Cool and damp. Chilly. Joint achy. That is a forecast you won’t hear on the news… but that’s how a lot of us experience the weather, with varying and various pains. Hopefully today won’t hurt too bad. Yesterday was dank, and everything stayed wet all day. It would be nice to get a bit of sun and warm today.
I did my pickups, some furniture for the house, and some stuff for the BOL. Some stuff to resell might have fallen into my truck too… I might have to make a trip to the BOL just to move this last load of stuff. There is always another bucket or case of cans I can move too if I need to fill up space in the truck. And I really need to get some of the stuff that’s been sitting around here for a while either put away, or moved to where it belongs.
I keep finding other things I want to do more that that though.
I’ve got a couple of pickups today, and I need to shop for a scratch and dent washer for the rent house. I’ll be on that side of town, so I should take a look at the former Sears Outlet. I’ve bought many appliances from them without issue. I don’t have any unusual kid chauffeur duties so I should be able to work around that and get done what I need to do. Should. We’ll see what the universe has in store for me.
And we will adapt ourselves to do what most needs doing.
And I’ll stack something. There’s a remote chance I’ll learn something too.
Do what you can.
nick
Another day,
another day to drink coffee.
In Orange County, Florida, the Demings Family machine. If the name sounds familiar, Val Demings, “Mayor” Jerry’s wife, sat in an artificially-created Congressional district spanning the Disney property and vicinity, drawn by a court in 2016. When the district went away in 2022, she made a well-financed run at Little Marco’s Senate seat.
Fortunately, DeSantis beatdown of the Dems and Charlie Crist that year meant that Rubio cruised to reelection.
Florida ballot rules – which the Gore legal team famously misinterpreted in 2000 … cough — put the US Senate race before the Gubernatorial choices so anyone just going in to vote for Governor had to at least look at the Rubio/Demings contest.
Get a Noco large enough to jump your truck and keep it charged.
After two years of owning a Noco I finally got to use it to jump a car at Halloween. Very easy.
Plus, Denton County became artsy and hip.
Every small town we drove through in Wisconsin seemed to have some kind of large employer which probably faces shutdown for “green” reasons.
Spring Green has a plastics factory which is hidden from the waxed mustache-type dweebs streaming in and out of the “Unesco World Heritage Site” at Taliesin, at the edge of town across the river.
However, I imagine the ground around the Wright estate is pretty contaminated. The house itself famously burned twice, the first fire, which killed a mistress and her children, deliberately set by the immigrant domestic help.
Also, get AAA. They respond quickly as of late thanks to the portable jump start batteries not requiring a tow truck to roll
My daughter getting a dead battery on Halloween after I told her not to drive the car that night out of concern for the battery (!) resulted in a stream of profanity pouring out of me when she called from the Chipotle parking lot and interrupted our plans for the evening.
My kids will spend years in therapy, but drive a car for 23 years and you know when it needs a battery.
The Chipotle literally sits across from the entrace to the Fancy Lad “Griddy” demographic development on the other side of our HEB. It wasn’t like I wanted the kid to wait for AAA in a place which was dangerous.
Apple’s iGoggles will be pricey.
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/01/19/maxed-out-apple-vision-pro-headset/
Shipping Feb. 2.
Of course people are going to finance the goggles.
One of the constants on “Financial Audit” I’ve noted among the subjects under scrutiny is the ever-present Apple Card balance.
Who doesn’t have $2000 worth of phone and watch?
Only peasants.
Mid 40s F, clear, and the sun is trying to poke thru. No dew this morning.
——
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/01/thousands-schools-risk-closing-due-massive-drop-enrollment/
Our district is closing elementary schools, and consolidating a couple of schools. This despite unbelievable invasion numbers, because they don’t have school age kids, by and large. When they do, there are half a dozen buses of kids per big apartment complex.
