Cool and clear, maybe someone in Houston gets some rain… warm later. It got into the 80s yesterday. Had to turn the house AC back on. Fall can be crazy with needing heat overnight, and AC during the day.
I did my pickup, and while I was on that side of town, hit a couple of estate sales. One was great, I spent over an hour in the garage picking tools and supplies. The other was mostly a bust, but I did grab a klein wire stripper and a pair of Channelok pliers for $2 each. The only other thing in the whole house I might have been interested in was an original Atari 2600 with accessories and games, and an enclosure with a dust cover. I’d never seen the enclosure before but it turned out they aren’t particularly rare or valuable. Sellers were unorganized, distracted, and prices were at retail… They kept saying they’d be open again next weekend. Not gonna be getting much return business would be my guess.
If you’ve got some special stuff and you want it to bring the money it’s worth or go to a good home, make the plans now. I’m a big fan of estate sale companies but they vary wildly in knowledge, skill, and focus. Some are predatory. No one loves your stuff like you do.
Today I’ll be stuck at home, close to the smallest room. I’m starting the prep for my colonoscopy on Monday. I’m led to believe it’s very unpleasant and I won’t want to be too far from the facilities. We’ll see if I can get anything done around the house. Fortunately I’m a prepper, and we didn’t use the last roll of TP in the house last night, just the last roll before opening a new bale. There was a moment though, where I doubted my memory, and I was worried about sending my wife out for TP… which would have been bad on so many levels. But the garage DID have another bale waiting for use…
Whew.
I’m working on getting all the medical stuff up to date and out of the way. Venezuela levels of collapse could make it very difficult to get care if you found out you needed it. If I can get around to it, you can too.
Get the niggling little thing checked out. And stack. Meds too.
nick
Nick
Hope it all goes well. For mine I ended up sleeping on a military foam sleeping pad with poncho liner on the bathroom floor. Both were easy to clean afterwards.
Blocking will never happen. I know way too many grown a** people who indulge in garbage on Tik Tok as a guilty pleasure.
If you have that app on your phone, you are part of the problem.
If you installed the app on your phone and it has permission to read your files or obtain location data, especially “running in the background”, you are a fully assimilated member of the collective.
Resistance is futile.
Of course, if we’re going into that meme area, I prefer “Incorrect strategy, Number One.”
That one doesn’t get a lot of play 30+ years later, but it is the far more profound quote with regard to our currnet situation IMHO.
In the last couple of years, both the prep and the anesthesia involved in the colonoscopy procedure have improved dramatically over what was available even five years ago. I speak from experience.
The actual procedure is no big deal anymore, but the prep has to be somewhat inconvenient/unpleasant in order to be effective cleaning out the system.
When I had an easy-peasy prep was the procedure two years ago where they pulled the golf ball sized mass and several friends around half that diameter out of me and I spent Christmas sweating the path report.
Hopefully, you get your results back before the holidays begin.
Follow your doctor’s instructions to the letter about contacting them if the prep seems too easy and the volume seems inadequate.
If in doubt, call. Part of the cost of the procedure is having someone picking up the phone at 5 AM.
My last one 5 years ago was not that unpleasant. Several massive discharges, liquid instead of gas in my gas (got that Mr. Atoz?). I was unable to completely drink the entire gallon in the time allowed. I probably lacked have a pint, maybe a little more. It seemed to be enough. Most of my discharge was done before I went to bed for the evening.
The anesthesia is certainly much better. lIke a good nap with very little side effect. My first exam was miserable as they used amnesia stuff. I was zonked and confused for hours and I was still leaking. On the last one, no issue.
59 F on the west side of Fort Bend County this morning. The varmints went out and came back inside immediately. They did not like the fog on the moors.
Agreed. I had my first one a couple years ago. The drink is not tasty, but didn’t have problems getting it down. I think the volume is what gives more people problems. I’ve always been a big drinker (fluids, not alcohol!) and generally consume much more water than the average person.
I had no issues post anesthesia.
