Sun. July 23, 2023 – can’t think of a thing…

Hot and humid. It was 104F in the shade yesterday afternoon when I got home. Told my wife I’d cut the grass when it cooled down. Couple hours later it was still 102F so I gave that nonsense a pass… I’ll cut it when the temps drop, and if that’s December, so be it…

I started the day building my temporary deck at the BOL. It will give us a good feel for size and shape, and keep us out of the red sticky mud when it does finally rain. So far I’ve only got 6hrs of driving, $100 trailer rental, and $120 in material into it. It’s almost 3ft high and about 600 sq ft, so that’s pretty cheap. I spent a couple hours putting down what I have so far. It will need some furring strips and then a plywood skin, so add a few hundred more bucks. That should work for a while and still be easily removable for access by the foundation guys when we get the hill stabilized or the helical piers installed for the real deck. Quick, relatively cheap, and temporary. There are a couple of things like that up there now.

Speaking of temporary, I did manage to win a couple more garden hose sprinkler heads. That’s a good thing for my temporary watering system. Couldn’t find the pipe I needed at Lowes. I’m going to have to find a local irrigation supplier, or hit the web I guess.

I’m about 90% decided how to clean up the electrical supply in the little workshop and what feeds the dock, dockhouse, and another shed… and it won’t be 1950’s salvaged fused disconnects and antique breaker panels that have been on fire. Whatever I do, even if it is using masking tape and bread bag twist ties to replace everything there, it’ll be an improvement, and safer.

I’ll be doing work here at home today. Mostly paperwork, bills, and invoicing, but also the outside stuff if it’s not too hot. I can cut the grass in 20 minutes or less, but even that can see a 10 degree temperature rise. That caught me yesterday morning working on the deck. It was a reasonable low 80s when I started, but 98F when I finished. I had to go inside and cool off at one point. Snuck up on me.

It’ll be worth it in the end. It’s already worth it for the redundancy and backup, as we can live there full time if needed. And if the world somehow avoids the conflagration, we’ll have a nice place to hang out on a beautiful lake in our “golden years.”

Find yourself some place to go if you have to. Work on getting out of the big cities, out of unfriendly communities, away from potential trouble spots. Trouble IS coming. There is no other way out of the hole our ‘betters’ have dug. And the world is going spastic and insane. IN PLACES. In other places, life goes on, mostly the same, and you can point and comment about the other places. But fires have a tendency to spread, and so does the social madness that seems to sweep the world every few decades. EVERY place is going to be affected. Do what you can to minimize the damage.

And stack stuff. Can’t hurt. Will probably help. Might save a life.

nick

56 Comments and discussion on "Sun. July 23, 2023 – can’t think of a thing…"

  1. Brad says:

    Just got a pump for the rainwater tanks, so we can use them with a sprinkler. Odd, though, the pump shuts off after a few minutes. The manual says there’s an input or an output problem, but I can’t imagine what that could be. The hose into the tanks has a filter, which is unobstructed. The sprinkler sprinkles. Ideas? 

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  2. SteveF says:

    Air in the hose?

  3. Greg Norton says:

    >> Texas is a blue state waiting to happen.

    And will Florida follow suit?

    Under what leadership? Nikki Fried?

    Florida Dems have been crushed for at least a generation, but it has come at a price for the Republican party with the peculiar fascism centered in The Villages, inspiring the masses to believe that they will finance their sunset years selling their 3/2 stucco shacks built on swampland for $1 million if Skippy would just keep his lawn mowed and resodded during drought years at their direction.

  4. Ray Thompson says:

    My hearing just fell off the edge of a cliff. Everything is muted, sounds are difficult to make out, even the clicking of the keyboard is almost gone. Suddenly, as in overnight. A new tone in the tinnitus. I am seriously concerned, downright frightened. Something happened and I have no idea what. There has been no exposure to loud sounds in a long time and last time I mowed I used hearing protection (I always do). Can eardrums get yeast infections?