Where have all the kids gone?
n
I took the battery tender off the Corvette and put it on my wife’s car Wednesday. I left on for 24 hours and then put it on my car. I try to do it once a month, but it’s inconvenient and it usually slips to every 3 months or so. I really need to get a second one.
Private school or home school. The Catholic elementary school near my house doubled their square footage over the Summer of 2020
The local ISD spent the summer installing plexiglass shields on every desk in their buildings, which they spent the following summer removing. Soup bowl!
If you have a lot of new Soy Boy apartment buildings in the district, those guys don’t have kids. They have dogs, the “little buddy”.
Sniff. Sniff.
The Apple Vision Pro (is there a regular version?) does not have killer apps. There are a lot of cool features, but who wants to drop $3,500 to look at pictures, web browse, FaceTime, etc? I will try to get a demo just to watch a movie. Right now, that is the only interest I have in the iGoggles. I could live in a tiny house and still have my 120” laser projector experience. Even Apple lover, Brian Tong, says it gets exhausting at 2 hours with the set on your noggin.
@greg:
In which case, I’m a peasant, and I’m quite willing to admit it. I currently (since October last year) use a Fairphone 5. W1 and Dx (for 1<x<4) use iThings, but none of them have top-of-the-range fondleslabs. D2 has an Apple Watch, but not recent, or top model.
My experience of Noco has been poor. Used it once, then nada. Luckily, the ‘Zon accepted a return as “not fit for purpose” after the failure, on second use after 3 months, since £100+ for one use is double plus ungood.
G.
The dumbest feature of the iGoggles is the “scan your face, then people can see you thru the goggles”. Instead of looking like a dork in VR goggles, you look like a dork wearing a swim mask. That is a complete waste of computing power. Whoever Cook put in charge of that feature, should be kicked right in the baby-maker. Dumb.
My van carries a lead-acid battery booster, as well as heavy jumper cables (and a hundred pounds of other tools, fluids, and other stuff). I haven’t used it to jump start a car in years, but that’s because I’ve been working from home and don’t go out all that much. Still, I keep it in the back of the van and I keep it charged up.
My wife keeps a lithium ion booster in her car. Never used. I’m guessing it’ll be good for one use, maybe two. And that’s assuming that it’s fully charged, which I wouldn’t count on.
re private schools and homeschooling, my daughter’s school has greatly increased over the past six years, from about 90 to about 160. I know more and more people who are either homeschooling or getting into little co-ops which are basically six-student schools. I’ve heard that a number of the schools associated with churches in the area are growing but haven’t heard that directly from the pastor, principal, or director so I don’t know about numbers. This is all anectodal and fairly local to me but it matches the trend reported nationwide.
I’ve used mine several times (Subie, Bug, Caddy SRX). It holds a charge for a long time. It’s a NoCo, but hasn’t failed. Yet. I also have a supercap I used in parallel to jump an old truck.
Regarding car batteries, etc. Hindsight being 20-20 and all that, but you (or others here) might consider this item. It’s small and rechargeable, and has good reviews.
Comes with a heavy fabric case, and has LED lights to indicate the charge of it’s battery. I got one for the 2019 Highlander after it wouldn’t start once (that hasn’t repeated; not sure why it had a problem; battery/cell tester indicated all cells were good). Haven’t had to use it, but it’s in the tool bag in the back of the car.
Had a battery die in the previous car several years ago. Was in a parking lot somewhere. Called the Geico guy – its included in the policy. Had to wait about 45 minutes, but the guy came and gave me a jump and we were on our way. Replaced the battery with one from Walmart ; no problems since then. Gave the car to the daughter when we got the 2019 Highlander (it was a 2008). They drove it for another 100K miles before it gave up.
Anyway, a portable Jump Starter like the one above is smaller and more convenient than a tangle of jumper cables.
Geico’s roadside assistance only covers your car. Don’t call them if you are on vacation and have a rental car problem.
I learned that the hard way in Orlando before the pandemic.