Thanks to Tik Tok, an attractive 20-ish female living in the US doesn’t have to actually work for a living as long as she doesn’t mind having her privacy invaded.
Would you want to be the Congresscritter who introduced legislation to block access to the viewers?
Biology is at work.
Anytime I try to believe that getting laid isn’t a motivating factor 24/7 for the vast majority of the male population, I get a reminder like the tolling company experience.
I’m working on scheduling a colonoscopy. My plan is to drink the vile liquid, then go on my midnight nude walk. I’ll fertilze yards as I go. I figure a couple of miles and my bowels will be empty.
Holy FreakShow, Batman:
Author comes out as transgender man after his wife came out as trans woman – and pair, who have a trans daughter, now live in a four-way open relationship with their trans lovers
There is no way society will accept this as the new norm. Even if DM thinks it should be at the top of the page.
From an old New Yorker (I think) cartoon:
“Those who do remember the past are condemned to watch others repeat it.”
An article on Slashdot today spotlights the 25th anniversary of “Halloween” at Microsoft.
http://www.catb.org/~esr/halloween/index.html
I’ve always believed that Microsoft, split per the judge’s decision in the anti trust case, would have been a much more dangerous and dominant player in tech. The company even went as far as buying land for Campus 2.0 on the Issaquah Plateau, complete with a
It looks increasingly probable that Biology was at work in Gates’ decision making process as well at that time. A significant number of my generation working in tech always viewed BillG as a poseur, but Wagg Ed did their job protecting the Boy Genius (TM) until the scandals got too big and Pam Edstrom died.
view of Seattle which can only be described as “Royal”.
Bah, too early even with time change.
One of the Chinese relations built a house on the Issaquah Plateau, probably where Gates’ office would have been located on the new campus. Great view, but the wind is non-stop in the Winter, and, as usual with that group, they got cheap on insulation and windows. The master suite facing the city is unusable for half of the year.
Happy Guy Fawkes Day!
Remember, remember, the Fifth of November
Gunpowder Treason and plot!
I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot!
I may rewatch V for Vendetta today. Saw it years ago and thought it was stupid but many people praise the movie’s story and craftsmanship so maybe I missed something. (Just as likely: no, I really didn’t.)
I seldom watch movies except when exercising but I may take in the whole movie tonight. I haven’t been exercising hardly at all because I’ve been too busy, so a couple hours on the cardio machines might help catch up. “Too busy” largely comes down to prepping the house and yard for Winter, some car work before it gets too cold, wife getting sick and not doing hardly anything, and daughter being sick and me needing to make sure she’s eating and drinking plus driving up to the school to get books so she can maybe catch up over the the weekend for three missed days. Elder son flew in for a visit last week and unknowingly brought a flu with him, plus one of daughter’s classmates came in to school with a cold and spread it around. The school’s office person expresses appreciation every time I tell her that I’m keeping my daughter home so she doesn’t spread the latest cold, and expresses that she wishes more people would do this. It seems like it would just be common sense, but what do I know? I also thought that the advice from 2020 to avoid sneezing into your hands was just common sense.
People can do whatever they want, as long as it’s consensual and involves only adults.
What I don’t get, is their crying need to make their peccadillos public. If they make their kinks public, they deserve…a less than positive response.
@ MrAtoz:
I’ve had several colonoscopies; however, the most recent was very different and far less discomforting. It was termed “virtual colonoscopy”. No drinking a gallon of laxative liquid the prior day and no insertion of a sensor up the colon. They did put a sealant device at the exit and then inflated with some air, but very painless. Then lay on my back on the sliding piece and go in and out of the reading device, an xray machine I guess. Then repeat the in and out resting on left side, then stomach, and right side. That’s it. get up and put clothes on, all done in 5 minutes.
I suggest that you ask your Dr. about it.
“I also thought that the advice from 2020 to avoid sneezing into your hands was just common sense.”
Yeah, it’s hard to find a good place to wipe them after.
Get dressed.
I see that Jim Butcher’s second book in the Cinder Spires series is due out this week, only eight years after the first volume.