  5. MrAtoz says:

    Get to the doc ASAP, Mr. Ray! Who knows what your hearing loss is due to? Maybe an advanced infection of some type. Maybe hit the ER.

    10
  6. Ray Thompson says:

    Audiologist visit is a priority for Monday. If I cannot see them then a trip to the VA clinic will be on the agenda. Lacking that I will go to Advanced Care which takes VA patients and bills the VA.

    I am going to give it a day as this has happened before, although not as severe. It generally clears up in 24 hours or so. Pressure behind the eardrums or something like that. What is concerning this time is putting in my hearing aids made no difference in my hearing.

  7. drwilliams says:

    @PaultheManc

    The U.S. should implement a similar fee for EU visitors. No paperwork, just a fee 20% higher.

    “@jrwilliams, the USA has had such arrangements in place for some time, USD21 for an ETSA”

    Wasn’t aware they increased it from $14.

    And after reading the rest of the linked article, the ETSA fee is already more than twice the ETISA, so we’re good.

  8. drwilliams says:

    @brad

    Odd, though, the pump shuts off after a few minutes.

    What kind of pump?

    Will it restart immediately, or does it need to be off for a time?

    Is the “few minutes” consistent?

    Does the same thing happen if you disconnect the output line and let the water run out the pump?

    Can you put the input line into a barrel and pump from that?

  9. SteveF says:

    Ray, two thoughts: wax buildup in the outer ear, or mucus blockage of eustachian tubes resulting in pressure differential affecting the eardrum.

  10. Ray Thompson says:

    @Steve: Already did the wax cleaning using the Debrox oil. Very little wax came out. I am already taking a nasal spray nightly that is supposed to keep the Eustachian tubes clear. A consistent problem with my right ear where I almost always feel pressure on the ear.

    @Brad: Check the packing on the seal between the motor and the pump. A small air leak will cause the pump to develop air bubbles and air pockets that will impede the pumping action. On the farm we had a big pump, 30 HP, that had a packing seal on the shaft to the pump. Some type of graphite impregnated rope. That packing had to be adjusted to drip about one drop a minute to keep the seal lubricated. When the packing failed the pump would cease to work because of air ingestion.

    At a thousand gallons per minute that pump is probably a little bigger than what you are having trouble. My pool pump is 1 HP and I have had to replace the seals once on each pump. I have on operational, one as a spare as I had to buy a new pump when one failed (motor croaked). The failed pump was rebuilt, been swapped in once, rebuilt the seals on the replaced pump, then swapped again when the seals failed on the rebuilt pump, rebuilt those seals.

    Seals are critical. Make certain there are leaks.

    Also check the suction. Any small whirlpool that develops will break the prime of the pump and stop the pumping. The intake must be such that it cannot suck air.

  11. drwilliams says:

    FTX lobbyist tried to buy Pacific island of Nauru to create a new superspecies, lawsuit says

    https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/21/ftx-lobbyist-tried-to-buy-island-nauru-create-superspecies-lawsuit.html

    Titillating details incidental to the bankruptcy lawsuit.

    Who wouldn’t want to own an island?

  12. drwilliams says:

    Many U.S. women’s soccer players refused to acknowledge the national anthem

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/07/many_us_womens_soccer_players_refused_to_acknowledge_the_national_anthem.html

    Short and sweet:

    “This is not your team. This is the U.S. National Team. You are representing the United States in a foreign country and will show proper respect for the flag and the national anthem. 

    If you cannot do that then you will not be a member of the team. If you have to think about it you can sit out the next game and decide. 

    Do not attempt to make any argument about “your rights”. No one is impeding your rights in any way. You voluntarily put on the uniform and in so doing assumed the obligations that come with it. If you can’t live up to those obligations you are done wearing the uniform.”

    11
  13. MrAtoz says:

    Short and sweet:

    Unfortunately, the coaches, managers, and goobermint are leading the charge. How long before even our military won’t sing the NA and stand for the colors?

