Hot, blah blah blah. Yeah, still 100s in the afternoon, and sweatier than a hoor in church… gonna be a while yet before that changes.
I did one of my pickups yesterday, missed the other but he said he’d hold my one small item until the next pickup time. Along with some stuff for the house and the kids, I got two five gallon gas cans. I had sworn off buying used gas cans, because the seam cracks open at the handle eventually, but they were very cheap, and I’ve just retired 2 that had cracks or leaks. I still need to go through my remaining stored gas and see what is ok, and what is not. I usually refresh it all when the hurricane season starts, but I didn’t last year or this year. Slack. That’s me.
It’s not the only thing. I’ve been eating from the stacks too. Meat’s been so high lately and the sales have been less frequent, so I’ve been buying less. Several trips in a row I didn’t buy any meat. It shouldn’t be a surprise then that I’ve got less in the freezer than I’d like. Partly that’s from moving some to the BOL, but it’s also from eating it.
The fact is, I’ve been coasting here at the house while focusing on the BOL. That might be understandable, but it’s also not great. Staying current is hard enough with one location. Keeping two stocked and with some semblance of “eating what you store” takes more effort and intentional effort at that. I need to do some ‘re-balancing’ and refocusing, as well as catching up on some other chores.
There is always something that needs doing. The trick is doing it.
So do it. Fix. Improve. Stack.
n
Daddy’s Sweat Stain Rorschach’s Blot
What was the reason the company gave for refusing to replace the battery?
All I know is no warranty at all. Friend of a friend. Battery is total DOA.
79 F outside at 7 am. We are predicted to go to 107 F today. Predicted 103 F on Monday. Then rain on Tuesday which should break the heat wave. One can only hope.
Nope. 107 F predicted for Thursday too. Gonna be hot hot hot this week. ERCOT is doing a great job by hanging in there.
The support engineers must see something in the telemetry which indicates some severe abuse beyond fast charging and towing within spec. I’m guessing he exceeded weight limits towing a race car.
These days, the stack of paperwork signed at the dealership includes an agreement about the vehicle communicating back to the manufacturer 24/7 using wireless modems outside of the owner’s control. If I signed one for my Camry in 2018 then I’m sure an F150 Lightning deal would have it in the stack of paper somewhere.
Pass.
@Denis
Toy-mounted. Not Pp
Mittens for compromise VP PR?
I’ve long believed that he will try it if Corn Pop assumes room temperature before January 20, 2025.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/mitt-romney-reelection-senate-utah-trump-bf6f386a
76? So many unfulfilled Daddy ambition issues. So little time.
I awoke gradually to beeping. Three beeps, pause, repeat. And it didn’t stop. Thought it was a UPS, they make a lot of noise when they activate. Couldn’t find one beeping. Sounded like it might be coming from the attic, where my IT rack is. But first I opened the door to the living room. Dang SMOKE DETECTOR was doing it. After much squinting and additional light, I can make out that the beep pattern indicates EOL for the 10yr built in battery and sensor.
Why do these things always die in the middle of the night, and why did this manufacturer decide they needed a special beep code? Simple chirp works for every other smoke detector battery.
FWIW, I can’t believe it’s been 10 yrs since I installed it.
So I went back to bed.
Finally woke up, and now I”m moving. Coffee is ready!
n
Smoke detectors. Before my new detached garage could pass final inspection, I had to install FIVE smoke alarms in my HOUSE. Four are within six feet of each other, inside and outside three bedrooms, and one is in the basement. We always leave the bedroom doors open.
I bought the cheapest ones Costco had. Two have reached end of life in one third to half their ten year life. When the last one croaks, I may replace it with an old one with a replaceable battery. That one was easy to live with.
I also had to install a CO detector in the basement. There is nothing in our house that can generate CO. It also died.
“FWIW, I can’t believe it’s been 10 yrs since I installed it.”
“Two have reached end of life in one third to half their ten year life”
Install date in Sharpie on the back.
Date the replaceable batteries with a Sharpie, too.
I have a file for the papers and box/packaging that is similarly dated with the location noted. If the “10-years” is significantly understated, a polite complaint goes to the manufacturer with photos. In my advanced age I also note that shorter lifetime means more trips up and down ladders which are contra-indicated for the elderly.
Got heavy rain here now. Topical Storm (formally known as Hurricane Hilary) passing through. I am 1.5 miles from the beach, but I think that I’ll be OK. JimB and EdH are next. Oh yeah, I am about one mile west of a relative of JimB.
From a post yesterday regarding a Musk moon lander:
It will not have batteries, rechargeable or not. It will using traditional rocket and spacecraft propulsion systems. It will be burning CO2 producing fuels like those on Plugs Bidens AF1 flying him all around the world.
