.
An ethical company either will make the buyout offer ahead of the sale, or will tell you they NEVER do buyouts after the sale.
n
Lynn: Thanks for the author list. Robert A. Heinlein is new to me. I did a search of my public library’s ebooks and found five. However, four are for ear buds so I will download and read the one ebook: “Starship Troopers”.
@ JimB, EdH and dkreck: My SIL, GD, and I will be up to Kennedy Meadows for a while in the afternoon and then up to Lone Pine for the night on Sat., June 10. Late afternoon and evening SIL and I will be having a few in Jake’s Saloon and then on to a Motel and come back Sun. morning.
You three are welcome to join us and we are looking forward to it. SIL and I will work out a few details this weekend and I will post those Monday AM.
CowboyStu says:
Inconceivable! Robert Heinlein was the all-time-best SF author from 1945-1970 or later. He practically INVENTED “hard” science fiction. Not really; that was Joseph Campbell, but close. “Starship Troopers” was his most controversial novel; political conservatives loved it, and the left hated it. I loved it, thought it was excellent. It’s my favorite of his books.
But everything Heinlein wrote was outstanding.
Sincere: Thanks. I’ll look through carefully in a bit and probably buy half a dozen that I don’t have.
Sarcastic: Thanks. I didn’t have enough in my to-read queue.
“Robots Read News” by Scott Adams
“England celebrated the trans community yesterday by hosting the biggest drag show in …”
“Correction. I am being told it was the coronation of King Charles.”
“That would explain the lack of twerking.”
He said to share it around.
https://www.reddit.com/r/dilbert/comments/13a73km/robots_read_news_may_6_2023/
Just like our Spongebrain. If the two ever get together it will be a meeting of the MIND (singular) combined, as the two of them only have half a brain.
If the two of them ever get together, the planet will collapse into a black hole of dumbassedness.
In fairness, it’s gotta suck to spend your whole life preparing for a role and never get there..n
Oh yeah, and to get it means your mom and dad died.
Not that I’m shedding a tear.
N
>> When I lived on Long Island and would travel into Manhattan to visit, if you were going in with three or more people it was cheaper to drive in than take mass transit. The train isn’t as convenient as driving, the stations are often dirty as are the cars on the train, crowded and undesirable people hang out in the stations. A big part of the problem is the MTA. No matter how much money they charge for tickets and receive as handouts from the state and federal governments they always seem to be in the red. This causes them to skim on maintenance with causes reliability issues. It’s a no win situation.
Move out of NYFC … FTW!
Breaking … https://dnyuz.com/2023/05/06/gunman-leaves-multiple-victims-in-texas-mall-shooting/
“A Heavy Dose of Reality for Electric-Truck Mandates”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/05/06/a-heavy-dose-of-reality-for-electric-truck-mandates/
“From the article.”
“Costs, sourcing and reliability are being ignored”
Ignored? The people making these decisions are counting on problems.
Ah, the interns are writing headlines again…
Ukraine claims it shot down one of Putin’s hypersonic missiles which travel at 10 times the speed of light using US defence systems
n
If our missile defense systems can make the enemies missiles fly at ten times the speed of light…just imagine what they will do for our own missiles!
>> Breaking … https://dnyuz.com/2023/05/06/gunman-leaves-multiple-victims-in-texas-mall-shooting/