I hope it’s really successful and the price of the first printing of the first book goes way up, so I can sell mine. It was interesting, but not enough that I want to re-read it and get the second book, only to wait another eight years for the third.
As “Perfessor” Squirrel notes today in the AosHQ book thread, there are some real holes in the story:
The big downside of the virtual colonoscopy is that, should the radiologist find anything, the GI will have to schedule a real colonoscopy. As a result, many insurance plans are reluctant to cover the virtual procedure.
Benign polyps are not uncommon in a colonoscopy, but only a pathologist can determine whether the tissue has cancer given the current limits of radiology.
Up and ‘moving’. . . clear beautiful day. Started with coffee and beef broth. And more fluids. Shouldn’t get really interesting until this afternoon.
WRT ‘virtual’, the CT and PET were both negative for anything in the bowels, but both Drs said the same thing “This isn’t a great tool for looking there”. The biopsy and look see are looking for things that don’t show on the PET but are still bad, and neither will see a tear or ulcer, or so I’m told.
It’s been a long time since I had anything similar done, like decades, so I’m very glad for any improvements in ‘patient comfort’.
n
“author” of what? I didn’t do much more than scan the article, but do they ever mention?
And what a bunch of “look at me” there is on display there.
11 year old daughter “came out”? F me that is a messed up family unit.
n
Shake hands with somebody. Preferably someone you don’t like but, you know, any port in a storm.
arggg… prepper fail. I thought I had 3 liters of chicken broth. Must have moved it to the BOL. Ditto for the chicken broth in cans. Had a juice box of beef broth for breakfast, but I have to go to the store. Kids drank all the clear apple juice too. Brats.
n
@steveF
“Shake hands with somebody. Preferably someone you don’t like but, you know, any port in a storm.”
And what do you suppose is on their hands that would make them want to shake hands with you?
@Nick
Why aren’t they making a beer-flavored prep?
or
“Pete’s Hard Lemonade Colonoscopy Prep”?
Currently in Destin Florida where you have to take a toll road to get to a toll bridge. Two separate charges.
I remember enjoying the Cinder Spires book, but not enough to remember any of the plot.
My memory is weird tho, no problems this week with odd details from the JP Moties book.
I thought I had it (the first book) on Kindle, but apparently not.
Destin has a lot of puckered sphincters. Fortunately, the surrounding areas are very laid back.
The last time we went, McGuire’s Pub was still decent, with the creepy busload of mannequins still parked out front. Give your photo skills a workout.
The Armament Museum at Eglin also has some cool picture taking opportunities. The main building was closed during the pandemic, but they have a selection of cool planes and a MOAB displayed outside.
Eglin developed the MOAB. FL-1 DoD spending. Matt Gaetz district.
Drive through Fort Walton Beach to Pensacola, and you’ll realize quickly how dependent that area is on the military budget. Otherwise, it is just Port St. Joe Paper (or whatever they call themselves now) tree farms.
I suppose beer is a ‘clear liquid’ but they say no alcohol… Vodka is too. I drank my last non-alcohol beer night before last anyway.
Maple syrup? Mmmmm. Maple syrup. It’s clear, just dark, right? Can see thru it.
n
I don’t remember anything about the Spires novel. It’s on audiobook, so maybe I’ll pick that up if it’s cheap.
n
When memes become reality…
n
Hah ha
80-90% of success is just showing up.
n
I don’t know what’s up with Butcher. Years between books, the only mention of him is at some ‘con or another, promoting his son’s first novel for $14.99, etc. Just get on with the writing. I hope the next Dresden book is out by Christmas. He once promised 20 books, but if the next is the last, I’m fine with it. The story has become too convoluted.
“How Israel shot down a ballistic missile in space for the first time”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/how-israel-shot-down-a-ballistic-missile-in-space-for-the-first-time/ar-AA1jonof
“Israel this week used its Arrow missile-defence system to shoot down a ballistic missile outside of Earth’s atmosphere, in what is believed to be the first combat ever to take place in space.”
