Of course it’s hot and humid today. It’s summer. It’s a bit hotter than usual, but not hotter than EVAH!11!1! And it looks like it will continue to be hot here for a while…
Did my thing yesterday. Met with people and shared our common interests. We’re counting down the days until our regional tradeshow/swapmeet/convention, and our pre-registration numbers are stronger than last year. There was talk about people still coming out of their covid ‘shell’…which is frankly amazing to me. We’ve been back to “normal” for long enough I find it hard to remember when we weren’t. I’m not sure what I feel for the people who are still living under the cloud of the chinese bioweapon, sadness? Pity? Both mixed together with a dash of disbelief? I hope they come to Texas and see how they could be living again.
After that I loaded up the truck and headed to the BOL. And when I got here it was HOT. The wind was blowing and it felt like leaning into an oven. I was going to mow, but decided to take the dog for a walk and see my friend the fisherman, and take a look at the work he’s been doing on his house. We ended up sitting in the air conditioning and chatting for a couple hours. I’ll mow today. Meatspace.
Made my dinner and went down to the dock. It was still in the low 90s and the lake wasn’t feeling cool, but sitting still in the gentle breeze wasn’t too bad. The sky was a bit hazy, but the Milky Way was out, and there was the tail end of this week’s meteor shower to look for. I saw a couple dozen shooting stars, about half were dim and short, but almost a dozen were really bright and long ones. One I could see go from white streak to orange red as it broke up. Really pretty nice.
That kept me down there past my cigar, listening to the radio and watching the sky. WRMI Legends, playing all the hits of rock and roll from the last several decades. They even do “instant requests” playing stuff the audience picks from their song library through the website. Shortwave radio on 9.455Mhz. Their playlist is very eclectic. The DJ was in a mellow mood last night, but where else can you hear “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”, “Cat’s in the Cradle”, “the Tracks of my Tears”, “Rag Doll”, and dozens of others in the same hour? Fleetwood Mac to Bobby Darin? I love the serendipity of radio. After 50 plus years of listening to popular music, there was very little I couldn’t sing along to, and very few songs that I wasn’t happy to hear.
Serendipity plays a big part in my life. I need something and it shows up in the auctions. I need a job, and someone who knows someone I know gives me a call… I get back in touch with a girl I knew because of an email address on a fund raising appeal that was cc’d to me and I end up married to her… Stuff that pushes the bounds of probability happens to me all the time. Serendipity and synchronicity. It’s a charmed life now, but it wasn’t always. I can appreciate it now, knowing how it used to be.
And I want it to continue, to see where it all leads, but there are people and forces who want to bring it all down. We don’t get to choose when we live, or what happens in the world, but we do get to choose how we respond. I choose to get through whatever is coming, and to see what the next era looks like. My grandmother saw the birth of manned flight, and men landing on the Moon. I can’t predict what my kids will see but I want it to be more than flickering shadows on the walls of our ruined civilization. So I prep, to give them the best start in whatever comes next.
You can too. Stack it up.
nick
Matched by when you understand the language and realized that the subtitle doesn’t match the spoken words. “The language” can include English, by the way. I’ve watched American movies with German subtitles, which I can read fast enough to keep up… and laugh at. The same goes for closed captioning or other English subtitles on an American movie. They’re usually close enough but sometimes are completely off, not even conceptually the same. I suspect that they worked with an old version of the script and weren’t updated for changes.
Why would I watch the English-language subtitles on an English-language movie? I hardly ever watch movies or TV shows except when exercising. I often can’t hear clearly over the fan and the whirring of the treadmill and sometimes my own gasping.
I suspect that you are not special in having chance favor you. (You’re not a special and unique snowflake, heh.) The serendipity is half recognizing and taking advantage of opportunities which randomly came your way and half making up patterns after the fact. Many people don’t recognize opportunities which present themselves, or don’t want to take them, or try and fail. Everyone forms patterns from the actions and results which they observe; it’s part of managing to survive. The trick is to avoid wrong or spurious patterns; ref superstition.