Finishing brunch. Been raining here since about midnight. In the last hour, it has started falling harder, maybe an inch an hour. Should taper off in a few minutes, according to Weather Underground. So far, so good.
The big rain is expected to start around 1600.
It started raining steadily here a couple of hours ago. Nothing too crazy.
Ok, let’s normalize more deviant behavior…
–makes my brain shrink.
n
Aesop posted that it’s a nothing burger where he is, somewhere near LA, but probably inland…
n
The CA coast is on the “dry” side of the storm. Baja will get smacked. Maybe the AZ/CA border.
I pulled a tri-tip out of the freezer last week. Label says I paid $3/lb late last year on sale from $5/lb. I haven’t seen SALE tri-tip below about $5 lately, though I have been slacking looking since the smallish freezer was borderline full.
They wouldn’t need to normalize it if it weren’t abnormal.
They won’t see anything significant in LA at this point. Of course, with Corn Pop mulling a “climate change emergency” delclaration, the weather geeks are going to have to go along with the agenda.
Just be careful about who you talk to about it in Texas. The community is huge here and involves very wealthy and powerful players.
Any fan convention in Texas will see no lack of Furries. Their numbers were limited in Belton two weeks ago, but the Bell County Expo Center lacks an attached hotel and AC can be spotty inside the building.
Anime Matsuri last week in Houston probably saw a fair number. I know they will be represented at San Japan in San Antonio on Labor Day Weekend since that will be the first “normal” show since 2019.
They will definitely be present at Texas Renaissance Festival after the weather cools off. You might even see a Furry wedding there.
Take the kids!
Time to get your 10th booster:
NBC News reports that COVID-19 is making a comeback
LOL comment: prepping for 2024….
plugs will be able to hide in his basement. Again.
So if I want to be caught up with the rest of the sheeple, do I take 2, 10 or 12 shots?
Relax, I’m fully committed to remaining part of the Control.
The VA has not forced the issue on staff since the first booster. Read into that what you will.
The VA has not forced the issue on staff since the first booster. Read into that what you will.
The VA has not forced the issue on staff since the first booster YET.
Fixed that for ya.
Rained last night and got the ground wet. Seeing rain on the pool but not much, the pool deck is not even wet.
I’ve mentioned watching the Tehachapi train cams before both because I find them interesting and the weather can be observed. Watching four Tehachapi cams from Edison out to Mojave (one at Tehachapi is down), as well as San Juan Capistrano and Hesperia/Cajon Pass. Desert is raining this morning, lighter as you move west. Mojave is clearly wet. SJC raining but not hard and Cajon looks almost dry right at the moment. Biggest problem here is for ag, almonds still on the ground in many places, hard to dig carrots and yams in wet fields.
I still have my doubts about the specificity of the quick tests. Especially those thrown together on the cheap and on the quick. Moreso in light of the never-ending mutations of the deadliest pandemic ever known. We’re supposed to believe that the antigens to all variants of SARS CoV-2 are the same but aren’t similar to the antigens for any other coronavirus? I have my doubts.
I did try looking into the science behind the quick tests, mode 1 and mode 2 error rates, and other information of interest but didn’t get far. I found plenty of marketing and general interest level articles but nothing technical. Rather, I found a technical article or two but IIRC only the abstract of one and only the first couple paragraphs of the other.
Until demonstrated otherwise, I conclude that at least the quick tests operate on “trust us, they work” more than actual medicine or science. Maybe I’d be less cynical if every other aspect of the “pandemic” hadn’t been suffused with lies.
Home fire alarms detect:
We have gusts now, and about an inch of rain so far. There are some serious cells about an hour to the SE, they may or may not make it here.
There is a RED FLOOD WATCH in effect … which doesn’t mean much (some random bureaucrat thinks you should stay home, duh), but the I5/210/14/126 junction area is closed due to something, which does.
The Traffic view on Googol Maps indicates that the southern end of the Grapevine is closed.
Ah, thanks for the clarification. Those are forbidden here, although I think there will likely be a legal challenge soonish on grounds of health and safety in employment legislation; effective hearing protection is required to be applied at source.
>> Dang SMOKE DETECTOR was doing it. After much squinting and additional light, I can make out that the beep pattern indicates EOL for the 10yr built in battery and sensor.
Most folks here will interpret “built-in battery” as a challenge.
Possibly just a 9v lithium?
Okay now an earthquake alert. 5.5 near Ojai. Didn’t feel it. No waves in the pool.
A short but substantial quake a few minutes ago.