  14. MrAtoz says:

    The privileged Amish:

    Man, 63, attacked in Florida movie theater after asking couple to move from his VIP seat says ‘they just went to town on me’ – as he reveals his injuries and cops appeal for help to find suspects

    If they find them, a slap on the wrist is coming or Jesse Jackwagon and Sharpless will be there. Time to start fighting back (carry).

  15. Greg Norton says:

    Many U.S. women’s soccer players refused to acknowledge the national anthem

    No one is watching the women’s matches in the US. It doesn’t matter.

  16. Greg Norton says:

    If they find them, a slap on the wrist is coming or Jesse Jackwagon and Sharpless will be there. Time to start fighting back (carry).

    Benny Crump. He is based in Tallahassee.

    That’s the other key to the current Dem disaster in Florida. They sold out to Crump in 2018.

    Last year, DeSantis was the first Republian Governor to carry Dade County in reelection since Jeb!, who lived there.

  17. Nick Flandrey says:

    Ah, nice long lie in… 

    Missed the semi-mythical “cool morning” for grass cutting.  Dang.  🙂

    WRT blue states, it’s generally blue cities and red states ie rural vs urban.   Look at the election map for 2016 BY COUNTY for the truth.   See also “clinton archipelago”.  My fear is that simple demographics and population density will continue current trends and the simple math will make the cities unbeatable in any national election.   5 cities will determine every national election.   You can bet that other people have actually done the math and know when it will happen and what it takes to accelerate the inevitable.    This is a really critical change and will destroy the country if/when  it happens.  

    —————

    Time to get some caffeine and breakfast in me.  Maybe a good day for some waffles….

    n

  18. Greg Norton says:

    WRT blue states, it’s generally blue cities and red states ie rural vs urban.   Look at the election map for 2016 BY COUNTY for the truth.   See also “clinton archipelago”.  My fear is that simple demographics and population density will continue current trends and the simple math will make the cities unbeatable in any national election.   5 cities will determine every national election.   You can bet that other people have actually done the math and know when it will happen and what it takes to accelerate the inevitable.    This is a really critical change and will destroy the country if/when  it happens.  

    The Dems have data mined three state-wide elections in Texas now and know what needs to change here to win the US Senate seats and Electoral votes for President.

    Who sits in the Governor’s Mansion has never really mattered except on fringe social issues.

    P. Diddly could even reemerge to run for Attorney General and then Governor in 2026 and 2030, respectively, but the dynasty is finished. He won’t be President.

  19. Greg Norton says:

    An example as to why Texas is hosed long term. 

    A common misconception is that is is all highly paid IT people moving here from California for $70-80/hour jobs at places like the new Apple campus near my house.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdnSNrlS5fc

    Think that household is voting Republican?

    Katy. @Lynn, meet the neighbors.

  20. Greg Norton says:

    Meanwhile in Austin on the same channel …

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3joCqr7LQQ

    Keeps the apartment in LA, however because … “Covid deal”.

  21. drwilliams says:

    @Greg

    No one is watching the women’s matches in the US. It doesn’t matter.

    Beg to differ. They are dishonoring my country and abrogating the agreement that they made to represent us. And they are doing so on the world stage. 

    If they woke up in a third-world brothel after a night of drunken partying, the first words out of their mouths would be “I’m an American! I demand…”

    The penalties should have been put into place in 1968 and enforced ever since.

    11
  22. SteveF says:

    Just gave the birds 3oz of diced spam. (Cheap store-brand stuff, not the premium Hormel stuff, heh.) They were more aggressive and energetic than usual in going after it, maybe because it’s been a few days since they got any treats other than -bleh- vegetable trimmings that Grandma gives them.

    The rooster didn’t get any. He ran away from the dish when I held it out to him. Probably because I smacked him with a broom on Friday to see if that would stop him from being an annoying jerk. It didn’t, but I did find out what his “Predator! Danger!” crow sounds like.

