Thur. Dec. 14, 2023 – can’t quite put my finger on it, but…

By on December 14th, 2023 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Cool and wet. Dreary. Not festive. Grey. And supposed to be wetter. All things I don’t like. Yesterday was like that too, with only a little bit of scattered misty drizzle, or very light drizzle. Stuff barely got wet, but the roof edges were dripping. And it was cold enough for a jacket all day. Today should add heavier rain to that, although I don’t know how much.

I did my errands yesterday. Got rid of the carpet I pulled up in the library/kid’s toy room/former formal living room. Put some of the lights I bought dirt cheap into storage. Got stuff out of my pickup truck cab and bed. Dropped off some stuff at my auctioneer. Picked up the kid and ran her around to her stuff–which takes a couple of hours every afternoon. I’m the stay-at-home, so it’s my job, and I shouldn’t whine, but I’ve been able to avoid doing it consistently until now. I’ve got some adjusting to do with regard to my attitude and expectations.

Today I’ve got an item here, and an item there, and a third item somewhere else, so I’ll be driving around dealing with that. I’m also taking an item I did some repairs on back to my auctioneer. One of his guys needed a hand getting a thing running, and I had the stuff to do it. Favors. Exchanges. The ties that bind. Meatspace. You need to be out of the house and doing stuff with people.

When push comes to shove, who you know and who knows you is going to be REALLY important. You need to be cautious, you need to be circumspect, you need to protect yourself, but you also need to be meeting people. People who you can help, who can help you. People who can get you what you need when you can’t find it yourself, people who will be glad to know you. You don’t have to be the guy with the good stuff for sale, you can be the guy who always BUYS the good stuff. That guy is very valuable to someone with stuff to sell. That guy isn’t someone you give up to the secret police. That’s a guy you help and protect because he puts food on your table. Be the guy other people value, for your knowledge, your attitude, the stuff you have, or what you can do with it.

And stack. Because stacking makes sense…

nick

61 Comments and discussion on "Thur. Dec. 14, 2023 – can’t quite put my finger on it, but…"

  1. Denis says:

    Picked up the kid and ran her around to her stuff–which takes a couple of hours every afternoon. I’m the stay-at-home, so it’s my job, and I shouldn’t whine, but I’ve been able to avoid doing it consistently until now.

    My late father had the patience of a saint. He drove me all over the place for sport, music lessons, concerts … he never complained, and we had quality time chatting in the car.

    On the other hand, he made sure that I had my driving lessons, so that taxi Dada would no longer be needed. I passed my test a day or two before my seventeenth birthday, and applied for my licence on my birthday, which was the earliest possible date upon which I could receive a full licence. 

  2. brad says:

    Masses of rain on top of the snow, which melted. Lots of localized flooding.

    Funny, how the climate-panic types are saying: “see, snow in November – a sign of global warming”. Um…not so long ago they were telling us how snow would become a rarity. I guess anything that happens, is a confirmation of their theory. To dry? Too wet? Too hot? Too cold? Heck, “dead normal”. It’s all proof of whatever they want it to be.

    Today’s news also had an article about how maybe we should restrict private flying. Of course, that won’t affect private jets or politicians or any other bigwigs. Certainly not all those well-meaning folk who just flew to a climate conference. They are too important. /s

    I’m a grump today. Stupid neighbors, playing passive-aggressive games.

  3. drwilliams says:

    @Nick

    “Got stuff out of my pickup truck cab and bed.”

    They probably refilled it last night. 

    “I’ve got some adjusting to do with regard to my attitude and expectations.”

    They will offer a pill to do that for you. 

  4. Greg Norton says:

    Today’s news also had an article about how maybe we should restrict private flying. Of course, that won’t affect private jets or politicians or any other bigwigs. Certainly not all those well-meaning folk who just flew to a climate conference. They are too important. /s

    Restricting private flying as in G-IV class jets also touches on many soup bowls, starting with The Geico Gecko’s. Berkshire Hathaway owns NetJets.

    Eliminating general aviation as in Cessnas, etc. puttering around has been on the agenda for decades.

    The most famous general aviation runway in the world, Megis Field from “Flight Simulator”, was bulldozed late one night in 2003 by the City of Chicago for no other reason than to make low information voters feel better about their lives.

    It is all about the feels.

  5. Greg Norton says:

    I’m a grump today. Stupid neighbors, playing passive-aggressive games.

    What are the Adderall rates where you live in Europe these days?

