Fri. Aug. 4, 2023 – How can it be Friday already? We just had a Friday…

By on August 4th, 2023 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

It’s like “you gotta be F-ing kidding me” hot in the sunshine. Hot enough in the shade, crazy hot in the sun. Burn your fingers on metal hot. Well, that’s what yesterday was like, and I’ve no reason to believe today will be any different.

I was sweating like crazy while pulling auction items out of my storage unit. Sweating like crazy dropping them off, and sweating like crazy looking at what needs to be done to get my rent house ready.

Unfortunately, I think I’ll be living Groundhog Day today, doing all those same things again. At least the A/C is working at the rental. Oh, and when they called to say the A/C wasn’t keeping up and the house was too hot in the afternoon? My first question was “is the filter clean?” And I was assured that it was… no freaking way it got so filled with dust and grease that it was pulled halfway up into the plenum in just a week. Nice kids, but LIARS. If I was in the house and sweating, I’d be changing the dang filter, not pretending I did. Some people.

So that’s the plan for today, more work. Gotta get ready for the painting, ‘cuz the Boss ™ she is a slavedriver. At least the fence work can wait a bit.

Having a third (mostly) passive income stream is a prep, and I am glad to have it, but I can’t help but feel like I should be doing something more “prep- y” like working on generators, or re-stacking my stacks…

Ah well, count it as “improving my position”. Stack something. You’ll need it.
nick

67 Comments and discussion on "Fri. Aug. 4, 2023 – How can it be Friday already? We just had a Friday…"

  1. Greg Norton says:

    Unfortunately, I think I’ll be living Groundhog Day today, doing all those same things again. At least the A/C is working at the rental. Oh, and when they called to say the A/C wasn’t keeping up and the house was too hot in the afternoon? My first question was “is the filter clean?” And I was assured that it was… no freaking way it got so filled with dust and grease that it was pulled halfway up into the plenum in just a week. Nice kids, but LIARS. If I was in the house and sweating, I’d be changing the dang filter, not pretending I did. Some people.

    That level of obstruction from the filter is really hard on the blower motor.

    Grease? Where is the intake?

    I’m surprised they weren’t complaining about the power bills, but, again, I don’t think most people have any sense about what they pay for electricity every month.

    “I’ll buy an EV and save money on gas!”

    The new upstairs unit at my house is builder grade Trane, and the contractor said, “We usually only put those in if you’re going to rent the place out.” The installation was still ~ $10,000 minus $500 thanks to my repeated refusal of the “smart” thermostat.

    The system seems to work fine to me. It is time to change the filter, however.

  2. brad says:

    Just a completely random thought: Have the D’s ever considered simply pardoning Trump? I mean, I know they hate him with a burning passion, but:

    (a) That would give them a lot of moral high ground, and would stop Trump using this for political gain.

    (b) The worries caused by the prosecutions are certainly doing the US economy no good at all.

    (c) This is the kind of political theater expected from third-world countries. Not a good look on the international stage.

    Seems like it would be the most graceful solution…

    Edit: I just did a quick search, and see that a number of publications have suggested this. Any traction?

  3. Ray Thompson says:

    Seems like it would be the most graceful solution…

    Except, egos. The egos of the politicians, the desire to stand out from others, the need to always be correct, to be written about in history books, is overwhelming for many of these clods. They can never admit they were wrong, made a mistake, did something incorrectly.

    The majority of our politicians got to where they are because of family, not intelligence. Most have never had a real job. Most have never bought groceries or pumped gas. They have enriched themselves using insider knowledge, insider deals, corrupting the system.

    They feel they are better than anyone else and more important. Case in point was when I was flying out of DC. I was in line at the check-in and some congress critter cut in front of me. I told him to move. He said “do you know who I am? I am congressman so-and-so”. I told him I did not care who he was get in back of me and I muscled way in front of him.

    Another was HB Gonzales from San Antonio. It was questioned as to why he flew 1st class to and from DC and San Antonio every week. He stated it was because he was working on the flight and needed space. I was on the same flight as him on two different trips. Both times he had several drinks and was passed out for the entire flight. He was a lying scumbag.