      

    My solution to urban clumps dominating state politics is to apportion by geographic area rather than by head. If a state has six Congressional representatives, divide the state into six equal-sized blocks. The same goes for state legislators, voting for Presidential electors, and so on.

    This plan has no chance at all of being enacted.

    Another plan is to make me Supreme Dictator for Life. The federal government can do nothing without my direct approval. I’m lazy and don’t want the job, so the federal government would stay out of your life. I also do not suffer fools gladly, so Mexico had better get their border under control, or else. The PRC had better honor intellectual property of Americans or else.

    This plan also has no chance at all of being enacted, alas. (Or perhaps Hooray.)

  23. Brad says:

    My hearing just fell off the edge of a cliff. Everything is muted

    Haven’t read the rest of the comments yet. Probably already said, but: doctor, right now. 

    I read about this when my tinnitus started. It happens, sometimes. The treatment is, I think, a cortison injection, andtime is of the essence. 

    Now I’ll go read the comments… 

  24. drwilliams says:

    Another plan is to make me Supreme Dictator for Life

    Give me a few years and I will soften them up and make them glad to have you instead.

  25. Brad says:

    Thanks for the suggestions about the pump. The intake is 2 meters down, at the bottom of a rainwater tank. I will double-check the connection and the seals – seems like that is the most likely issue… 

  26. Greg Norton says:

    Unfortunately, the coaches, managers, and goobermint are leading the charge. How long before even our military won’t sing the NA and stand for the colors?

    Not long. Talking to my wife’s nephew two weeks ago, I came to the conclusion that the current active duty military has most likely sold us out for what must be some sweet off base housing allowances in boom areas like Austin which weren’t even available a few years ago.

    The wonders of a $1 Trillion Defense budget.

    The kid does not qualify in traditional ways for VA benefits, having never even been to a combat theater, but he’s got a scheme for that too. I doubt he’s alone or developed the plan in a vacuum.

  27. Ken Mitchell says:

    My solution to urban clumps dominating state politics is to apportion by geographic area rather than by head.

    Two states, Maine and one other that I don’t remember, allot one Electoral College vote for the congressional district, plus two for the state as a whole. If the big states like Cacafornia and New York did that, it would make a world of difference. The CA cities are all Dem, but the central valley and the foothill/mountain areas are mostly Republican.  NYC is D, while much of the rural upstate areas are R.

  28. Nick Flandrey says:

    Jebus that woman in the video is a train wreck.  I couldn’t even watch past the part where she lists her mental illnesses.

    “premium” spam.   I’m laughing but the difference is real.  only real snouts and jowls for me!

    n

  29. paul says:

    “premium” spam”

    It’s a thing.  Regular plain Spam is all pork.  All of the other flavors I’ve looked at have “chicken and chicken by-products” along with the pork. I’m going by memory. 

    The Hill Country Fare at HEB is decent.  Not as salty as Real Spam.  About a buck less per can.  But you have to buy the Luncheon Loaf  as the other flavors have the chicken stuff mixed in.  

  30. drwilliams says:

    They’re coming for your gas generator now

    https://hotair.com/headlines/2023/07/23/theyre-coming-for-your-gas-generator-now-n566580

    U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). 

    A 4-letter agency. 

    How appropriate.

  31. drwilliams says:

    Ken is the closest thing Barbie has to a villain, unless you count patriarchy itself. Upon returning to Barbieland, he and the other Kens (others Ken?) take control in a bloodless coup, and by the time Barbie makes her way back, she’s been literally displaced. Her dream home is now Ken’s Mojo Dojo Casa House, and the Barbies who once ruled the world wear frilly maid outfits and serve cocktails.

    https://pjmedia.com/culture/athena-thorne/2023/07/23/the-based-and-hilarious-reason-gen-z-bros-are-flocking-to-the-new-barbie-flick-n1712910

    Cue the classic rap lyrics!

    But seriously, this movie needs to be boycotted. A Brit playing an American Icon? Smells like cultural appropriation to me.