“The ballistic missile was launched from Yemen by the Iran-backed Houthis, and flew almost 1,000 miles over the Arabian peninsula on the way to its target, the Israeli port city of Eilat.”
“While the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has released few details about the interception, the Air Force is known to operate several batteries of the Arrow 2 system, which uses a hypersonic interceptor to take out incoming missiles in space.”
We will see many firsts in the near time.
Wait, what??? Houthis have ICBMs???
n
you mean it takes work and sacrifice to be successful at something?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-12663555/Traveler-reveals-11-scary-truths-digital-nomad-lifestyle.html
It’s lonely, it’s expensive, it can be unsafe, lots of locals hate you for sponging and driving up prices, it’s lonely, and it’s alienating. Also, it’s not easy to make a living.
–Second article on the theme in the past month.
Hobo lifestyle only suits hobos.
n
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/article-12699243/Inside-Tampa-tiny-home-community-open-renters-Properties-400-square-feet-residents-access-neighborhood-pool-park-office-space.html
They been pushing the tiny home thing, van life, hobo lifestyle, etc for some time now. Things that make you go “hmmm’”.
n
Holy FreakShow, Batman:
Author comes out as transgender man after his wife came out as trans woman – and pair, who have a trans daughter, now live in a four-way open relationship with their trans lovers
There is no way society will accept this as the new norm. Even if DM thinks it should be at the top of the page.
I am surprised that Heinlein’s Line Marriages (polygamous marriages) are not here yet. Our entire society has turned into a freak show, why not make it official that four guys have married five women ? BTW, we have these going on Texas unofficially but usually it is one guy with four or fives wives. There is even a TV show about it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Wives
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/article-12699243/Inside-Tampa-tiny-home-community-open-renters-Properties-400-square-feet-residents-access-neighborhood-pool-park-office-space.html
They been pushing the tiny home thing, van life, hobo lifestyle, etc for some time now. Things that make you go “hmmm’”.
My niece lives in a 450 ft2 apartment in Manhattan that costs over $5,000 per month. My brother is subsidizing the cost as their doorman carries a pistol.
Wait, what??? Houthis have ICBMs???
n
Wrong question. Who does not have ICBMs ?
I don’t, and I consider that to be an unacceptable state of affairs!
Well, I’ve taken the first dose of super colon blow… that was really hard to get down, even if the taste isn’t nominally bad. It’s intense. Body was already starting the process before the dose. Dunno how I’m going to get the next 16 oz down in an hour, I’m full.
n
That is the most difficult part, consuming all of that stuff.
Last time I had my butt probe I had to consume two quarts of the stuff, 64 ounces. Had to get it down in one hour. Made all of it except for about 4 ounces, maybe. I was just so full I could not drink anymore. The explosive discharges were actually a relief with the eventual ability to crap through a straw.
Suck it up buttercup.
Pssssttt, hey buddy. Want to buy an ICBM? That is what Mr. Nick is going to be expelling in a couple of hours.
>>Currently in Destin Florida where you have to take a toll road to get to a toll bridge. Two separate charges.
You must have missed the “We love* tourists” sign with the annotated text in 6 point type saying “*how much we can fleece”
It’s right before the “Keep Off OUR Grass” sign.
Argg. Didn’t take a couple of hours…. Started pretty quickly and comes in waves or pulses. Taking a short break, hopefully not going to need to run…
The result is kinda freaky that a glass of a couple of things with pretty common ingredients could liquefy and expel like that. I thought there would be a lot more of a ‘churning’ feeling as stuff moved along.
Not fun, glad I can just sit there and read.
n
>>The anti-vax movement appears to have now infiltrated the world of online sperm donation, where wannabe mothers seek out samples from men who refused to take the Covid shot.
“Paging donor G. N. You left your, ahem, magazine in the exam room.”
Fixed it for you.
@Lynn
Only a matter of time before the Mormons sue for reparations.
@SteveF
“I don’t, and I consider that to be an unacceptable state of affairs!”
Ballistic missiles have been common since at least the time of David.