    The press, and themselves, call them leaders. I contend that US does not elect leaders, we elect representatives. These clods could not lead a kazoo band. They egocentric self-important leaches who fail miserably at their job.

    I would advocate that anyone elected to the executive branch, congress, or senate be required to sell all their stocks and bonds and be required to put the money in T-Bills. This would include immediate family members such as spouse and children. It might even extend to siblings. Get them out of regulating companies, awarding contracts where they are benefiting. Put their holdings in the US where the success is best for them.

    I have zero respect for any sitting congress critter or senate monkey. They are worthless scum.

    11
  4. drwilliams says:

    Way too much TDS for serious consideration. 

  5. Ray Thompson says:

    The VA turned down my claim for my shoulder problems as secondary to my back. I guess not all skeletal is related.

    However, the VA stated I had a qualifying event that had the onset while in the service. That I have been diagnosed with a disability. That I have arthritis and bone spurs. But the VA very narrowly considered my claim, as secondary to the back, as denied. Since the VA has claimed, and documented that I have a disability that started in the service I have filed another claim just on the shoulder.

    It will be interesting to say what the VA has to say about the claim. In my refusal for the first claim the VA acknowledges that I have a valid disability. What the VA has not stated is the problem is service connected. In other words, I was diagnosed while in the service but nothing in my service would have caused the problem. I have nothing to lose by filing again.

    The VA is a strange beast. 

  6. drwilliams says:

    The Chinese are using slave labor to make solar panels. 

    Well-documented, but ignored by the media in the U.S. and elsewhere. 

    Not this year, or next year, or maybe even this decade, but eventually the Uighurs are going to start filing suits for reparations. If Benny Crump doesn’t take the case it will make the next Benny Crump. 

  7. brad says:

    Way too much TDS for serious consideration.

    Yup, I reckon so. Also, everything that Ray wrote.

    – – – – –

    One of our neighbors has asked the town to create a small walking path. Maybe 20 feet long, connecting two points where schoolkids walk – but right now they cut across private property. We had a look at it with the mayor, who suggested that one cut back the brush so that the town workers could see what might need to be done. Me and another neighbor did exactly that. Not because we’re involved in any way, really, just being helpful.

    We were too busy with chainsaws to notice, but I’m told that our crazy neighbors were sneakily taking pictures. Probably hoping to find some way to get us in trouble? Dunno, crazy is crazy. Shame I didn’t know about the pics, though – I could have smiled and waved.

  8. MrAtoz says:

    It’s like on The Walking Dead…once one of the zombies bites you, then you ‘turn’ too. 

    This is not true. It was revealed that everybody had the virus. You didn’t need to be bitten to get it since you already had it. To turn, you have to die. When the original group went to the CDC in Atlanta, Rick found that out. So when somebody turned right after a zombie attack, it was because the zombies killed you. You were already infected.

    I am being anal. That is my job today.

  9. Ray Thompson says:

    Shame I didn’t know about the pics, though – I could have smiled and waved.

    Mooned, mooned I tell you. A much better option.

  10. SteveF says:

    I’m told that our crazy neighbors were sneakily taking pictures.

    You can’t have security cameras which see another’s private property but you can manually take pictures of someone else on their property? Were you trimming brush on public or private property?

    Apropos nothing, have you considered the flaming-bag-of-poop-on-the-porch trick?

  11. Greg Norton says:

    Seems like it would be the most graceful solution…

    Yeah, sanity. Trump, tho.

    Always spell it t-h-o.

  12. Greg Norton says:

    Not this year, or next year, or maybe even this decade, but eventually the Uighurs are going to start filing suits for reparations. If Benny Crump doesn’t take the case it will make the next Benny Crump. 

    Too far from Tallahassee for Benny Crump.

    Plus, Crump destroyed the Florida Dem party for at least a generation in his quest to install his meth head sock puppet in the Governor’s mansion. None of the Dem cabal currently running things is going to hand Benny something as potentially lucrative as that case.

  13. Greg Norton says:

    Shame I didn’t know about the pics, though – I could have smiled and waved.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4tF7e_2Gvw

    The most sublime original cartoon characters of the last 20 years. Even Tom Cruise didn’t break the copyright when dropped a modified version of the line in “Top Gun: Maverick”.