  32. Ray Thompson says:

    A Brit playing an American Icon? Smells like cultural appropriation to me.

    Barbie wasn’t portrayed as a black, gay, welfare recipient from the projects so count your blessings.

  33. drwilliams says:

    I would have cast Eddie Murphy as all of the above plus T.

    “I’m Barbie, darnit!”

  34. Alan says:

    >> Already did the wax cleaning using the Debrox oil. Very little wax came out.

    The loosened wax may need to be irrigated to come out. BTDT. 

  35. drwilliams says:

    Steve Milloy  @JunkScience :

    Breaking: IMF cancels speaking engagement for 2022 Nobel prize winner in physics for saying: “I don’t believe there is a climate crisis.”

    https://twitter.com/JunkScience/status/1682544450566778880

    Nobel Laureate (Physics 2022) Dr. John Clauser was to present a seminar on climate models to the IMF on Thursday and now his talk has been summarily cancelled. According to an email he received last evening, the Director of the Independent Evaluation Office of the International Monetary Fund, Pablo Moreno, had read the flyer for John’s July 25 zoom talk and summarily and immediately canceled the talk. Technically, it was “postponed.”

    Dr. Clauser had previously criticized the awarding of the 2021 Nobel Prize for work in the development of computer models predicting global warming and told President Biden that he disagreed with his climate policies. Dr. Clauser has developed a climate model that adds a new significant dominant process to existing models. The process involves the visible light reflected by cumulus clouds that cover, on average, half of the Earth. Existing models greatly underestimate this cloud feedback, which provides a very powerful, dominant thermostatic control of the Earth’s temperature.

    More recently, he addressed the Korea Quantum Conference where he stated, “I don’t believe there is a climate crisis” and expressed his belief that “key processes are exaggerated and misunderstood by approximately 200 times.” Dr. Clauser, who is recognized as a climate change skeptic, also became a member of the board of directors of the CO2 Coalition last month, an organization that argues that carbon dioxide emissions are beneficial to life on Earth.

    https://co2coalition.org/news/nobel-laureate-silenced/

    The existing climate models are crap, and used in “ensemble’ to create spaghetti graphs to cover up the fact that they all fail in accuracy, and at any given time about half of them are moving opposite to the actual data* trends, creating local maxima where the data shows minima, and vice versa.

    If Dr. Clauser has a better model we need to quit throwing good money after bad and shut down the development and maintenance of all the CMIP5/CMIP6 models and the support of all the useless gits working to keep their lips locked on the public teat.

    *What passes for “actual data”. Measuring one temperature for the earth is not only impossible, but the methods used are not up to the task either in geographic coverage or instrument accuracy and precision.

  36. Alan says:

    >> Haven’t read the rest of the comments yet. Probably already said, but: doctor, right now.  

    +1000. IANAD but if your assessment includes “frightened,” I’d be headed to the nearest ER or Urgent Care. 

  37. Greg Norton says:

    Barbie wasn’t portrayed as a black, gay, welfare recipient from the projects so count your blessings.

    Doctor Barbie is portrayed by a transwoman actress.

    If you don’t believe an agenda is at work, then the appearance of Dr. Marci Bowers on Face the Nation this morning is just pure coincidence, right?

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/marci-bowers-world-professional-association-for-transgender-health-president-face-the-nation-transcript-07-23-2023/

    Things that make you say “Hmmm….” — no Asian Barbies appear in the movie according to my daughter’s friends who saw the movie yesterday.

  38. paul says:

    Big River suggests things.  Today was a kit of gas struts and brackets to add gas struts to the hood of my Frontier.  Interesting, the hood is a pita but most of the pita is that there’s a big thick gasket at the front edge of the hood.  Think door gasket.  I don’t want to mess that up so raising the hood takes a tiny bit of extra thought. 

    While looking at the product I changed my mind for a few reasons. 

    The pictures were not good enough.