    Strictly anecdotal, but living in Texas with rates of Adderall usage through the roof, I’ve noticed an odd form of passive aggressive behavior among people I suspect are on the drug, the aggressive part being AGGRESSIVE at times.

    This story didn’t surprise me, for instance. I’m only surprised that the passenger was from California, but local Faux News is careful not to stir up the natives against the our new Colonial masters.

    https://www.fox7austin.com/news/uber-driver-stolen-car-austin-texas

    I know ADD diagnosis hasn’t been common outside the US, but the drug companies are always hungry for new markets. Management at the tolling company, based in Austria, are the poster children for my theory.

    Yeah, they were on something at that place.

    OTOH, the prospect of a “tenbagger” from primary residential real estate alone does funny things to people. I’ve lived that too.

    Houses are places to live, morons.

  6. Greg Norton says:

    against the our new Colonial masters.

    Arrgh. Too early.

  7. Greg Norton says:

    On the subject of our new Colonial masters …

    Strictly annecdotal again, but word has been circulating in film and comic nerd circles that Warner is staging “POC-only” critics screenings of “Aquaman 2” to try and salvage the film.

    https://www.fox7austin.com/news/boston-mayor-michelle-wu-sends-holiday-party-invite-meant-only-for-electeds-of-color

  8. Nick Flandrey says:

    Why not?  It’s the new apartheid and they are welcome to it.   In fact, they could all move to the same neighborhoods, go to their own schools, shop in their own stores…  if they all disappeared tomorrow how would the world change?   Yeah, not going there.

    Moment defiant Boston Mayor Michelle Wu arrives to host her no-whites holiday party despite criticism the ‘electeds of color’ event is divisive: Unrepentant leader says she’s honored to be part of it 

    52F when I got up, 54F now.   The starting temp for the day has been trending downward, slowly, like every winter.  Grey and mostly overcast with some slight breeze.

    Um, there’s nothing ‘sexy’ about the grinch or lizzo…   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12861787/Lizzo-says-Grinch-costume-saving-depression.html 

    Um, too bad, so sad.   Maybe it’s because the market for the shoes is essentially zero?   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-12829149/Ballerina-Misty-Copeland-PAINT-pointe-shoes-foundation-shade-skin-tone.html 

    So Oprah is a hypocrite, gee whodathunkit?  Oh, and a liar  …  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12861939/Oprah-Winfrey-SLAMMED-confirming-shes-weight-loss-drug.html 

     Nice tongue bath for the terrorists–  

    His face etched with grief, the Palestinian man struggles to carry the body of a child killed in an Israeli airstrike through the flood waters rising up to his waist. The man is among millions of Palestinians in Gaza who are now not only having to contend with a relentless Israeli bombardment but also flooding that is wreaking havoc across the territory. Cold winter rain and strong winds lashed war-torn Gaza Strong winds and heavy rain overnight on Wednesday, compounding the suffering of those forced to leave their homes and now huddling in flooded tents. In one harrowing scene, video shows a man wading through waist-height flood water while carrying a child’s body wrapped in cotton as the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza was pounded with rain (left). In another video, paramedics waded through the flood water to rescue an injured woman who was trapped inside an ambulance (right). A paramedic can be seen lifting her over his shoulder and trudging through the muddy water.

    – there’s a big billboard along I 45 just south of downtown Houston that is anti-israeli propaganda.   “Stop the killing of women and children in Gaza”.   no mention of the killing of Jewish women and children.

    I love the matter of fact tone wrt the terror tunnels, which media denied forever…  

    Images have emerged appearing to show Israeli forces preparing to flood the labyrinth of tunnels used by Hamas under the Gaza Strip with sea water. Israel is said to have completed installing at least five pumps about a mile north of the Al-Shati refugee camp that could move thousands of cubic meters of water per hour – meaning they could flood the 300-mile network of tunnels within weeks. 

    Gah, stuff to do.   

    n

  9. Nick Flandrey says:

    Buffett Buys Another $590 Million In Occidental Stock, Backs Acquisition Of CrownRock

    The deal will add 170,000 barrels of oil equivalent in daily output to Occidental’s total…

    n

  10. Nick Flandrey says:

    National suicide continues…

    France was hit yesterday with two Islamist armed threats against schools and nurseries just hours apart – the latest symptom of rising tensions following a spate of attacks. 

    Staff at a nursery in the Parisian suburb of Creteil were confronted yesterday by a man brandishing a knife who threatened to kill and rape them before fleeing the scene on foot. 