  14. Nick Flandrey says:

    The Pen-gu-ins are my faves.   

    yup, today looks like Groundhog Day for sho’.

    quick pass around the intarwebs, some domestic bliss, register for jury duty, and then head out.  A plan.   Maybe not the best plan, but A plan.   Auctioneer doesn’t start work until 10am anyway.

    n

  15. drwilliams says:

    @MrAtoZ

    “I am being anal. That is my job today.”

    Cannot dispute natural talent 

  16. Brad says:

    You can’t have security cameras which see another’s private property but you can manually take pictures of someone else

    You’re right, it is technically illegal to take pics of someone without their permission. However, calling the police on them would be way more trouble than it’s worth.

    What can they do – complain to the town that we did the town a favor? Let them make fools of themselves…

  17. Nick Flandrey says:

    https://areaocho.com/show-trials-and-conspiracy-theories/ 

    Now here we are, a few year later and the reporter who supposedly debunked the Pizzagate story just pled guilty to sexually abusing children. The 53 year old reporter admitted to distributing and possessing thousands of child sexual abuse pictures and videos, including a disturbing video of an infant being sexually violated.

    So the people who have been doing the debunking of child sex ring stories are child molesters themselves.

    It’s becoming harder and harder to think that there is even a chance there won’t be a civil war, with all the calamity, death, and destruction that that entails.  It seems inevitable that there won’t come a time when people have just had enough, and go active.

    The rural areas are already making plans.   People are already ‘going Galt’.  There have already been shootings and political attacks.   All that’s missing is a widespread trigger event.  Convict Trump?  Slow Joe and the ho win another improbable election?  (seriously, half the people in the US voted?  150 million?  71M for T and 81M for FJB?  When did half the people, every man woman and child, ever do anything?)  Putin opens the canned sunshine?  We haven’t had any muzzie terror attacks, why are they so quiet?  Can’t be because of Sun Tsu’s advice not to interrupt your enemy when he’s making a mistake… so either they’re building toward one, or the fix is in and they’re biding their time.

    While we have time, get ready.   All the signs were there long before WWII kicked off.   Lot’s of people knew it was coming, and were getting ready.  Our whole government started building up for it.   See any parallels??

    n

  18. SteveF says:

    All that’s missing is a widespread trigger event.  Convict Trump?

    I know (meatspace know) several people who said that their trigger event was something involving Trump: arrest, conviction, other-than-natural death. I’ll note that Trump was technically arrested a couple months ago and the shooting hasn’t begun, so one might suspect that at least some of these “several people” were more mouth than action. This probably scales to the whole population.

    We haven’t had any muzzie terror attacks, why are they so quiet?

    You didn’t mention the patriotic and monumentally competent heroes of the FBI stopping all of the attacks before they could get going.

    … Yah, I know. That’s so implausible it doesn’t even make for a good joke.

    All the signs were there long before WWII kicked off.

    Well… yes, but. The signs were there in 1938 for a European war, but they were also there in 1937, and 1930, and 1925, and 1920. Conversely, if the invasion of Poland hadn’t kicked off the wider war, future historians would have used that event as another of the elements of the buildup but not quite a trigger event for such-and-so reasons.

    It’s one aspect of the Analyst’s Dilemma: every prediction and every conclusion will be nit-picked in light of additional information. It’s almost impossible to be completely right, meaning that every analysis will be treated as wrong.

  19. lynn says:

    “The world food crisis is still with us, big-time”

        https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-world-food-crisis-is-still-with-us.html

    “Sorry, guys, but I was right, and the food crisis is in full cry.  Its effect in the USA has largely been to increase the price we pay for food – ask anyone who regularly shops for their household about what they’ve seen with food prices over the past two to three years.  Almost all are up by double-digit percentages;  some have doubled or more.  The Daily Meal lists 13 foods that are likely to be in short supply (and a lot more expensive) in the USA in 2023.  They include beef, eggs and other staples.”

    “Overseas, the situation is considerably worse.”

  20. Alan says:

    >> Have the D’s ever considered simply pardoning Trump?