@Nick
So you’re on the throne feeling presidential…
That would also involve napping.
Also, keep off OUR beach. Big stretches are private, owned, stolen, whatever, by the large condos on the water. Even public beach access requires a walk from the access point, up or down the beach, passing the private beach areas.
Heinlein wrote that marriage was always a mechanism to care for and raise children, and the Lunar Authority didn’t care. But the freaks these days don’t WANT children. When people finally get sane again, those sorts of plural marriages may finally take off.
Thonotosassa near I75 and 301. I know the area well.
How is that any different from the surrounding “manufactured home” communities?
A trailer park by any other name…
Ballistic missiles. 1000 mile range.
Any country with rockets capable of reaching orbit has ICBMs.
No, the Iranians have ICBM’s, that they are hiding under the thinnest of Houthi figleafs.
The 2025 model(s) will come with a 50kt warhead.
Air B&B has seriously trashed that area.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Resort in Fort Walton Beach, which is on the Okaloosa Island and has beach access.
You may get a discount if you book there since it is some kind of military-tied resort.
Or did you bring the RV rig?
@Lynn
Only a matter of time before the Mormons sue for reparations.
Putting an explicit prohibition against polygamy in the Utah state constitution was a condition of Utah statehood. I don’t think that there will be any reparations as the USA Congress does not take direction from any one.
@SteveF
“I don’t, and I consider that to be an unacceptable state of affairs!”
Ballistic missiles have been common since at least the time of David.
Ballistic Missiles in space are still quite rare. In fact, there are several treaties concerning them that I doubt that Yemen is a party too.
I am fairly concerned how many countries have joined the Ballistic Missile In Space Club without petitioning for proper membership. I thought that there was only seven countries in the membership. Maybe eight with North Korea seeing as they launched a small satellite into orbit two ? years ago.
I don’t take that if I have to travel more than 150 miles. Besides, we had a freeze and I had to winterize the water system. Once that is done for the year, the RV is done for the year. We are staying at a Hampton Inn.
Ballistic missiles. 1000 mile range.
Any country with rockets capable of reaching orbit has ICBMs.
If your rocket can reach orbit, they can reach anywhere on the planet. The only limit is whether or not you can talk to it.
>> Not fun, glad I can just sit there and read.
Requisite Seinfeld episode…
https://g.co/kgs/rcvJi2
Heinlein wrote that marriage was always a mechanism to care for and raise children, and the Lunar Authority didn’t care. But the freaks these days don’t WANT children. When people finally get sane again, those sorts of plural marriages may finally take off.
Heinlein was a very smart guy. And, we have these plural marriages in Texas already. Usually the guy buys a house for each of his wives. Most of the current and past NBA players have “wives” in several cities. I used to live around the corner and down the street from the Shaq’s woman here in Sugar Land.
As far as sane goes, I don’t think that we have hit peak crazy yet. In fact, we may not see peak crazy in my lifetime. Given that I am already past my due date, anyone else’s lifetime on this board.
And the young people don’t want kids because kids are horribly expensive. Unless, you live in a compound in Arkansas and pump them out like puppies and kittens.
>>Last time I had my butt probe I had to consume two quarts of the stuff, 64 ounces. Had to get it down in one hour. Made all of it except for about 4 ounces, maybe. I was just so full I could not drink anymore.
Last time I had a scope they gave me the option of the liquid or equivalent in pills. The nurse said the pills were a bit easier as the amount of liquid needed to get them down was a bit less, so I went with with the pills. Of course, she forgot to mention that the pills were literally the biggest pills I had ever seen, and required copious amounts of liquid to get them down. Hobson’s choice at that point…
@Lynn
“As far as sane goes, I don’t think that we have hit peak crazy yet.”
Peak doesn’t have to be reached.
Getting to “crazy enough for ignition” looks increasingly probable.