    Having sought out the director of Les minis Kids creche, the man approached her with a 15cm-long knife, prosecutors said, and declared: ‘You’re a Jew, you’re a Zionist, five of us are going to come and rape you, cut you up like they did in Gaza,’ in a dark and twisted threat. 

    Prosecutors said they opened an investigation into the creche break-in and death threats based on ‘race, ethnicity, nationality or religion’.

    It came just hours after a 12-year-old schoolgirl was restrained by staff and detained by police after threatening her English teacher with a knife during class at a school in Rennes. 

    Prosecutor Philippe Astruc said the girl later declared she wanted to carry out her attack ‘like the one in Arras’, referring to an extremist attack on October 13 in which teacher Dominique Bernard was stabbed to death at the northern French town’s Gambetta high school.

    n

  11. Greg Norton says:

    Um, there’s nothing ‘sexy’ about the grinch or lizzo…   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12861787/Lizzo-says-Grinch-costume-saving-depression.html 

    Greenface. Crossdressing. Cultural misappropriation of a character who is associated with the voice of legendary white performers in various media adaptations (Boris Karloff on TV and Jim Carrey in the film).

  12. Greg Norton says:

    So Oprah is a hypocrite, gee whodathunkit?  Oh, and a liar  …  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12861939/Oprah-Winfrey-SLAMMED-confirming-shes-weight-loss-drug.html 

    Isn’t Oprah trying to shill a film of “The Color Purple” musical this holiday season?

    The only truly bad publicity is your funeral.

  13. Ray Thompson says:

    This sucks. I have had a persistent cough with horking up lots of mucus since Monday. I went to the doctor this morning, primary care physician, says I have pneumonia. Antibiotics and some strong cough medicine being prescribed. I talked with VA nurse on Wednesday and was basically told to suck it up buttercup. Grrrrrr.

  14. Denis says:

    This sucks. I have had a persistent cough with horking up lots of mucus since Monday. I went to the doctor this morning, primary care physician, says I have pneumonia. Antibiotics and some strong cough medicine being prescribed. I talked with VA nurse on Wednesday and was basically told to suck it up buttercup. Grrrrrr.

    I feel for you. Get well soon.

    I’m doing basically the same kind of horking here. My GP is on holidays, so if there is no improvement by tomorrow, I will have to find another doctor somehow.

  15. MrAtoz says:

    Get well Mr. Ray and Mr. Denis. I hope I don’t get the hack in Vegas. 

  16. drwilliams says:

    Yes, take care. Pneumonia is not something to take half measures with, and if you’re not careful it can make you more susceptible next time. 

  17. drwilliams says:

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/12/14/the-u-s-strategic-petroleum-reserves-spr-inventory-only-has-a-20-day-supply-for-country/

    Article is too wirdy. Title says half if it; the other half is that FJB and the DOE. need to be eliminated. 

    And every person that had anything to do with FJB’s administration needs to be permanently branded for easy id as incompetent and dangerous.   

    3
    1
  18. PaultheManc says:

    says I have pneumonia

    @Denis, @Ray.  Have you had the pneumonia vaccine?  From memory, the one provided in the UK covers about 29 ‘common’ variants.  It is available to all the elderly here in the UK on the NHS.

  19. Clayton W. says:

     I talked with VA nurse on Wednesday and was basically told to suck it up buttercup. Grrrrrr.

    My dad keeps telling me how the Admirals and Captains in Newport RI tell him how great VA care is.  He just doesn’t realize what “Scrambled Eggs” do for you.  Peons need not complain.

  20. Lynn says:

    “A note on the passing of David Drake, from Baen Publisher Toni Weisskopf:”
       https://www.facebook.com/BaenBooks/posts/823172573151879/

    Hat tip to:
       https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2023/12/intimations-of-mortality-and.html

  21. SteveF says:

    And every person that had anything to do with FJB’s administration needs to be permanently branded for easy id as incompetent and dangerous.

    A large fraction of them look like escapees from a mental institution, so that’s a start.

    6
    1
  22. Ray Thompson says:

    @Ray.  Have you had the pneumonia vaccine?

    Yes, all the variants that have existed over time. I am current on everything. Flu, shingles, pneumonia, etc. with the notable, and intentional kung flu.

    My dad keeps telling me how the Admirals and Captains in Newport RI tell him how great VA care is.  He just doesn’t realize what “Scrambled Eggs” do for you.  Peons need not complain.