I dropped the roadside assistance coverage from the policy as soon as we got back and replaced it with AAA.
I’ve been drinking water and peeing normally. I’ll go see if there is some motrin in the cupboard. I have no idea if there is. My drugs are store brand Tums maybe once a week and a couple of aspirin every few months. The rest of the stuff in the cupboard is a mystery.
Take a baby aspirin or two daily to thin out your blood. I take two but I am also taking 50 mg of metoprolol to cut my blood pressure from 210 / 110 to 125 / 75. I really need to drop 50 lbs too from my 257 lbs. I also take a daily tumeric pill and a fish oil pill. Paranoid and hypochrondriac.
I hace been having occasional migraines since my first heart attack. I will be going along and my right eye vision will suddenly close down into a tight circle. Really freaky when I am driving. No pain.
Wifely approval with some interest. As Denis suggested, I looked for refurbished telescopes. Bresser has (now, had?) one that sounded good for the equivalent of about $160. With free international shipping. Ordered!
For the curious: “BRESSER Pollux-II 150/1400 EQ3” So that’s a 6″ reflector with two eyepieces, a barlow and a sun filter. I’m not quite clear on what the EQ3 mount really means, but I’ll find out in a few days…
I’m on three pills for hypertension, up from one since I picked up my current job.
Without going into detail, I need to find something else to do again fairly soon, preferably away from the ChatBot crazy.
@brad:
AFAIK that’s a 6 inch f/9 equatorially mounted reflector. The mount is the EQ3, which is driven by a motor.
Bresser optics are quite good, and the EQ3 has a good rep.
G.
Um… My smart-watch cost maybe $150 and does pretty much everything. Also has a 2 week battery life, at least, the way I use it. Phone was way under $1k.
Wife has a Fairphone 5, which is excellent. Not as sleek as an iPhone, because of the reparability. Apple fanbois only pretend to care about being green.
Apple stuff is stupidly overpriced.
Americans have gone into serious debt for the Apple toys since the introduction of the iPhone. Until recently eclipsed by Microsoft, Apple was the most valuable company on the planet.
Microsoft’s latest rise, however, is not based on consumers being stupid as much as the Fortune 50 losing their minds over the possibility of firing the consumers thanks to AI.
Watch “Financial Audit” on YouTube. That’s America right now, particularly Texas which is where many of the subjects live.
A common thread among many of them is debt on Apple’s credit card.
Today’s “Financial Audit” is Atlanta in a nutshell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtMC_k3jZkc
I’ll admit I finance my wife’s iphone through Verizon. In the past I’ve just bought them outright. I have an iphone provided by work. If I had to provide my own phone, I’d probably have the cheapest smart phone I could get. I really only use my phone for voice and text.
I have been lurking for the past few days, now mostly caught up.
Nick, thanks for the offer of the diamond paste information, but I have more compounds than I can use, lifetime. Most of them are proprietary mixtures that I use to polish stainless steels and other metals. For those who know the difference, I also buff some metals to high color, IOW, shiny. I have found tremendous differences in their effectiveness. Some are almost magical, including one stick someone gave me. It has no markings, and I don’t know the source. Those supplies are somewhat (!) disorganized, having been put away before I improved my organization.
I suppose diamond compounds might work well on glass, but I also have a seemingly lifetime supply of cerium oxide that works very well to remove water spots.
I always liked metal finishing, and find it a kind of relaxation. If you look at older things like cars and appliances BP (Before Plastic), you will see a variety of finishes on metal and other materials. Most of that is gone now, replaced by the limited spectrum of plastic finishes. A whole industry has been replaced by another.
My wife keeps a lithium ion booster in her car. Never used. I’m guessing it’ll be good for one use, maybe two. And that’s assuming that it’s fully charged, which I wouldn’t count on.
I’ve used mine several times (Subie, Bug, Caddy SRX). It holds a charge for a long time. It’s a NoCo, but hasn’t failed. Yet. I also have a supercap I used in parallel to jump an old truck.