When I had contact with some teenagers, I would occasionally remind them that they were unique – just like everyone else.
Funimation and some of the other US importers have an agenda with the dubbing which even irritates the original content creators in Japan.
The Studio Ghibli films on which Lasseter oversaw dubbing are tolerable, but the streaming services can’t afford to spend that kind of money. Plus Lasseter is non-PC.
Disney needs Lasseter back in his post-Pixar merger gig right now.
Austin still has plenty of Good Germans who believe, armbands -er- masks either still being worn or at the ready in a purse or car.
The cowards in the Governor’s Mansion, Legislature, and Texas Supreme court only just took away any pretense that the moron “Judges” could order masks to be worn at the county level.
Of course, given the Governor’s wishy-washy response three years ago, sticking his finger in the wind and waiting to see how things worked out for DeSantis in Florida, it might not be a good thing to have mask decision authority rest with him either.
Again, if you think Republicans are in charge in Austin, go read the property tax “reform” deal the Governor cut with the Dems.
I suppose the quotes around reform mean higher property taxes? Wait, why am I even asking?
The Governor and Legislature essentially cut a deal to give the state’s budget surplus to the schools to spend on even more nonsense.
Property owners in the state receive a temporary cut, called a “rate compression”, as well as an increase in the homestead exemption – the Lt. Governor’s agenda — which really means zip at the local level since they’ll eventually raise the rates to compensate.
$17 billion IIRC.
This keeps the real estate market from collapsing next year as interest rates continue to rise, but the “reform” doesn’t do much long term.
Quoted for truth. Wokeness via social media could be the death toll for Millenials. At least none of my kids insist on woke-nouns when talking to them. I’d hate to tell one of them “kiss my azz” in response to a herz/them woke-noun.
“Wheels” is no hero. If he was, none of the face-diaper nonsense and lockdowns would have happened in the first place. I have no doubt he would reimpose diapering with one whisper from some pollster.
I, too, have a non-prepping hobby, and our national convention is this month. I’m not attending for various reasons, but the email list is frightening to me.
There are people who are skipping the convention simply due to the “fact” that “covid is on the rise.”
MPAI. Not just on the internet, but everywhere.
And I saw a guy driving with a mask on last week. In Houston. In his car, alone.
And I saw a guy driving with a mask on last week. In Houston. In his car, alone.
I see them driving with a mask alone all the time. It is usually an Asian or a Amish person. Or walking around HEB. I really dont undestand what they think the mask is doing for them.
MPAI. Not just on the internet, but everywhere.
What is MPAI ?
Most People Are Idiots
On the flight to Cancun, there was a Hispanic family of four with N95s on with procedure diapers over that. They wore them to whole way. Very few diapered in Cancun, and those with were mostly ill-fitted procedure diapers. All I’ll say is they are probably left of the Bell Curve. When we were at the Tulum archeological site, one guy was wearing a diaper that was so sweated through it had tears in it. He didn’t take it off.
There exists a lingering belief in the African American community that their members have been harder hit by Covid for a biological reason and not just behavior. My wife hears it at work and when she rounds at the hospital downtown once a month.
Whether or not it is true, at this point, the studies would never get approved because those might suggest a treatment approach beyond jabs and Paxlovid, exploring drugs used to treat circulatory-related diseases which really do have a biological link to larger numbers inside the community such as Lupus.
Say, what kind of drugs treat Lupus? … Someone might actually do some science. Imagine.
Long term, of course, there will be studies, but not until Trump is dead.
Yeah, Covid. Trump tho.
Moochelle 2024.
The moment Biden assumes room temperature. Heck, it might not even take that long after Corn Pop’s heart stops beating.