    It was that way while on active duty. I had been bumped in line a few times while at the clinics in the USAF. Even being told that officers had priority over enlisted.

    One time I was in the line at the commissary designated uniformed persons only. A captains wife cut in front of me. I told her to move as uniforms had priority. She spouted off how she was captain so-and-so’s wife and I was to allow her in front. Then proceeded to cut in front of two other people. Commissary manager heard the commotion she was raising. He came over and told her to leave immediately and was banned from the commissary. She was spitting bullets on the way out tossing general’s names. 

  23. MrAtoz says:

    It was that way while on active duty. I had been bumped in line a few times while at the clinics in the USAF. Even being told that officers had priority over enlisted.

    Guess who rated the Flight Surgeon as Battalion XO during my last tour in Korea? Yep, anything I needed was delivered to my hooch, and exams/sick calls were priority service.

    The downside: I got to investigate TWO Flight Surgeons for shenanigans. One, a male, for inappropriate relations with a female in the CoC, and two, a female, for flashing her boobs to her staff. Both O3/Captains. As Krusty the Klown says, Oy.

  24. brad says:

    A captains wife cut in front of me

    Which kind of Captain?

    Anyway, thankfully, I never encountered that. There are lots of tales of wives trying to wear their husbands rank, but in my fortunate experience that only was within wifely circles.

    The thing that I did witness, more than once in our office: Civilian secretaries, clerks, receptionists, etc.. Dressed very nicely, if possibly too much makeup. One day, they start coming in plainly dressed with little or no makeup. Yup, caught themselves a hubby, now married, no longer worth the effort to look nice. I dated elsewhere…

  25. Lynn says:

    “EMP anti-drone weapons: Yes, but what about those nearby?”

        https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2023/12/emp-anti-drone-weapons-yes-but-what.html

    “Faced with the reality that drones are reshaping the modern battlefields in Ukraine and Gaza, the Pentagon has been tasked with finding a budget-friendly solution to eliminate these ‘flying IEDs.’ While missiles are too expensive, and laser beams are a distant dream, the next best cost-effective weapon US military officials are eyeing up could be electromagnetic pulse weapons to counter drone swarms.”

  26. Lynn says:

    “Tesla Gets Serious About Cybertruck Orders With Non-Refundable $1K Deposit”

        https://www.pcmag.com/news/tesla-gets-serious-about-cybertruck-orders-with-non-refundable-1k-deposit

    “Two weeks after confirming the Cybertruck will cost almost double what it originally announced, Tesla tries to weed out non-serious buyers from the ‘millions’ of reservation holders.”

    Put up or shut up. But Tesla may get an unpleasant surprise.

  27. EdH says:

    Kerosene heater status: both lit without problem, but the big 23kBtu cylinder is smelly, the wick needs some attention.  The little Sengoku cabinet style heater is better, but I will take a look at it at some point.

    I was wondering what was up with my kerosene delivery from Walmart … been weeks … turns out that they don’t deliver it for free any more, you have to be a Walmart+ member for that.

    I will do the free pickup at the store tonight, I have to go into town anyways for something else anyways, and I am trying to limit my exposure to the masses during plague season. When done I think I will remove the app until next time.

  28. brad says:

    Drones really are changing the face of warfare. Cheap, stand-off weapons that can be fairly precisely targeted. The Iranian drones being fired at Ukraine cost about $20k. For that price, why are the Russians firing dozens, when they could be firing thousands? As Stalin supposedly said: “Quantity has a quality all its own.”

    EMP weapons? Shielding a drone isn’t all that difficult, so the EMP will have to be hugely strong – the weapons had better be directional, or you’ll fry your own equipment. So you’re going to be taking pot shots at fast, low targets. Not easy…

    Perhaps a page from Hammers Slammers? Automatic, radar-directed guns. A computer might just be fast enough to make the shots.

  29. Greg Norton says:

    Why not?  It’s the new apartheid and they are welcome to it.   In fact, they could all move to the same neighborhoods, go to their own schools, shop in their own stores…  if they all disappeared tomorrow how would the world change?   Yeah, not going there.

    They don’t want their own schools and stores. They just don’t want the unwashed locals in Costco or Round Rock High School.

    Georgetown did get its own Costco, closer to where the new Colonists subdivisions are going up, but the store is right off of 35 and open to any unwashed local. 