Some years back I was caretaking my elderly uncle at his ranch home on a cul de sac in the SF bay area. We had a guest, my brother. As a celebratory meal, I planned steaks we had purchased. Unc forbade use of the charcoal grill. Google suggested pan frying in oil. Olive oil was the only available, so I followed directions to get it really hot to sear and turn it down to finish.
The smoking oil set off the nine (!!) smoke detectors in a 2000 sq ft house. There was an interesting grey cloud hugging the ceiling pretty much throughout the house. Opening doors and windows generated a great deal of neighborly curiosity, never mind the screaming detectors. I was interrupted in my attempts to open a skylight TWICE by phone to keep the fire department from rolling out.
The steaks were delicious.
Earthquakes. Fires. Hurricanes. Dogs and cats living together. Mass hysteria!
And it’s all due to climate change.
My local NOAA weather station (½ mile away) now reports 1.03 in today. I did not feel the earthquake, maybe 100 miles away.
Hurricanes, and now earthquakes.
I blame Trump.
ADDED: You know you’re having an interesting day when 911 calls you.
I have no doubt that I was sick at the end of the year in 2021. I got quick tests for flu and covid and was positive for both. Primary symptom was a very sore throat, like strep. In fact, when I went to the doc-in-the-box, I asked for a strep test first. They didn’t give it to me.
Neither then, nor now, do I believe the tests. It could be one, or the other, or both. Or neither; I could have been sick with something else.
I took both tamiflu and horse-paste ivermectin, and I got better. Eventually.
Doctors, particularly public health ones, have given me zero reasons to trust them since covid. Even my new doc has some serious flaws. At least he’s against the so-called vaccine, against statins, willing to prescribe drugs off-label, and in favor of keto. Which puts him in the top 1% as far as I’m concerned.
NOAA here reports 24hr precipitation at .29 even though it appears quite wet. We suffer a rain shadow here due to very tall mountains surrounding us. Sure there will be problems but very sad for all news people and officials.
I just got an email from CPS. “Could you please cut your electricity use tonight if you safely can due to high demand?” What, and not make ice cream and stream iZombie on the projector?
Just went to HEB. My truck says it is 109 F out there. Half of Sugar Land was running around my little 70,000 ft2 HEB.
I wandered through the living room a bit ago and some woman was preaching how to reduce power consumption. Turn off your A/C ? Are you crazy? It’s 107f outside!!!
I’ve done most of the energy saving stuff that I can figure out. Need to trim the windows, paint that trim, and get some (perhaps) the mini blinds that turn into pockets. Or just curtains.
Last month’s bill was for 1033 kWh. I must have used the oven or something, a year ago I used 1032 kWh.
Ah, thanks for the clarification. Those are forbidden here, although I think there will likely be a legal challenge soonish on grounds of health and safety in employment legislation; effective hearing protection is required to be applied at source.
What is “those” ?
So far no rain here in the southwest desert. Alexa says wind is breezy at 10 mph… looking out the patio doors at the trees, I’d say maybe 2-3.
“Biden’s Multi-Billion Dollar Carbon Capture Gamble”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/08/20/bidens-multi-billion-dollar-carbon-gamble-addressing-a-non-issue-at-high-cost/
“It appears that the Biden administration is steadfastly determined to invest billions into addressing a carbon dioxide non-problem. Ari Natter and Brian Kahn of Bloomberg report on the administration’s decision to sink a cool $3.5 billion into technologies designed to pull carbon dioxide out of the air. But given the nature of carbon dioxide and the energy dynamics involved, one has to wonder: Is this just an expensive venture chasing after a non-issue?”
Fools chasing their variant of a utopia running an open ended experiment that could kill all of us. They have no clue what reducing CO2 would do to the planet with our current population of eight billion. We could have massive crop failures due to less CO2 in the atmosphere for one thing if this rube goldberg scheme works.
There have been over 200 Carbon Capture schemes started up across the planet. All but one to date has been a massive failure. The number one problem is building with carbon steel, having that fail in three months, and replacing with horribly expensive 410 stainless steel.
ERCOT may have set a new peak demand today of 85,116 MW. The solar is now fading away and ERCOT is looking for more power generation. They just started a bunch of gas turbines, maybe all of them.
Wow, they just took the coal units past their environmental limits.
Russia lunar lander crashes into the moon
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2023/08/20/russia-lunar-lander-crashes-into-the-moon-n572444
oh, gosh
too bad
@SteveF
Add in the recent revelation that the makers of the ChiCom bioweapon had been running a lab on the west coast that made, among other things, test kits.
@Lynn
Think of them as quieteners.
Only a few of them are fools. Most of them are grifters.