Live from the tidal pool at the Robin’s Nest estate in Hawaii…
After a bit of a lie in I’m up, caffeinated and fed. Bacon. So good. Made coffee in the ant machine. Did two giant pots of plain water with a filter first, which removed and caught the remaining larvae and eggs. 3 last holdouts were hiding somewhere and made a break for safety when the heater came on. Bleach cleaner had them taken care of. Can’t say I feel exactly the same about the machine after seeing ants boil out of it, and white ‘grains of rice’ everywhere. Never liked it from the get go, so I’ll be watching out for something new.
85F when I got up and blowing to beat the band. 87F hours later. Slow start to the globull warming today.
Dog is chomping his breakfast too. No coffee for him though.
n
I saw a guy out working in his yard this week, in 95F weather, wearing a N95.
Crazy. Still see a few in the stores.
Handyman Devises Simple System to Legally Get Rid of Squatters: ‘This Is My Home Now’
lynn says:
Especially the people whose mask fails to cover their noses. A mask that doesn’t cover your nose is like pants that don’t cover your butt.
And what they “understand” about masks is this; wearing a mask is a sign that the wearer is a leftist who knows nothing about science. And who doesn’t WANT to know anything about it.
Texas vehicle inspection is useless. The Jetta passed inspection last weekend, but the Firestone tech changing the oil on the car just phoned to say that the tires were bald, legally speaking, at 2/32 inch of tread in places.
$800 for replacement tires since the vehicle has large wheels and uses thin performance radials. I doubt the tires have ever been changed since I don’t recognize the Hecho en Mexico name.
I let Firestone change the oil after an initial test turn attempt on the filter housing told me that someone seriously wrenched it the last time. Plus, getting at the drain plug was going to be ugly without jack stands.
The quick change places will always try to upsell something. It’s part of the business model. They might find a legit issue, but it seems like they ALWAYS find something. The tires don’t have ‘wear bars’ to tell you when the tread is gone too far?
n
What is your evidence this has not already taken place?
So do dealership shops, Firestone, and Goodyear, at least when the driver is a Chinese woman who speaks with a pronounced (pun intended) accent. Any number of times my wife has gone in to have tires rotated or get a state safety inspection and called me in distress because her car needs $1600 of work and it needs to be done right now because the car isn’t safe to drive home. Each time, the claim turns out to be grossly exaggerated if not completely made up.
Several times I’ve reported the “unsafe to drive” claim to both the NYS DMV and their corporate headquarters, including photographs of brakes in good shape, my statement that the problem was fixed by replacing a 25 cent fuse, or whatever was appropriate. Neither the corporation nor the DMV has ever replied to me other than an automated “thank you for contacting us” email.
And the transition to a low-trust society continues apace.
I‘m checking at home tonight. It wouldn’t surprise me if the car needed new tires since it has 60,000 miles.
I suspect the car also has a bearing issue, but the techs didn’t mention anything about that.
German. Bearings would be pricey, and, based on the ordeal of just swapping the air filter, I imagine labor intensive.
I’m starting to realize why the F&I room low balled my wife’s nephew on a trade when he bought his Maverick. It wasn’t just that he bought a much sought after vehicle. The Jetta has issues which would have to be addressed after the auction.
The moment Biden assumes room temperature. Heck, it might not even take that long after Corn Pop’s heart stops beating.
Not gonna happen. Michelle is not gonna step into the ring and let people take shots at her, both verbally and physically. She was terrified the entire time that Barrock was going to get assasinated by somebody looking to make a name for themselves.
Plus, she still owes Netflix five more documentaries at ten million dollars each.
She’ll die owing the films. It’s payola pure and simple. Book deals, “executive producer” credits. “Development” deals. Just a way to funnel dirty money to the few…
n
Temp in part shade went from 100 to 103F in the last half hour. In the sun it’s “boil your brains in your skull” hot.
Glad I got the mowing and trimming done.
n
“She”
Heat warning here in the Olympic Peninsula (WA) this week. Temps are expected to be in the high 80s (F), maybe low 90s. Overnight temps in mid-60’s. Currently 82F and 55% humidity at 130pm PDT.