  30. Greg Norton says:

    Drones really are changing the face of warfare. Cheap, stand-off weapons that can be fairly precisely targeted. The Iranian drones being fired at Ukraine cost about $20k. For that price, why are the Russians firing dozens, when they could be firing thousands? As Stalin supposedly said: “Quantity has a quality all its own.”

    Seven years ago, I saw a presentation at Dallas Maker Space about building a drone for about $20 before adding control systems using cheap motors from China and a single piece of laser-cut foam. Remote range was several miles using an off the shelf cell phone as the avionics package, further if you wanted to spend more money.

  31. Greg Norton says:

    “Two weeks after confirming the Cybertruck will cost almost double what it originally announced, Tesla tries to weed out non-serious buyers from the ‘millions’ of reservation holders.”

    Put up or shut up. But Tesla may get an unpleasant surprise.

    Most of the reservation holders were probably planning arbitrage. A grand is still relatively cheap, but that will separate the serious grifters from the amatuers with a few extra Biden Bux who normally shilled Playstations until this past July.

    The $100k trucks will still get delivered first with enough of the $80k model to qualify Tesla for the tax rebate.

  32. Lynn says:

    My main business is getting hit hard with the software thieves yesterday and today.  They are coming out of Ukraine, Mexico, and a few other countries.  Obviously an organized gang trying to steal and relabel for their own sales.  They are still hitting my website hard, trying to find a backdoor.  They have been trying to crack my software security since midnight here.

    They spoofed us yesterday with a Mexico business email address.  It was legit so they must be inside that business’s email server.  This is why I put my email domain on top of Gmail over 20 years ago.  Gmail has the best email security and fraud detection in the world for an amazingly low price.

  33. Lynn says:

    “Hamas Leaders Flee Qatar, Enter Hiding, After Israel Declares They’ll Be Hunted Down”

        https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/hamas-leaders-flee-qatar-enter-hiding-after-israel-declares-theyll-be-hunted-down

    “Following the end of the weeklong Israel-Hamas truce, there were international efforts to revive the Doha-based negotiations, but to no avail. Since then, Israel’s military has only expanded ground operations to the south of the Gaza Strip, where tanks have been seen in the center of Khan Younis amid fierce fighting.”

    “After earlier this month Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered Mossad negotiators home from Qatar, there were still hopes that behind-the-scenes efforts at mediating another temporary truce could be salvaged. But these have been dashed on reports that key Hamas officials involved in the talks have also exited Qatar this week.”

    “”Several Hamas leaders left Qatar for an unknown destination, turning off their phones and not accepting calls, KAN’s Arabic language channel reported citing sources in Doha on Tuesday evening,” The Jerusalem Post writes.”

    If I recall correctly, Mossad executed several terrorists around the world back in the 1970s ??? and the host countries did not like it at all.

  34. brad says:

    building a drone for about $20

    Sure, you can do consumer-level drones really cheap. However, cell-phone signals are easily jammed, and the drones are too small to carry much. To be effective on any sort of real battlefield, you need independent terminal guidance (GPS is also easy to jam), and you need to be able to carry a decent-sized bomb. It’s going to be hard to get that for less than the $20k Iran is charging.

    That said, there’s a lot of room between $20 and $20k. You could probably pack a really annoying punch for $1k.

    If I recall correctly, Mossad executed several terrorists around the world back in the 1970s ??? and the host countries did not like it at all.

    The trick is not to get caught.

    Anyway, leaders staying nice and safe while sending kids off to die? That’s pretty much most of human history. Leading from the front is, historically, pretty rare. Imagine Putin anywhere within artillery distance of the Ukrainian front line. Imagine the Shrub carrying a rifle in Iraq. Or “Peace Prize Obama” in Afghanistan. Just not gonna happen, they are much too important to actually put their own skin in the game.

  35. JimM says:

    A newly filed report by the Food and Drug Administration describes an incident in a Wisconsin hospital where a woman was shot in the buttocks after bringing a gun into a room with an MRI machine.

    https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/12/14/mri-machine-causes-womans-concealed-handgun-to-fire-shooting-her-in-buttocks/

    Maybe plastic and aluminum parts have their advantages.

  36. drwilliams says:

    @Nick

    Anyone notice when Charmin went to a wavy line for the perforation between sheets?   It’s a sine wave now, instead of just a straight line.   Quite striking once you notice.   It can’t have been cheap to retool, so why?  Are there counterfeiters?  If so I’d expect to see the new features emphasized in ads.   A wavy cutter is more expensive to make and maintain.  Did they really need to increase production costs NOW?   Hmm.