Of course. Watch who sets up these projects and who collects the govt money.
up to .64 in of rain since yesterday. This from the west side of Bakersfield. Just had flash flood wanings, SE Kern Couny, third one has I type. All you desert rats better watch out….
It was Trump’s fault. Or climate change from too much activity on the moon.
Well, I was out cutting the grass in that climate change… And it was hot. I weed whacked the whole yard, then ran the mower to level and mulch. Took the whole battery to get thru even though I cut it pretty short with the trimmer. Still was bogging down.
Then I did some more outdoor work. My drivers side door handle on the ranger stopped working. A linkage came undone. I have been opening the pass. side and reaching across to open the drivers door. For weeks. A tiny little barb on a plastic retaining clip failed. Google filled in the search after just three words so it’s a common issue. Part was $2.xx at
,
,
,
,
,
,
Home Depot, of all the weird places. It was $15 everywhere else, so I ordered it to the store and I’ll pick it up when it gets there… plastic rot is killing me slowly with that truck. It’s a microcosm of a much bigger issue too. Cheap plastic parts failing and killing otherwise functional items. I guess 3d print on demand will keep some of the stuff rolling.
It’s not very green to have to replace failed units with new because a non-critical part deteriorates. Lifecycle costs biatches.
n
The interns must be in charge at the DM today.
Dammit people, words mean things, you could look it up.
There’s a typo in the article too.
n
gub mufflers
Pp?
personal protection
The storm is toast. The heat engine is sucking hot dry air in three quadrants and cold water vapor in the 4th.
The 11 PM EST NHC prediction will give the official word.
I’m surprised that the NHC didn’t issue an 8 PM interim update.
The Navy doesn’t even list the storm now at their center.
“EXCLUSIVE: We will woke you! Classic Queen song Fat Bottomed Girls is mysteriously dropped from the group’s new Greatest Hits collection”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12424449/We-woke-Classic-Queen-song-Fat-Bottomed-Girls-mysteriously-dropped-groups-new-Greatest-Hits-collection.html
“The 1978 track, which was written by guitarist Brian May, has been enjoyed by generations of fans as a humorous and hard-rocking tribute to a young man’s appreciation of fuller-figured ladies.”
“But 45 years later, it appears that lyrics such as ‘left alone with big fat Fanny, she was such a naughty nanny, big woman, you made a bad boy out of me’ and ‘fat bottomed girls, you make the rockin’ world go round’ have been hit by the woke cancel culture.”
Are you kidding me ? That is a great song !
Vehicle interiors weren’t designed to last 20 years, and my ’93 Ford Probe interior and external plastic trim looked at least twice as old when I traded it at eight years.
The 2001 Solara interior has held up much better, but the driver seat motor is toast, probably something plastic inside, and the sliding mechanism on the passenger seat is missing a plastic hook for the spring.
Yet another astrophysics PhD canceled for his observations of the workings of the universe.
@Lynn – I lost the temperature sensor on my upstairs RTH8500D. It read at least four degrees warmer than actual all afternoon, and I got curious when the air didn’t stop running in my home office.
I told the AC guy that I wanted to keep a thermostat which I could replace at 5 PM on a Sunday afternoon.
It was 8 PM when I checked out of Home Depot, just before closing.
No more RTH8500D units outside of EBay.
Wake up call, thanks: It’s been 8 years since we moved and and did all new alarms, replacement time coming up fast. Place needs paint now and a new roof is indicated as well. These are the times one wishes for a landlord to pin it on.
Mine ignored a smoke filled room, but went off nearly every time we opened the oven – changing placement, or a better quality alarm, solved the latter.
Dinner included chicken taco from 2015. Vac sealed and frozen, it was just the seasoned and cooked meat. Just like when it was made.
n
I’ve been knocking out little tasks. It was 104F in the shade today. Still feel like I didn’t get anything done because I didn’t get any big thing done.
The A/C is having trouble keeping up in my office and the back of the house. Hopefully it will catch up soon.
n
>> Install date in Sharpie on the back.
Same for the HVAC filter. Ends “discussions” as to when it was last replaced. “No dear, I just replaced it three weeks ago.”
Yet another astrophysics PhD canceled for his observations of the workings of the universe.
Dude, you rock !
The A/C is having trouble keeping up in my office and the back of the house. Hopefully it will catch up soon.
Just a single unit for your house ? If desperate, throw one of your window units in the window of the back of the house. It is going to be hot all this week.