Curious about the supercap. Not sure if yours is a jump pack or just an array of capacitors. Details, please.
When I first read about this a few years ago, the hobbyists were buying surplus or used capacitors. Even then, enough for a car could easily cost more than a replacement battery. Recently, I spotted a YT vid by a guy who had done a long term test in a cold climate. He had started with only a cap, but did a mod to include a small deep discharge battery. The results were good. I looked up capacitors, and a small array can now be purchased for under $50 new.
My thinking is to add a small cap array to a conventional battery to prevent sudden surprise failures. When the battery eventually fails, replace it with a small deep cycle battery, with the cap for the starting surge. This could be a good approach. The only concern is if people who don’t understand this use the car and assume that there is a big battery. I might just keep a big battery, aided by a cap, in the car my wife drives.
In over 50 years of marriage, my car has only needed a jump once. In spite of keeping the best of everything in my wife’s car, hers has needed a jump a few times. Always local, and I was her rescuer. I have considered a Li-ion jump pack for her, but I am scared of them with our high summertime temperatures. A supercap jump pack would take too much training, with too many possible ways to fail. I would also prefer something automatic like a permanent capacitor.
Hey, MrAtoz, you have a bug, as in Beetle? What year? I don’t have one now, but can’t rule out future purchases, especially a Ghia.
I will admit to getting good phones, our one big splurge. I started with a Windows CE (!) phone. That was an HTC Fuze, and I selected it because it had a real keyboard, like a Blackberry, but more versatile. That was the start of getting the same phone for my wife and myself for support reasons. She really liked hers, because the UI was very similar to her computer. Then we switched to the Samsung Note line because of the bigger screens. Currently have the last of the series. All of these were supplied by AT&T, because I wanted one vendor to make things simpler. That was based on past experience with a lot of things. I didn’t finance them, but did take whatever deal was offered, and some were pretty good.
Next phone will probably be the Z Fold line. I really want a BIIIG screen, because I use my phone as a small tablet. Wife does, too. My issue is that I really like my Note 20 Ultra 5G. It does everything without fuss. Battery life is exceptional. Screen is great, but needs to be bigger.
I might buy a Z Fold at a deep discount, if that is possible. That would be in a year or so. I would probably change carriers, too. AT&T is not what it once was. T-Mobile seems hot right now.
I have an Autowit. It is caps only. It uses what is left in a weak battery to charge, but you must have some juice left (you can also charge with USB). My late BIL had a Nissan truck that the NoCo wouldn’t start in the cold, but I put the Autowit in parallel, let it charge, and there were enough amps to start it. I really only got one to try because Scotty Kilmer recommended them.
MrsAtoz loves VW Beetles. We had a ragtop 2015, but sold it due to HIGH maintenance. She currently has a ‘16 (I think it is a turbo, I’ll find out when it fails LOL). Also, HIGH maintenance. Working in that teenie engine compartment is labor intensive. I just got it back today for an airbag recall and some other services. She keeps hankering for a classic, but there is a lot of trash out there. I also don’t want to maintain an antique;
My wife said that about me.
Wife and I both have iPhone, mine is 15 Pro. We both have Apple Watches. We both have iPad Airs. We have an Apple TV. I have a MacBook Air M2. The integration between all the devices is what keeps me in the system.
Plus, Denton County became artsy and hip.
Every small town we drove through in Wisconsin seemed to have some kind of large employer which probably faces shutdown for “green” reasons.
Somebody is going to have to rebuild batteries. The greenies are complaining about the number of batteries we send to Mexico now.
We have contaminated the entire planet and will continue to do so. The number of ships on the ocean bottoms from WWI and WWII is amazing. Lots of heavy metals leaching into the oceans from those.