    Looking at my truck, I don’t know how Nissan paints vehicles but the paint on the hinge bolts suggest they dip the body into a vat of paint.  Sure ain’t a can of spray paint there. 

    The hinge bolts look like they are part of the hood.  So I don’t want to mess with that, been there on a old Plymouth, wasn’t a good time.  The other bracket appears to use one of the screws that appear to hold fender to wheel well to something, I don’t know. 

    Pass.  It’s a $28 kit.  I have the Pro 4x trim package and as far as I know it’s missing a moon roof and leather seats.  If gas struts on the hood was a good thing, I’d have them.   Or better, I’d have torsion bars. 

  39. Nick Flandrey says:

    When did amazon drop the “ – ” modifier from search?   Used to be able to drill down by excluding keywords to block the look alike chinese crap along with correctly keyworded but “other stuff” results.

    Some stuff just isn’t easily searchable.

    I’m looking for poly pipe for my sprinklers at the BOL, and no one searches well on fractional inch sizes.  Even decimal inch size gets wildly wrong results.  And when it comes to the fittings, all of which contain the word “barb” there isn’t any way to specify size.    -brass, -mpt didn’t work either.

    I found some of the pipe and fittings I needed but had to look at 16 pages of results and do it manually.

    Oh, and Tractor Supply? Your web team needs to be beaten until they fix your search function.

    n

  40. Nick Flandrey says:

    I used to watch the Barbie tv show when the kids were watching.   Well, I was in the room, not really paying attention, but they were surprisingly sharp, funny, and often subtly self deprecating.   

    Won’t be seeing the movie, nor will the kids unless someone goes on a date…

    n

  41. Alan says:

    @nick, not sure if it helps with what you’re looking for but eBay’s “ – ” search modifier still seems to work as expected. 

    The ‘Zon search sucks dead bunnies. Try this for example, do a search, note the number of items returned, change the sort from its default (Featured) to Price Low to High and see if the item count remains the same. 

  42. Nick Flandrey says:

    see if the item count remains the same.  

    – yeah, I noticed that some time ago.    Even google will show extra pages, but when you go to them they are blank, or you get a “no additional results” page.  IE, your search produces 4 pages of results, but there are no actual results when you click on pages 2,3, or 4.  Something shady going on.

    n

  43. RickH says:

    Search results on the Zon are highly modified according to your previous browsing and searches. And probably influenced by ‘companion’ social media. Nobody knows for sure, though.

    Private browsing without logging in might give you better results. But haven’t tested that. Once you find the product you want, log in and look up by the ASIN (product) number.

  44. SteveF says:

    Nick, use a web search for Tractor Supply stuff. That’s more likely to get you what you want than TSC’s on-site search.

    I’m having to put up with a jealous chick. A redhead, at that.

    Just checked on the birds, topped off food and water, then spent a few minutes scratching those who wanted it (or would put up with it). The little red hen flew up to the top of the coop and started poking my arm because I was scratching some other birds, not her.

    I’ll recommend the Barbie movie to a couple people who mock bad movies. Sort of like MST3K but not scripted, just wisecracks and poking holes in the plot or action scenes, stuff like that.

  45. Greg Norton says:

    Better get the extended warranty if you take Tony up on the loan offer.

    The battery warranty is eight years, but rest of the car is four.

    No one sane would write paper for a 96 month loan. I’ve seen 90 months offered publicly, but that was pre-pandemic at the big Chevy dealer here in town when they were desperate to move the Silverado pickups with the 4 cylinder engines which would go splody mated to that 10 speed transmission.

    https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-84-month-financing-option/

    Tony as both the lien holder and the service advisor with 24/7 telemetry on the vehicle. What could possibly go wrong?

  46. SteveF says:

    re climate models, there’s a simple test: Feed in the actual readings from ten or twenty years ago and compare the model’s results with actual weather and climate results. If you can predict the climate 100 years from now, surely you can get in the ballpark ten years from the measurements, right? Do this for a number of different years and also run it on made-up data and see if the same result comes out no matter what.