>> Inside the wild, wacky and weird world of the FURRIES: ‘Misunderstood’ members of the bizarre role-playing community lay bare the truth about their unique passion – slamming claims it’s just a FETSH (despite admitting ‘sex DOES happen in the fandom’)
There was a Furrie scene in one of the episodes of “Justified.” Season three IIRC. Guy tells his low-rent ‘lady of the evening’ to close her eyes, guy comes into her trailer in a full-on brown bear costume. Girl freaks out, thinking it’s a real bear, pulls a .38 from under the (well-worn) mattress and starts shooting. Luckily she’s a terrible shot and no serious injuries. Madam tells the owner not to worry as the guy is a county judge. Turns out his ‘usual’ costume was at the cleaners.
On Labor Day of 1999 it was 113 F here in Sugar Land after many 100+ F days in Houston. Texas was in dire straights with rotating blackouts across the state that weekend.
In 1980, we had many 100+ F days here in the Houston area. It was a bad summer not to have a/c in your vehicle (my a/c was broke and so was I). I was borrowing my Dad’s F-350 truck for dates.
My point is, this ain’t the first time it has been hot in Texas. General Philip Sheridan said, “if I owned Texas and Hell, I would rent Texas out and live in Hell”.
Greg Norton says: 20 August 2023 at 22:44
Very light toast. We are still forecast 1 to 1.5” more rain through the night locally, with the possibility of more from possible thunderstorms. We have not had any thunderstorms so far, however. It is still raining. My crude rain gauge shows 5” so far; normal annual precipitation is about 3.5”. We had a wet winter. I haven’t been keeping up with news, so don’t know about Death Valley or highways.
Our rain rate was moderate so far; fortunately, no deluges. Still, there was a moderate amount of runoff on the downhill road in front of our home, and some standing water in the yard. Gave our garage gutters a good test, but they were only running at about a quarter of their capacity. I would have to look up what I sized them for, but not the max rate we have experienced over the years. If they overflow, it will be no problem unless standing under them. Each of the two gutters serves just under 2000 square feet of roof, and dumps into a 4” drainpipe that goes comfortably away from the building. The house gutters and downspouts are more generously sized, and were way below capacity.
When we came home from brunch at 1100, the streets in town were moderately flooded, which is usual for moderate rainstorms. A new channel was slightly overflowing. It is approximately 50’ wide and probably 10’ deep. It eventually drains to the bottom of the valley.
Our soil isn’t very permeable. When it is dry, I can pour a bucket of water on it, and the water just rolls around, as if the soil had oil mixed in. It will eventually absorb the water, but it takes a while. If I were to dig into uncompacted soil after today’s rain, it would be dry about 4” down from the surface. The desert is different from most places.
We have not had any significant wind, and that is good. Wind driven rain can cause problems with any building. We are forecast 45 mph steady winds later tonight, but I suspect that will be over the mountains. Tomorrow might see up to another inch of rain, stopping before noon. I hope for moderate breezes over the next few days to help dry us out. We will see.
For you swamp dwellers (I was one once,) our high today was 75F. Two days ago, it was 103. We have had higher than normal humidities for a couple months, sometimes twice normal. That would be 15% vs 8% at the high temp of the day. Current RH is saturation. I turned off the AC last night, and the house and garage have been floating at about 75F and 60% RH. Just think, in two months it will be cold, yeccch. We also have no traffic.
We don’t want more people, so we tell outsiders that we have many problems. Chief problem is Nancy’s nephew, but that is true or the whole state. We can’t seem to get rid of him.
Food deliveries and grocery runs have been stolen from delivery robots operating in California and North Carolina
The people running these services are surprised why?
Almost twenty years ago, I had a manual ‘94 Saturn SL with 120k miles on it. The gearshift linkage failed (I’m very glad it happened just as I was parking). It turned out that the socket part of the ball-and-socket joint at the bottom of the shifter was plastic, and it had disintegrated. Given the location, it wasn’t exposed to UV, and it wasn’t even exposed to that much heat. Nonetheless, I am still astonished that the mfrs. thought using plastic for that part was acceptable.
Saturns were sh*tboxes with a clever marketing approach, a ripoff of mid-80s Toyota tech whch GM was able to study at the joint-effort plant in Fremont … ironically the first production facility owned by Tesla.
I look at the brand as a kind of dry run for Tesla, but GM didn’t let the execs wander too far off the reservation, fetishizing the cars as much as they could have.
30 years ago, the thought was, “They’re still cars. Not sex toys.”
Tony didn’t make that mistake. Neither did Tommy Boy with the F150 Lightning.
Go look at that first F150 Lightning Superbowl commercial, where the dweeb powers his whole house with his truck, much to the delight of the blonde in the oversized but still snug sweater showing off her … personality traits.
UPDATE: Looks like Tommy Boy got smart and pulled the commercial.