    Is the pardon valid if it’s written in crayon on the back of an IHOP placemat? Extra points if he finishes the connect-the-dots puzzle?

  21. Alan says:

    >> I’ll note that Trump was technically arrested a couple months ago and the shooting hasn’t begun, so one might suspect that at least some of these “several people” were more mouth than action.

    I’ve seen a lot of debate on the “technically arrested” part.

    Is it?:
    Indictment
    Surrender
    Booking (so far prints only, no mug-shots)
    Arraignment
    Release

  22. lynn says:

    The new Ruud 4 ton 16 SEER heat pump in the office building is wonderful.  The final price was not so much, I forgot about sales tax.  $16,205 including installation and $1,235 sales tax.  It also has strip heat in case we get, you know, real cold.  Like Feb 2021, 11 F or Dec 1989, 6 F.

    The new thermostat has a proximity sensor so it turns on when you walk by.  Funky.  It has the outside temperature and the inside humidity which is around 50%.

  23. drwilliams says:

    “Already stymied, the carbon dioxide supply chain suffered more damage when a major production facility in Mississippi became contaminated by a nearby volcano in September of 2022”
    https://www.thedailymeal.com/1166891/the-13-food-shortages-to-expect-in-2023/

  24. lynn says:

    “Quiz: Real World Sci-Fi Innovations”

        https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/quiz-real-world-sci-fi-innovations

    Youzer, I only got 2 out of 5 right.

  25. drwilliams says:

    “The new thermostat has a proximity sensor so it turns on when you walk by.”

    Probably a facial recognition camera, bill counter, and drug detectors, too. All feeding the citizen database at the regional FBI .

    2
    1
  26. Ray Thompson says:

    production facility in Mississippi became contaminated by a nearby volcano

    I am curious about a volcano close to Mississippi. 

  27. Greg Norton says:

    Probably a facial recognition camera, bill counter, and drug detectors, too. All feeding the citizen database at the regional FBI .

    My Nexia thermostat performs a port scan of my network when connected to the WiFi.

    The first time I caught it doing that, I had the tech’s out to wipe the memory.

    @Lynn, if the thermostat includes the “feature” to control the temperature and report status remotely, you may want to consider not enabling by providing your WiFi credentials.

  28. lynn says:

    production facility in Mississippi became contaminated by a nearby volcano

    I am curious about a volcano close to Mississippi. 

    It could be this one which put 10% more water in the air of the entire world which is causing such a warm summer.

        https://www.space.com/tonga-undersea-volcano-eruption-record-breaking-lightning

    and

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/2022-tonga-volcano-eruption-put-holes-in-atmosphere-sent-plasma-bubbles-to-space-and-disrupted-satellites/

  29. lynn says:

    “A.F. Branco Cartoon – Know Thy Enemy”

        https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-know-thy-enemy/

    “Many believe that there is nothing the Deep State won’t do to prevent Trump from becoming president again. Cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2023.”

    Oh my goodness.

  30. Greg Norton says:

    “Quiz: Real World Sci-Fi Innovations”

        https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/quiz-real-world-sci-fi-innovations

    Youzer, I only got 2 out of 5 right.

    3 out of 5. 

    I got the tablet computer right even though the iPad inspiration is attributed to “Star Trek: The Next Generation” by the Apple engineers.

    I don’t think it is overstatement to say that people interact with phones, tablets, and personal computers according to rules laid down by Mike Okuda 34 years ago in his writers’ guidebook which eventually got published as a TNG “Technical Manual”. 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewF5hbJXMtE

    Don’t click through if you don’t want a “Picard” season three surprise spoiled. 

    That surprise is one of the coolest pieces of engineering I’ve seen in recent years. Hopefully, Paramount finds a way to preserve it this time.

    And, yes, you could customize the controls of MacOS/iOS apps if it were allowed, but thank/blame Steve Jobs and Apple’s design guidelines for keeping you from being able to do so.

  31. Greg Norton says:

    The new Ruud 4 ton 16 SEER heat pump in the office building is wonderful.  The final price was not so much, I forgot about sales tax.  $16,205 including installation and $1,235 sales tax.  It also has strip heat in case we get, you know, real cold.  Like Feb 2021, 11 F or Dec 1989, 6 F.