Well there have been a couple more ‘waves’ requiring some private time, but not the urgency or Exorcist movie level of distress that I expected. The hunger isn’t too bad either, but the desire to EAT is driving me nuts. The broth tastes good, mostly, chicken is the best, turkey the blandest, but they aren’t satisfying my need to eat. I normally snack all evening, and I’m not adverse to picking up a piece of cheese, or a couple little smoked sausages, or some crackers, or jerky, or even some candy throughout the day (one of the reasons that the weight loss is concerning), and I didn’t realize how much of that I do until I couldn’t do it.
—-
wife and kids had steak for dinner. While I was shopping for broth, I checked out the meat cooler and HEB had choice grade NY Strip steak for $6/pound, limit two, bulk pack. Naturally I bought the limit. It’s not ‘prime’ at that price, but it’s still about half normal price. New normal anyway. The rest will get vac sealed and frozen.
——-
Gah, gurgling inside me, yuck.
n
DM hates disney.
What a poorly written and prejudicial piece of crap. It did give me a weird moment when I realized I was married there before DeSantis. I’ve been married longer than him… like being older than my doctors, it’s very strange to be reminded of my age like that.
No one does hospitality like Disney, and we got excellent value for the money. It was actually cheaper than some other “destination weddings” we looked at, with a lot more cool stuff to do. I gave my guests a front row seat for a multi million dollar fireworks show, for (iirc) an additional $7 per person… and we feasted and drank like kings. We also maximized every perk, took full advantage of the locations, and turned down a lot of little adds and upgrades. Some of my wife’s relatives still talk about what a great time they had, and how fantastic it was, and it’s been 18 years. Worth every penny.
n
I made it to Gallup,New Mexico today. Another 640 miles or so in just under nine hours. I am exhausted. The MacDonald’s kiosks won’t response to my input. No point in ever going into there stores again.
Hope all goes well MrNick..
I made it to Gallup,New Mexico today. Another 640 miles or so in just under nine hours. I am exhausted. The MacDonald’s kiosks won’t response to my input. No point in ever going into there stores again.
Glad you are doing well !
Thank you MrK, it is a learning experience for sure…
n
I have a really nice neighbor, who – in his retirement – has decided that his mission in life is to create cultural and artistic projects. Each project bigger than the last.
Of course, projects like this live from volunteers and sponsors. He has gone through most of the willing neighbors, to help with practical stuff. Each person hangs on for about a year, after which they are suddenly “too busy”. My wife, for example, handled his accounting for a while, but she gave up, because he kept just randomly spending money with zero regard for plans or budgets.
For his newest project, he asked me this morning to take over the website. Mind, we’re not talking just a couple of pages – he envisions more like 30-40 pages, with videos and graphics and QR codes and more. Knowing how he works, there will continually be new ideas that just have to be implemented “right now”, only to be replaced next week.
Thankfully, making things look nice is something I am genuinely awful at, so I had a good reason to decline.
He’s a super nice guy. He’s an artist. He’s chaotic. Maybe it comes with the territory? But it makes organized people pull their hair out…
– – – – –
On a completely different front, our little home server sits in a box and has “just worked” for years. It’s still working but it sent me an email yesterday that one of its (RAID-1 mirrored) disks just up and died. I really, really don’t have the time and energy to deal with this right now… Isn’t that how it always goes?
A stupid, practical problem: I’d like to just remove the bad disk, but: physically, how the heck do I know which one it is? Accidentally removing the remaining good disk sounds like a bad idea.
Any great inspirations?
Brad, even if the email was light on details, the computer should be logging the problems. I can’t help you beyond that because setups vary.
If “just up and died” means complete failure, try opening the box and putting your hand on each drive in turn to feel for warmth and vibration.
Shutting down the computer and bringing it back up might show you a diagnostic message which identifies the drive.
If none of the above helps, I guess shut down, pull each drive in turn, hook it up to another computer, and run “fsck” or similar.
Thoughts off the top of my head after having been awake for (checking…) 4 ½ hours. (ugh) I no longer use RAID myself, as I found it to be more aggravation than it’s worth to me. I rely on regular backups and tossing drives when they show signs of beginning to fail.
I’ve messed up enough offspring. I don’t need to add more to the tally.