There are many houses (older ones, mostly) that don’t have air conditioning.
All good here, though. A new (2 year old) heat pump, good insulation, and I don’t have to work outside. I will watch the clear skies and blue water of the Straight, with light breezes on the the tall pine trees outside my window.
“Antifa activist who shot first at Kyle Rittenhouse sentenced to 3 years over Kenosha robbery”
https://thepostmillennial.com/antifa-activist-who-shot-first-at-kyle-rittenhouse-sentenced-to-3-years-over-kenosha-robbery
What is wrong with Wisconsin ? They have the guy on video shooting at Rittenhouse. They plea bargained him to three years for seven other felonies.
It’s been hitting 108 to 110f for the last week or so here. Morning lows vary from a chilly 76 to 79f at 6am.
Oh hey. don’t any of y’all have fans?
One thing that yanks my chain every year is the TV news soliciting “fans for the needy” and WTH, they collect $18 box fans all of the time. Which is a mystery. I have fans I bought while in college. Are these poor poor needy folks tossing their free fans into the trash when the weather cools off????
They must be trashing their “free fan”.
Oh. Last time I looked you can buy a 5000btu window unit a/c. It’s not going to cool more than your bedroom.
Corn Pop proved that she won’t have to leave the basement … or the tidal pool.
The South Carolina primary will be the annointing and then Moochelle is the President in Waiting until the following January. The election will be a formality.
The Dems will keep the Senate and possibly add two seats – Scott’s in Florida and Rafael Edward’s. The filibuster will be history — Are you going to deny the first black woman President a legacy?
Speaker of the House Hakim Jeffries.
Mayor Pete is VP in a deal with the Deep State and military. He’s already been out to measure for the drapes with Chastain.
The only question mark is what ambitious Dems think. Does Newsom want to try again six years after being term limited out of office in California? Reagan did it, but he was Reagan.
Whew. The buried, broken sprinkler pipe was in the shade so I switched my attention back to that project. Replaced 20ft of missing pipe, re-did connections with the correct barbed fitting, and found the next break… which was in the sun. But my dumb @zz is focused on this project so I’m digging up the break and making adjustments to grade so the water drains. Until I realize I’m breathing funny. First sign of an issue. Shallow rapid breaths.
I’m cooling off under the A/C duct in the kitchen at the moment. Aye carumba it’s hot. 103F in the shade, and there is dang little of that this time of day. Drank my quart of gatoraid and made another too. Half way thru that one.
Next I’ll cap off the last set of leaks and see where the next one pops up.
n
Many. They write to me all the time. “Steve, you’re so wonderful!” “Steve, tell me the meaning of life!” It’s why I hardly ever leave the property, because the fans always try to touch me whenever I go anywhere. Kind of creepy, I must say.
For SteveF:
“For over a thousand years Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of triumph, a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters, musicians and strange animals from conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children robed in white stood with him in the chariot or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting.” – General George S. Patton, Jr.
Just sayin’
And here I thought it was process servers…
@Nick; You should get a pop-up awning or canopy; then you can work in the shade most of the time. Then get a portable misting unit, and between the shade and the mist, it should keep you tolerably cool.
Cold shower. Run the water over your head and the back of the neck. You can feel the cooler blood moving through the body.
Nick: I have a couple of 10×10 pop-up canopies that I setup over a job that has to be done in the sun. Blocks the sun while letting the breezes through. I also have the add on sides for those times when I need to keep (most) of a light rain out while I finish a job.
Didn’t see Kens post until I published mine.
Speaking of:
There is this:
PROSECUTE Fauci! Newly released COVID records show Fauci made serious BANK while Americans suffered
What did Obola say: “How much money do you need…”
THanks guys, I have a canopy and even set it up a couple of weeks ago when I was working on the sprinkler manifold. I forgot about it completely. I was so focused today that I didn’t even realize I was working in the sun until too late. Some days I’m my own worst enemy. I wish I’d seen the reminder BEFORE I did the stupid…
There is a comedian whose tag line is “you can’t fix stupid.” Maybe so, but you can work around it with good habits. Today, I just didn’t have them..