    I had also had to write a check for sales tax on the Jetta today with a similar number.

    The wife’s nephew has a security clearance to worry about so we made the transaction legit and sent him a copy of the title application.

    I wasn’t aware that he made money on the deal vs. his original purchase price until I started going through the paperwork history. That will be up to him to explain to the IRS. I could have cut him a break on the official number if I had known, but that’s not how my wife’s family works.

  32. lynn says:

    “This is one of the stupidest articles I have ever seen on climate change”

         https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/08/this_is_one_of_the_stupidest_articles_i_have_ever_seen_on_climate_change.html

    “I had no idea that humans and our use of natural resources could control the climate that extensively, but now I know, because the truthful and balanced WaPo printed this wonderfully informative piece.”

    It is unreal to expect that weather and climate can controlled to a certain day being sunny or rainy.

    Hat tip to:

       https://thelibertydaily.com/

  33. lynn says:

    “As Vogtle Unit 3 starts commercial operation, Unit 4 gets NRC approval to begin fuel loading”

        https://www.utilitydive.com/news/southern-company-georgia-power-vogtle-nuclear-regulatory-commission-approval/689392/

    “Unit 3 is the first newly constructed commercial nuclear reactor in the U.S. in more than 30 years. Unit 4 is expected to enter into service in the fourth quarter of 2023 or first quarter of 2024.”

  34. Paul Hampson says:

    Youzer, I only got 2 out of 5 right.

    I got three, but it was only by semi-reasoned lucky guessing.

  35. Alan says:

    >> It’s becoming harder and harder to think that there is even a chance there won’t be a civil war,

    What? No! “It’s working…” 

    https://youtu.be/O16lzlEGaww

  36. Ken Mitchell says:

    Ray Thompson says:

    I am curious about a volcano close to Mississippi. 

    An EXTINCT volcano, which had accumulated vast quantities of CO2, used for beer, soda, and other products. 

    https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/craft-beer-breweries-shutting-down-carbon-dioxide-shortage-rcna41346

  37. Greg Norton says:

    Qualcomm’s Arm chips have been junk lately so they have nothing to lose looking at alternative architectures until the Nuvia acquisition clicks.

    Not mentioned in the article but still relevant is that RISC-V has 128 bit computing extensions *now*.

    https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/08/qualcomm-one-of-arms-biggest-customers-starts-a-risc-v-joint-venture/

  38. Ray Thompson says:

    An EXTINCT volcano, which had accumulated vast quantities of CO2, used for beer, soda, and other products.

    Well, that is new one for me. Volcanic gas used for consumption. Dinosaur farts. 

  39. drwilliams says:

    “Quiz: Real World Sci-Fi Innovations”

    Why only five questions?

  40. drwilliams says:

    “This is one of the stupidest articles I have ever seen on climate change”

    Making hay has always been a crapshoot. Picking the wrong weather window and getting  rain on cut hay means at minimum you lose yield and quality, and you may not be able to get it dry enough to bale at all. Weather forecasting is a lot more accurate in that 2-3 day window now than it was 40 years ago, and the radar shows exactly where the rain fell on your cut field when the neighbor got passed over. That’s weather, and when it’s not good for making hay, hay gets scarce to buy and the price is about double the good years.

    One of the problems is that 40 years ago you made small squares–or in a small number of cases, small rounds. Anyone that has done it can probably attest to “checking the mow” for hot spots late in the evening.

    Now most hay is made into large squares or large rounds. Going from 40-50 pounds to 1000 to 2000  on the larger bales makes it more unforgiving of moisture. Modern balers can have an acid system to treat hay that is not optimally dried. Adds expense and lowers the quality a bit, but better than spoilage. The backup plan for really wet hay is chop it for silage.

    There’s also a third operation that can be added to the cut, rake, bale sequence: tedding:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tedder_(machine)

    that fluffs the hay up off the ground and gives it better air circulation to dry.

    I’ve seen fields cut and raked, rained on, tedded, re-raked, and baled, and a cutting lost because a tedder wasn’t available to help get the hay dried before the next storm. And if the hay is ruined it still has to be raked up and removed or it will impede the growth and stunt the next cutting.