    I haven’t looked at any of the models’ computer code since I helped to review the University of East Anglia’s leaked code around 2009. That one had an explicitly-labeled “fudge factor to get the right result”. It had several such unexplained fudge factors, but IIRC that one popped out “catastrophic warming by the end of the century” no matter the input. My understanding is that none of the models that anyone’s managed to get a look at is any better.

    As with my political suggestions earlier today, this eminently practical and practicable suggestion has no chance of being put into place. Disrupt the scam? What am I, some kind of right-winger?

    I just checked the “luncheon meat” that I give the birds. All pork (plus salt, sugar, spices, and water, of course). This alleviates any concern about enticing my chickens into cannibalism. Brookdale brand, purchased at Aldi.

  47. drwilliams says:

    WATCH: Chris Christie Actually Scores a Direct Hit on CBS News’ Margaret Brennan

    https://redstate.com/bonchie/2023/07/23/watch-chris-christie-actually-scores-a-direct-hit-on-cbs-news-margaret-brennan-n781077

    Christie beat her up on the facts.

    Brennan deserves to be next in line for a hair sniff and a grope on national tv.

  48. drwilliams says:

    Dedicated Longtime Toronto Educator Takes His Own Life After Bullying From DEI Activists

    https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/07/dedicated-longtime-toronto-educator-takes-his-own-life-after-bullying-from-dei-activists/

    I wonder if it is accidental or intentional that the first name of the “DEI trainer”* is a racial slur referring to another group? 

    *racist shakedown artist

  49. Nick Flandrey says:

    It must be December because I just cut the grass.   Dark overcast and only 94F, so I jumped.    

    The back yard was so tall the mower choked and I had to cut most of it with the string trimmer.  In order to do that I had to put the new gas tank on the trimmer motor.  The fuel tank is a common failure as I have several with the same issue, a crack in the same place.   Generic chinese tanks were half the cost of real, so that’s what I got for the heavily used trimmer.   It’s a little bit smaller, and the mounting holes are just the tiniest bit in the wrong place, but it came with the filter stone and hoses already in place.   5 minutes to install.  Much longer to cut the yard. 

    The front gets cut by the service every other week so that was a simple quick mow.   Lazy sloppy b@stards cut one of my blueberry bushes again.   I’ve put rubber weed protection around them so they don’t even have to get close, but they did.  They are cheap and I don’t have to do it, so I compromise.  It’s taken me a long time to get to a point where I can accept that I’m not doing the work, and can’t afford to dictate the result.   There are a lot of things in life like that.

    Followed the mow with a cold beer and a warm shower.   Great combination brought to you by western civilization.

    n

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    1
  50. Nick Flandrey says:

    Gotta wonder if the district would have hired a consultant named Darkie Jones, or the obvious variations, or if someone bearing that name would use it professionally.

    n

  51. Greg Norton says:

    Gotta wonder if the district would have hired a consultant named Darkie Jones, or the obvious variations, or if someone bearing that name would use it professionally.

    I’m surprised that the return address for the KOJO Institute wasn’t a place in Atlanta.

  52. Greg Norton says:

    I wonder if it is accidental or intentional that the first name of the “DEI trainer”* is a racial slur referring to another group? 

    *racist shakedown artist

    My friend’s soon-to-be-ex-wife does DEI training on the side, and she’s white. 

    The profits from those gigs are one of the assets they are fighting over in the divorce.

    DEI is more intersectional feminism than racist. The former is just as bad but has been more culturally accepted.

    An blatantly anti-white movie would have a real short run in theaters if it could even open while “The Marvels” may last a couple of weeks, whatever (speculating) Disney’s contract with Nissan requires.

  53. drwilliams says:

    Ryan Maue on Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai Submarine Volcano.

    Initial scientific estimates were 50-million metric tons of water injected into the stratosphere by Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai submarine volcano.

    Likely off by a factor of 3.