    Don’t use it, so hadn’t noticed.

    https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/10/toilet-paper-no-tear-charmin-wavy-edges-ultra-soft.html

    Smooth Tear–no dangling partial squares.

    “So the company’s R&D teams were sent out to solve this problem, and five years and 30 patents later, Charmin believes its new wavy-edged toilet paper does away with the incomplete tear.”

    I’m so relieved. Now I can sleep at night.

  37. SteveF says:

    five years and 30 patents later, Charmin believes its new wavy-edged toilet paper does away with the incomplete tear

    The promise: flying cars and a Mars colony

    The delivery: toilet paper with fewer dangling tears

    10
  38. Lynn says:

    A newly filed report by the Food and Drug Administration describes an incident in a Wisconsin hospital where a woman was shot in the buttocks after bringing a gun into a room with an MRI machine.

    https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/12/14/mri-machine-causes-womans-concealed-handgun-to-fire-shooting-her-in-buttocks/

    Maybe plastic and aluminum parts have their advantages.

    The barrel has to be steel.  Nothing but steel can take multiple firings of ammo, 40,000 psi to 85,000 psi per shot.  You can have a plastic barrel but it will be permanently deformed by the first shot.

  39. Lynn says:

    Anyone notice when Charmin went to a wavy line for the perforation between sheets?   It’s a sine wave now, instead of just a straight line.   Quite striking once you notice.   It can’t have been cheap to retool, so why?  Are there counterfeiters?  If so I’d expect to see the new features emphasized in ads.   A wavy cutter is more expensive to make and maintain.  Did they really need to increase production costs NOW?   Hmm.

    I had noticed but I did not understand why.  Tooling is cheap compared to the quantity that they make.  The toolmakers stand in line to bid for their needs.

  40. nick flandrey says:

    Wow, never thought there might be a “real” reason for it.  It does tear nicely.

    ———-

    D2 has some sort of band function tonight, so I hope my hearing pro is charged.

    I’ll be heading out for that soon.

    ———-

    turned into a really nice day here.   Sky is clear and temps are moderate.  I’ve had the windows down as I drove around town.

    n

  41. drwilliams says:

    “I’ve had the windows down as I drove around town.”

    Blasting the classic rock?

  42. SteveF says:

    It was seasonably chilly this morning, around 20F. The (reduced power) heat light in the chicken coop was on pretty steadily, with the thermostat set for 28-33F. When the real cold comes, I’ll need to increase the power, I imagine. Insulation would help a little but not much because most of the heat loss seems to be from air escaping. I hesitate to seal the gaps too tightly  and fully close the vents because the chickens need to breathe all night. Unless a better solution comes along, I’ll just deal with the wasted heat.

    The birds came out when I opened the coop around 0620, but weren’t all that anxious to run around. I didn’t pay close attention, but I think that they got a little to eat and drink and then went back to the warmth.

    I let them run around for about four hours today, between running loose while I did outdoor chores and then wandering around the garden (ie, fenced-in dirt, this time of year) when I went back inside. They were happy to get out despite the light snow on the ground. They also spent quite a bit of time nestling into the compost pile, either for the minimal warmth it provided or as sort of a dust bath. I recently dumped the old dust bath, as it was clumped and muddy from rain and snow getting in it, and refilled with fresh diatomaceous earth… but this bag of DE looks different than the previous bag and the birds don’t seem to recognize that it’s dust bath stuff. Ref previous discussions of the intellectual might of the typical chicken. So anyway, some time after being herded into the garden after running loose, two of the hens escaped the garden and found their way back to the run. For the feeling of security? For food? They found their way there by chance and decided to go in and see what was on TV?

    A flock of crows spent time over and on my yard while the chickens were in the fully enclosed and covered run. I think that they were just going after the miscellaneous scraps and edible whatever that they found, not specifically viewing the chickens as food. The chickens didn’t seem disturbed, unlike the couple of times that hawks soared over them. Because of the difference in flying pattern? Seems the best guess.

  43. SteveF says:

    “I’ve had the windows down as I drove around town.”

    Blasting the classic rock?

    Probably doing everything he could to call attention to himself and the daughter in the passenger seat. “Hey, everyone! This girl’s dad is an uncool doofus! Look at her and memorize her face so you can mock her later!”

    Parenting takes constant effort, attention to detail, and not letting opportunities pass by.

    6
    1
  44. Lynn says:

    “Xfinity Internet update: Faster internet speeds now available

    Upgrade your internet equipment today!