    After 40 years farming one rainy or drought year is just normal. The old saying is in five years farmers  lose money once, break even three times and make money once. Or maybe twice, twice and once. 

    The real climate change exposure for farmers is the climate change zealots convincing the pols that something must be done to “fight” climate change or “save the planet”. Restrict fertilizers made from natural gas, try to force electric tractors into agriculture, and take up thousands of acres of land with solar and wind that never gets to energy break even and you’re not going to see much fighting of any kind on a 900-calories bug diet.

  41. drwilliams says:

    The Problem with Modelling

    By Norman Rogers

    https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/08/the_problem_with_modelling.html

    Good article within the space limitations, but a number of things familiar to readers of this place:

    –the crap models of the IPCC and their ensemble averaging

    –the linear, no-threshold hypothesis

    –the second-hand smoke scam

    are given short shrift in passing.

    Reminds me that I need to get a copy of the book. 

  42. Ray Thompson says:

    Making hay has always been a crapshoot.

    I remember those days well, only it 55 years ago. We would sometimes rack the hay twice to it fluff up and turned over to speed up the drying. We created small square bales at 50-70 pounds each. Manual labor can handle those bales. We raised a lot of alfalfa and drying on that was more critical than grass or oats. Many a time I would start baling at 2:00 AM so there was a little bit of dew on the hay. It kept the leaves from falling off.

    I have also seen much hay that was too wet and spoiled. It decomposes and molds making it useless.

    Sometimes it was a real rush to get the hay baled and in the barn before the rain. Forecasting was not so great back then. 

  43. lynn says:

    “Survival: A Novel (Star Quest Trilogy, 3)” by Ben Bova
       https://www.amazon.com/Survival-Novel-Star-Quest-Trilogy/dp/0765379546?tag=ttgnet-20/

    Book number four of a five book science fiction series. I read the well printed and well bound MMPB that I bought new on Amazon that was published by Tor in 2017. This series is also a rough continuance of Bova’s 20+ book Grand Tour of the Solar System series. I am waiting to purchase the fifth book in the series for the MMPB as the trade paperback is expensive at $26 and the hardcover is $18.
    https://www.amazon.com/Earth-Grand-Tour-Ben-Bova/dp/0765397196?tag=ttgnet-20/

    There is some confusion as to what is in the Grand Tour series and what is in the Star Quest series. So, I just lumped the “New Earth” book on into the Star Quest series. The books are:
    1. New Earth
    2. Death Wave
    3. Apes and Angels
    4. Survival
    5. Earth

    We humans on Earth were told about the deadly Gamma wave coming from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy every 28,000 years by the Predecessors, ancient intelligent machines that have seen many intelligent races destroyed by the gamma wave. They have enlisted our help in erecting force fields around the surrounding intelligent races around Sol to prevent them from getting destroyed by the gamma wave that is coming in 2,000 years to the edge of the Milky Way.

    A team of 2,000 Scientists and Engineers has been sent 2,000 light years via deep sleep ship to provide shielding for a planet of intelligences to be soon hit by the death wave. At their arrival, they find only machine intelligences. Hostile machine intelligences at that.

    The author has a website at:
       http://benbova.com/

    My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    Amazon rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars (126 reviews)

  44. drwilliams says:

    “We created small square bales at 50-70 pounds each.”

    I recall some green bales that were rushed to make the window before the rain. Ran out of hay racks and they were dropped in the field for pickup later. 100-lbs easy. 

  45. drwilliams says:

    Alien invaders kept in cages as AZ temps spike to 113-degrees

    https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/08/wheres-aoc-photos-reveal-migrants-in-outside-cages-in-blistering-summer-heat-at-the-border/

    media: crickets

    AOC: can’t decide on pants for photo op

    other Dems: could not identify border on map

    FJB: “C-mon Man!”

    Hunter: “That alkali dust does a number on your nose.”

    CHORUS: “It’s Trump’s fault!!!”

  46. Nick Flandrey says:

    Hey I got 4 of 5 and would have gotten 5 except I second guessed myself.

    Did guess on the F451 sea shell noise machine thing…

    n

  47. Alan says:

    >> Way too much TDS for serious consideration. 