———-
I did get that leak capped. I decided that working in the sun was a bad idea, (and forgot about the canopy) so I shifted gears. I did some work at the dock. I replaced the temporary plumbing that connected the sprinkler zone I’m testing to the pipes. I added an extension ring to an over-full junction box. I replaced a bad GFCI plug on the boat lift. I put all the leftover pipe in the storage area (eves) of the dock. Then I fished for half an hour.
The glare off the water made that unpleasant so back to work. I repaired the hose I hit with the mower, and tested all my temporary sprinklers. Got pretty wet, and then I felt much cooler. The dog goes ape over water jets, biting and attacking the stream. He was messing with my sprinklers and getting tangled in everything. I got wetter.
I felt so much cooler soaked to the skin that I was a bit surprised to see that it was still 94F after the sun went behind the hill. With the sun gone, fishing was a lot more enjoyable, so, since I was standing there anyway, I tried fishing for another half hour. No catching though.
Neighbor brought me stuff for dinner when they checked on me this afternoon. So I had that, a couple of bites of sausage from last night ( you all caught that the sausage was from 2012? Vac sealed and frozen, perfectly fine and delicious) and a cheeseburger.
Living better than KINGS used to.
n
Having your oit
Having your oil changed at a shop other than a dealer runs the risk of getting an oil filter that is sub-standard. Minimally, hand them a good Wix or equivalent filter and tell them to use it, and you will check.
And pull the stick and check the level before you leave the shop. Get a gauge to check your tire tread. A penny can tell you when it’s 1/16”, but you should be checking your new tires to know how you started, then monitor them for uneven wear.
And if you don’t have a pressure gauge and use it you are throwing money away.
Dog was insistent that he get a walk. He looks at the door, touches his nose to the leash, and looks at the door. D1 has been taking him for walks up here and I guess he misses it. So I walked him. Stopped to chat with a couple of the neighbors. It’s down to 87F and a nice night. Big dark sky so I’m going to watch for meteors and listen to the radio for a bit.
n
Volkswagen uses a cartridge based filter system.
I buy Toyota OEM filters for the Solara at the Autozone on the corner.
The dealer is the only one who has replaced the Camry filter so far.
Good advice. I have changed my own oil since I started driving. Did this for many years in pretty bad weather. Good discipline. I don’t know much about independent oil change places, but would suspect some use bulk oil of questionable quality, no matter what they claim. Another reason to buy and change your own.
It used to be that using slightly cheaper (lower quality) oil was possibly acceptable; more important was to change it frequently, depending on driving conditions. Nowadays, with engines much more sensitive to oil quality, only the best oils are acceptable for long engine life. Oil analysis has proven that under less than ideal driving conditions, oil change intervals should be short in miles and months. The problem is that an analysis costs about the same as a change. It can establish a baseline, and uncover unusual engine wear, but using it to determine change intervals is a false economy. Countless manufacturer and independent dynamometer and road tests have shown that keeping oil clean and additives fresh can make the difference between so-so engine life and exceptional life. Of course, if you only expect to keep a car less than 100k miles, you can get away with less careful oil maintenance.
Another problem is selecting good oils and filters. Most major oil brands are very good, but filters vary. Yes, Wix makes some good filters, but nowadays there are many major brand filters that are not manufactured by the name on the box. These can change from time to time. Getting a really good filter is harder than it might seem. Also, define “good.” Using the auto manufacturer’s branded filters is OK, but don’t forget that that filter is spec’d to make the engine perform well for as long as the warranty. You might want longer than that. There can be better filters.
Another trend is that some new cars come with “free” oil changes for, say, two years, but these tend to be at the manufacturer’s maximum intervals. Adding changes in between is a good idea. If you want to spend a few hours, watch some engine teardowns at https://www.youtube.com/@I_Do_Cars and see the damage caused by extended oil change intervals.