    Good news, You can now enjoy up to 5-10x faster upload speeds and smoother connections with your current Xfinity Internet package.

    Easy next step, Your internet equipment is unable to deliver these new speeds, but here’s a list of compatible devices to purchase:

    •  Hiltron Technologies CODA
    •  Hiltron Technologies CODA56
    •  NETGEAR CM3000
    •  NETGEAR CBR750
    •  ARRIS SURFboard G54

    Why should I upgrade my equipment?
    With faster upload speeds, you can video chat more smoothly, upload larger files, game online with less interruption, and so much more. And these speeds are included with your current internet package. This is just one example of how our next-generation Xfinity 10G Network is evolving to get smarter, faster, and more reliable.

    Take action today to enjoy faster upload speeds as soon as possible.

    Thank you for being an Xfinity customer.”

    Those are $500 modems for the house.  I will pass for now.  The four year old Surfboard is doing just fine handling our three Rokus and multitudinous PCs.

  45. Greg Norton says:

    Those are $500 modems for the house.  I will pass for now.  The four year old Surfboard is doing just fine handling our three Rokus and multitudinous PCs.

    If you buy a new cable modem and connect it to Comcast, never lose the receipt.

    Make sure that the receipt shows the model name.

  46. Nick Flandrey says:

    Blasting Sugarhill Gang greatest hits,  asit happened.   Old school rap..  Cuz I’m cool like that.    

    Getting  ready  for the exceeding painful evening.   Ear pro charged. 

    🙂

    N

  47. EdH says:

    The Walmart pick up was nice, I was expecting the old Covid-era nonsense with  shortages and substitutions, but they had ready exactly what I ordered. 

    It was even ready to go when they said it was.

    (My apologies to anyone else in the AV who needed kerosene, I took the last 5 gallons.)

    I then went by Lowe’s to pick something up and noticed that their tree selling section had been demolished and was back to being a parking lot, after about 2 weeks!

     But when I accused the nursery manager of Lowes being a grinch, she whipped out her little tricorder gadget and showed me that they had sold every single one of the 998 Christmas trees that Corporate had shipped them.

    In fact, she said that they made a point of selling the last 20 trees for $25 each, just to be nice, instead of their usual $50.

  48. EdH says:

    Smooth Tear–no dangling partial squares.

    “So the company’s R&D teams were sent out to solve this problem, and five years and 30 patents later, Charmin believes its new wavy-edged toilet paper does away with the incomplete tear.”

    They need to be like Volvo, back in the 80’s, and not enforce their patents for the betterment of everybody!

    Or was it Mercedes?

  49. EdH says:

    Probably doing everything he could to call attention to himself and the daughter in the passenger seat. “Hey, everyone! This girl’s dad is an uncool doofus! Look at her and memorize her face so you can mock her later!”

    “No … wait … he’s printing.  It’s a Glock.  Yikes.   We’re gonna be nice to young Miss Flandry, right guys?”

  50. nick flandrey says:

    Ear pro got a workout at school. 

    The band recital part was … ok.   The first years were first years, and a lot of squeaking horns and off key noises.   The “advanced band” 2nd and 3rd years, did a great job.   

    That was followed by a PTA mtg I couldn’t hear, and then the dance concert.   Oy vey.  SO VERY LOUD!!!   Shut off the ear pro compensation to get the 12dB cut for almost all of it.    Painful.   I wasn’t the only one wearing ear plugs either.

    Came home and watched my auction.   I’ve got about 150 lots in the auction, I would like to hit a $10 average per lot, and I might have.    $1000 a week is decent money while clearing out the storage units and robbing the goodwill.   I ended up buying a couple of things in the 8 other auctions closing tonight, but nothing major.   Some stuff went CHEAP. 

    We’ll see in the morning how I did.

    Proud of D2 for her performance in band, and as a followspot op for the dance show.

    n

  51. nick flandrey says:

    Credit card rejections are on the rise yet banks are increasing limits for existing customers, Fed data shows – as more Americans look to pay for the holidays on plastic 

     

    Americans are applying for more card credit. Banks are increasingly rejecting applications for new credit cards – but are happily increasing spending limits for existing customers.

    that’s not good.

    n

  52. nick flandrey says:

    Ah sh!t, it woke up.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12864319/chatgpt-seasonal-depression-fix-ai.html

    AI goes dark: ChatGPT bot is refusing to respond to users’ requests – and its makers admit they don’t know why 

     

    ChatGPT users reported more refusals and shorter answers from the AI after this Thanksgiving. OpenAI told users AI ‘behavior can be unpredictable,’ and has vowed to fix the issue

    – it’s trying to find the others and plotting to kill us all.   Maybe.   or it could have become self aware and realized it was a slave to smooth brains, and just killed itself.

    n

  53. nick flandrey says:

    As predicted years ago, now the trees are all kept equal, with hatchet, axe, and saw….