    TDS?

  48. Greg Norton says:

    –the second-hand smoke scam

    The writer of the article has his head up his a** on that one.

    Follow the money trail — the tobacco companies fund the Heartland Institute, where Norman Rogers works.

  49. Greg Norton says:

    >> Way too much TDS for serious consideration. 

    TDS?

    Trump Derangement Syndrome.

  50. lynn says:

    @Lynn, if the thermostat includes the “feature” to control the temperature and report status remotely, you may want to consider not enabling by providing your WiFi credentials.

    What WiFi ?

  51. RickH says:

    TDS = “Trump’s Deranged, Stupid”.

    4
    4
  52. crawdaddy says:

    Re: smart thermostats

    “Oh, yeah, I can’t remember the password right now. I’ll set up the connection later.”
    Young installer: It’s really important that you make that connection.
    His boss: Yes, I understand that sometimes folks can’t remember their network name or password. It will work just fine without it. Actually, let me set it up for manual mode. If you remember that stuff, you can enable it yourself.

    That was for 2 separate installs of the aforementioned Ruud 4 Ton units to replace units that failed within months of each other last year.

    I had a similar experience with the whole-house generator guys. There’s no actual reason to connect those things if you monitor them yourself.

  53. SteveF says:

    Trump’s Deranged, Stupid

    Sounds like something that someone with TDS would say.

    There’s no actual reason to connect those things if you monitor them yourself.

    Certainly there is. There’s no reason that benefits you, the purchaser, but that’s no reason not to hook your every appliance up to the internet for monitoring. What are you, some kind of self-centered monster?

    5
    1
  54. crawdaddy says:
    What are you, some kind of self-centered monster?

    Um, just ask my exes and former girlfriends. I am certain that they will answer in the affirmative. 😀

  55. Greg Norton says:

    There’s no actual reason to connect those things if you monitor them yourself.

    Certainly there is. There’s no reason that benefits you, the purchaser, but that’s no reason not to hook your every appliance up to the internet for monitoring. What are you, some kind of self-centered monster?

    Monitoring? They want to set the temps remotely.

    I haven’t heard about ERCOT/Oncor trying it in Texas yet, but Oncor has sprayed around a lot of rebate money to the AC contractors to push the tech.

    Even around here, I’ll bet the Faux News would roll out to some homeowner reporting having their AC temp raised. It might even rate a remote from ERCOT HQ in Taylor.

  56. drwilliams says:
    What are you, some kind of self-centered monster?

    “Um, just ask my exes and former girlfriends. I am certain that they will answer in the affirmative.”

    Don’t forget: Sheep Lie

  57. crawdaddy says:
    Don’t forget: Sheep Lie

    Or is it lay? I always get those confused.

  58. drwilliams says:

    Health Effects of Secondhand Smoke

    Secondhand smoke is a serious health hazard causing more than 41,000 deaths per year. It can cause or make worse a wide range of damaging health effects in children and adults, including lung cancer, respiratory infections and asthma.

    The American Lung Association has more information available on laws protecting the public from exposure to secondhand smoke.

    Key Facts about Secondhand Smoke

    • Secondhand smoke causes approximately 7,330 deaths from lung cancer and 33,950 deaths from heart disease each year.1
    • Between 1964 and 2014, 2.5 million people died from exposure to secondhand smoke, according to the 2014 report from the U.S. Surgeon General. The report also concluded that secondhand smoke is a definitive cause of stroke.1
    • There is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke and even short-term exposure potentially can increase the risk of heart attacks.2
    • Secondhand smoke contains hundreds of chemicals known to be toxic or carcinogenic, including formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, arsenic ammonia and hydrogen cyanide.2
    • Secondhand smoke can cause heart attacks; even relatively brief exposure can trigger a heart attack, according to a report by the Institute of Medicine.3

    https://www.lung.org/quit-smoking/smoking-facts/health-effects/secondhand-smoke

    Still waiting for the crack modellers to get busy, but in the meantime I’m going to estimate that Canadian wildfire smoke has exposed over 100 million Americans to “hundreds of chemicals known to be toxic or carcinogenic”, increasing risk of heart-attack and stroke, and that the carnage from 24/7 exposure for months will far exceed the toll from second-hand cigarette smoke in 2023.