    New research suggests 150-million metric tons or almost 40 Trillion gallons

    Global warming caused by Hunga-Tonga is significant.

    The eruption of Hunga-Tonga increased the water vapor mass in the stratosphere by 13%, and it will remain there for many years to come.

    “The unique nature and magnitude of the global stratospheric perturbation by the Hunga eruption ranks it among the most remarkable climatic events in the modern observation era.”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/07/23/ryan-maue-on-hunga-tonga-hunga-haapai-submarine-volcano/

    Water is the most influential greenhouse gas. But you won’t find it listed with other GHG in tables of Global Warming Potential (GWP). The popular explanation is that water doesn’t contribute to global warming, but amplifies the effect of other gases. Uh-huh. That’s a good excuse for largely leaving water vapor out of the calculations of the global climate models until the effects stage.

    “Many years”. Added stratospheric water vapor is more persistent because there is little dynamic interchange with the lower atmosphere, I.e., it doesn’t rain out. The added water vapor is going to reflect IR radiation, which is about half of the incoming solar radiation and almost all of the outgoing radiation. The net result is that the surface temperature will go up.

    Have you noticed that all the news reports about “hottest year since …” seem to omit any mention of Hunga-Tonga? Never let a crisis go to waste?

    The joker in the deck is the effect of clouds and any changes in formation rates. Watch WUWT for any comments from Willis Eschenbach, who has posited that the daily natural cloud/rainstorm cycle in the tropics is an important thermostat for the earth.

    If we do see significant warming it will be a great natural experiment to see if higher temps do increase the amount of water vapor in the lower atmosphere. 

  54. drwilliams says:

    “My friend’s soon-to-be-ex-wife does DEI training on the side, and she’s white. “

    That won’t be allowed much longer if DEI survives.

    https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bc/f3/71/bcf371c2f3ea4685453a6a7afd7886cc.jpg

  55. Nick Flandrey says:

    Hah hah!

    Organizations push “Lifetime memberships” when they need to increase short term revenue, and/or think you’ll die before using more benefits than you’ve paid for,  now that you are finally able to afford a “lifetime” membership.  That gamble can bite them in the @ss if they set the price too low, or their members live too long.  Witness this from the ARRL, who just voted to raise dues…

    Have you ever heard a Life Member say, “I got a good deal when I signed up for Life Membership 25 (or 30, or 40…) years ago.” They’re right! They got a good deal, but continuing to serve Life members is not sustainable without making some changes. So, we’re going to freeze new applications for the program, not adding any new Life Memberships until we can price the offering to be revenue neutral over its term.

    emphasis added.   From an email to membership.  The only real ongoing cost per member is the magazine subscription which they have voted to separate from org membership going forward.   The advocacy and admin services that they provide are either very diffuse and nebulous, or only used by a fraction of the members, and are largely personnel costs that don’t scale with the number of members, like mailing magazines does.

    One of the public safety/emergency management organizations I belonged to for a while is now offering life memberships at a very reduced rate.   Like less than a year used to cost.  That’s either a last gasp attempt to raise money, or very shortsighted.  I’m betting on “last gasp” because membership in organizations is one of those things you stop paying for when times get tough.  Especially a fairly new one, that doesn’t do much directly for members.

    Cracks are appearing in unusual places.

    n

  56. Norman says:

    Re big river searching, I’ve been using the Fakespot browser plugin for a little while, it does some sort of machine learning gubbins on posted review etc. and grades the search results A-F, you can tell it to exclude items worse than a chosen value.  Does nothing to improve the basic search but it does seem to be pretty good at filtering out a lot of the chinese crap. It also seems pretty good at filtering out items which have obviously had reviews for a different, unrelated item grafted in.

    In other news, today I’ve told the university that I’m retiring in November, finally had enough doing software test/qa and fighting the same old battles with idiots in management. Generally had an fun time in industry for ~30yrs, but, the university bureaucracy was an extra speed bump up with which I would not put 🙂 

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