Finally, my next new car is already on the street. I hope its current owner is maintaining it well.
I didn’t get the tires yet, but the tech was right about all the depth measurements and uneven wear.
He also noted that the brake system was very rusty. I’ll have to take a wheel off to get a good look, but he’s probably correct there too.
I hope the wife’s nephew wasn’t hiding something more serious when he signed over the title, rationalizing that we are “rich” and can afford to fix the car.
Toyota covers two years of maintenance, but oil changes only at 10,000 mile or one year intervals. I paid for two oil changes at 5,000 and 15,000 miles plus every 5,000 miles after the final “free” change.
I think the manufacturers are under pressure to meet the “green” agenda.
@JimB
Good advice.
@Greg
All tires are not equal. Study up.
If you invest in new tires, protect the investment with s tire spray that has a UV blocker. If your spouse parks outside, double for her vehicle.
>> Several times I’ve reported the “unsafe to drive” claim to both the NYS DMV and their corporate headquarters, including photographs of brakes in good shape, my statement that the problem was fixed by replacing a 25 cent fuse, or whatever was appropriate. Neither the corporation nor the DMV has ever replied to me other than an automated “thank you for contacting us” email.
Did you send to the company via snail mail, preferably Certified and addressed to the CEO? My experience has been that it will usually get forwarded to an escalation customer service team and responded to.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/08/mauis-wildfire-disaster-media-pushes-climate-crisis-cause-people-are-pushing-back/
Wildfire plan written in 2014 and “partially” implemented.
And arson seems to be a popular hobby.
Wonder what the average sentence for arson in Deepest Blue Hawaii might be. Any n bets that it’s not a few months?
https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/08/mauis-wildfire-disaster-media-pushes-climate-crisis-cause-people-are-pushing-back/
This is Biden’s moment to shine and show the country that the next Katrina won’t be hosed up by Democrats. Or not.
Biggest response so far is to blame it on climate change. Next phase is going to be the lsm ‘splaining why it’s Trump’s fault.
Why not put Bill and Hillary in charge? Haita can recommend them, and they need a chance to make a few bucks.
>> Many. They write to me all the time. “Steve, you’re so wonderful!” “Steve, tell me the meaning of life!” It’s why I hardly ever leave the property, because the fans always try to touch me whenever I go anywhere. Kind of creepy, I must say.
Some even send the dollar.
Nice night but it did get a bit warm after a while, when the breeze died down. Only a few shooting stars, but they were very dramatic. One lasted more than a second or two.
Music was mellow, lots of stuff I didn’t recognize tonight, mostly motown and R&B.
Heading to bed.
n
“Comments On The Insanity Of EPA’s New Power Plant Rule”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/08/12/comments-on-the-insanity-of-epas-new-power-plant-rule/
“A study of 263 carbon-capture-and-sequestration projects undertaken between 1995 and 2018 found that the majority failed and 78% of the largest projects were cancelled or put on hold. After the study was published in May 2021, the only other coal plant with a carbon-capture-and-sequestration attachment in the world, Petra Nova, shuttered after facing 367 outages in its three years of operation.”
“Take efficiency to start. CCS units run on power, too. An owner can get that power from the plant itself. But this approach makes the plant less efficient by increasing its “parasitic load”—and CCS more than triples combustion turbines’ normal parasitic load. . . . This is the cause the Wyoming study analyzed that showed installing CCS technology would devastate plants’ heat rates and lower net plant efficiency by 36%.”
It is worse than I thought. I SWAG’d the lowering of the power plant efficiency by 20 to 25%. 36% lower is a disaster.
And there is the question of where do you put this highly acidic high pressure mostly CO2 gas ?
We have lots of experience owning cars in hot/sunny places, including the brutal Gulf marine environment in West Central Florida where, ironically, Edison researched artificial rubber in his final years.. A vehicle driven in an extreme cold climate like the Jetta was in Germany is a new one on me.