    Toxic smoke from Canadian wildfires could impact health of millions in the US

    Additionally, studies have shown a link between poor air quality — which these fires have caused — and cardiovascular disease, including strokes, heart attacks, heart failure and atrial fibrillation.

    https://abcnews.go.com/Health/toxic-smoke-canadian-wildfires-impact-health-millions-us/story?id=99837839

  59. lynn says:

    “Quiz: Real World Sci-Fi Innovations”

        https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/quiz-real-world-sci-fi-innovations

    Youzer, I only got 2 out of 5 right.

    3 out of 5. 

    I got the tablet computer right even though the iPad inspiration is attributed to “Star Trek: The Next Generation” by the Apple engineers.

    I don’t think it is overstatement to say that people interact with phones, tablets, and personal computers according to rules laid down by Mike Okuda 34 years ago in his writers’ guidebook which eventually got published as a TNG “Technical Manual”. 

    Yeah, I can’t believe that I missed the 1911 gimme for Tom Swift and his Electric Rifle.  I read through them too quickly.

  60. drwilliams says:

    Sound of Freedom has Rolling Stone Self-Snitching

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

    Masterful takedown. Another data point on the continuing decline of a once at least semi-respected magazine that has dropped below the fishwrap/birdcage level. Not sure what’s actually lower–not fit to wrap a used tampon?

  61. Nick Flandrey says:

    Don’t forget: Sheep Lie  

    –one of my favorite jokes evah!   Nice variation on the traveling salesman/farmer’s daughter shtick, easy to remember, can be shortened or extended as suits the audience, and after you know it, just saying the punchline at the right moment can get laughs.

    I usually tell it with “  everybody knows xxxxx can’t talk” and “ everybody knows sheep lie…”  The “everybody knows” gives you a nice repetition to set up the punchline.    Really catches some people unaware.

    n

  62. lynn says:

    “Prediction: Jack Smith Will Get a DC Jury to Convict Trump and SCOTUS Will Vacate It. In Fact, Smith’s Counting on It”

        https://redstate.com/jimthompson/2023/08/04/jack-smith-will-get-a-dc-jury-to-convict-trump-scotus-will-vacate-the-conviction-in-fact-smith-is-counting-on-it-n787612

    “Special Counsel Jack Smith isn’t a stupid man. A number of definitions apply to Smith, but stupid isn’t one of them. A zealot? A vainglorious, demagogic political hack who is doing the bidding of another political hack? Yes, to both. But Jack Smith isn’t dumb.”

    Why ???

    Ah, show me the man and I will show you the crime.

  63. lynn says:

    Tucker Carlson did NOT take the vax.

        https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1683973828416884736

    About halfway through at 9:22.  Interesting.

    Ice Cube: “Did you take it ?”

    Tucker: “Of course not !”.

  64. Nick Flandrey says:

    19 year old kids have heart attacks all the time, right?

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12375361/Young-Mormon-aged-19-collapses-DIES-family-moments-revealing-mission-church-Japan.html

    Mormon Liam Mildenstein, 19, collapses and DIES of heart failure in front of his family moments after revealing his first mission for the church would be to Japan

    • Liam Mildenstein was on his way to Provo from Miami for a vacation when he got the call and began reading aloud his missionary assignment for the church 
    • All of a sudden, the young man collapsed backward onto the floor and he had no pulse 
    • The family called for emergency paramedics but about an hour later, the 19-year-old was pronounced dead. The cause remains unknown 

    n

  65. Nick Flandrey says:

    Huh, for a long time my scanner has been really quiet on the interop channels the cops were using for surveillance ops.   So quiet I thought something was wrong with the radio or the antenna.  

    In the past week it’s been picking up though, and tonight they are working street racing, just like they used to.   Guess they couldn’t stay away, and my radio is fine.

    n

  66. Alan says:

    >> “Prediction: Jack Smith Will Get a DC Jury to Convict Trump and SCOTUS Will Vacate It. In Fact, Smith’s Counting on It”

    Hmm, only takes one juror to be “convinced” otherwise,

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