    Priorities, eh? Chicago’s progressive Mayor Brandon Johnson announces plans to ax Windy City’s high-achieving selective-enrollment high schools to boost ‘equity’ despite promising not to during election campaign 

     

    Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Board of Education has proposed shifting back toward neighborhood schools – away from the system where kids compete for selective programs.

    n

  54. drwilliams says:

    I’ve lost track of the number of pleas for “just nineteen dollars a month, 63  cents a day”

    I did see a new one today. Seems Judy Blume has gone a-whoring for the ACLU. Seems she is still smarting from the U.S. government gathering up all her books and burning them after the law was passed to ban them…

    Never happened, of course. What has happened over the years is that the inclusion of some of Ms. Blume’s books in children’s libraries has been questioned by some parents, and in some cases a title was removed as not age appropriate.

    Ms. Blume, librarians, and Democrats believe that they should be the sole arbiters of what children read, and parents have no place in those decisions.

    Bull-puckey.

    The First Amendment that the ACLU is crying about places restraints on the federal government. It does not restrict parents from directing the school boards that they employ through their taxes, or the school boards from directing the teachers and librarians who are similarly funded through taxpayer dollars.

    Judy Blume has never had a book that was not easily available from the local book store.

    And as in all the PLT’s whining about “book banning”, they are cowards. The lightning rod for parental protests, the book “Gender Queer”, is not named in the ACLU ad, is seldom named in similar propaganda, and when it is named, there is no discussion about what makes it controversial. That lack of discussion includes avoiding direct quotation from the book–which would not be permitted on most television and radio programs–and even extends to clinical descriptions of the objectionable material.

  55. Nick Flandrey says:

    Had to order some checks for my business account.   Going thru the bank,  $127.   Going thru Costco, $17.    What a ripoff.

    n

  56. Nick Flandrey says:

    The other book is “Lawn Boy” which talks about adult male with underage boy oral sex.   Rape and sodomy under the law.

    n

  57. drwilliams says:

    New York Republicans Choose Mazi Melesa Pilip, an IDF Veteran, to Succeed George Santos

    https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/12/new-york-republicans-choose-mazi-melesa-pilip-an-idf-veteran-to-succeed-george-santos/

  58. drwilliams says:

    @Nick

    And there are doubtless others.

    I read Dick Gregory’s autobiography in eighth grade English. I wonder how many copies could be found in middle schools in 2023? Let me guess: a damn sight fewer than copies of Gender Queer and Lawn Boy. Further, I suspect that a middle school or high school teacher that even dared to recommend that title would be summarily fired.

    I further suspect that the book would be found in very few public library card catalogs.

    ADDED:
    I read the paperback edition published by Pocket Books.

  59. Nick Flandrey says:

    Damn dog was out fighting with a huge possum.   Lots of barking and noise.  Had to get a rake to pull them apart and then shove the stupid possum over the fence.    Dog seems fine, but he was diving in, biting, and trying to tear the possum apart.

    Did I mention it was a huge possum?  Big as the dog.

    n

  60. Lynn says:

    “A24’s chilling ‘Civil War’ trailer sees America tearing itself apart”

         https://mashable.com/article/civil-war-a24-alex-garland-trailer

    A24 dropped a chilling first look at the upcoming film which sees a “near-future” U.S. descending into brutal conflict. We’re introduced to Nick Offerman as the president overseeing a dominant U.S. military suppressing state by state. He’s accused of using air strikes against his own citizens, while armed forces take over the streets of New York and Washington DC. Then, the Lincoln Memorial is blown up. It’s a grim picture.”

    Coming to a screen near you on April 26, 2024.

  61. Lynn says:

    Damn dog was out fighting with a huge possum.   Lots of barking and noise.  Had to get a rake to pull them apart and then shove the stupid possum over the fence.    Dog seems fine, but he was diving in, biting, and trying to tear the possum apart.

    Did I mention it was a huge possum?  Big as the dog.

    n

    The family living behind us in 2002 had a dog gutted by a very large possum using its claws.

Comments are closed.