I saw the Autowit a while back. Some sketchy site was selling it for about $50, but I didn’t trust them. Also, there were a few reviews, on Amazon I think, that said they failed. Decided to wait. I still like the concept, but not at over $100. I still might do a permanent onboard cap, but that is another project. Sigh.
Oh, a NEW Beetle. Nope, not for me. I want an old air cooled one. They are as simple as a lawnmower. I do want to sit in a Karmann Ghia. It has been a long time, and I can’t remember whether I fit. Beetles are roomy for my 6’-3”. Always liked Ghias. I have owned three beetles, and know how to take care of them. It would just be an occasionally driven car. Yes, I could consider something more practical. I have always liked the Valiant or early Barracuda.
WRT to battery jumpers, I agree with RickH and I have the same type. I bought mine as sufficient to start my Jeep GC with 5.7L Hemi and it does.
I’ll admit I finance my wife’s iphone through Verizon. In the past I’ve just bought them outright. I have an iphone provided by work. If I had to provide my own phone, I’d probably have the cheapest smart phone I could get. I really only use my phone for voice and text.
Warren Buffet buys Apple stock because Apple controls its own pricing and their R&D charges are below 10% of gross revenue. If either of those change, he will dump it.
Maybe, but they don’t play nice with devices outside the system. I had that experience, and would never go back. Desktop Linux was almost as bad.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/01/thousands-schools-risk-closing-due-massive-drop-enrollment/
Our district is closing elementary schools, and consolidating a couple of schools. This despite unbelievable invasion numbers, because they don’t have school age kids, by and large. When they do, there are half a dozen buses of kids per big apartment complex.
Where have all the kids gone?
Women in the first world are having 0.9 babies. Apparently they do not like squeezing out watermelons from their vaginas, given a choice.
Women in the third world (middle east is included in that) are having 5+ babies. Lack of birth control due to expense or muslim countries where birth control is not allowed.
There is a problem coming in the not so distant future.
“Diesel Maker Cummins To Pay $1.675 Billion For Cheating On Emissions”
https://www.carpro.com/blog/diesel-maker-cummins-to-pay-1.675-billion-for-cheating-on-emissions
“Updated Jan. 18, 2024 to add link to the US EPA Cummins Settlement Nationwide Recall Program Overview.”
“It’s the largest ever civil penalty assessed in a federal Clean Air Act case.”
“Though not admitting wrong-doing, diesel engine maker Cummins has agreed to pay a record $1.675 billion civil penalty in a vehicle test cheating settlement. In addition, it has agreed to spend more than $325 million to remedy the violations, which included the use of software “defeat devices” that circumvented emissions testing and certification requirements.”
It is possible in my lifetime that I will remember when we made the the most powerful engines that worked anywhere. But we don’t make those anymore.
Comes with a heavy fabric case, and has LED lights to indicate the charge of it’s battery. I got one for the 2019 Highlander after it wouldn’t start once (that hasn’t repeated; not sure why it had a problem; battery/cell tester indicated all cells were good). Haven’t had to use it, but it’s in the tool bag in the back of the car.
You probably activated the Toyota theft immobilizer. If the vehicle is locked, you open the passenger door with a key, and open the driver side door from the inside without starting the engine with the key, bang, you are immobilized for ten minutes. My wife has done that. Very weird situation to figure out.
Apple has bought back a lot of stock and, since Steve Jobs died, paid a dividend.
The company also has a “moat” in Buffett-speak in the form of the App Store.
Where Apple is vulnerable is AI. Apple Silicon won’t cut it to build those servers, and playing in that space will require Tim to eat a crow dinner in order to cut deals with Intel and Nvidia.
Anyone building those systems right now is selling them as fast as the machines roll down the assembly line.
LOL Killer Baldwin indicted in NM. A good DA can get anybody indicted.
None of the remaining three carriers can provision service for a price sufficient to cover the expenses, particularly the spectrum auctions. Something will eventually have to give.
If Tony ever succeeds in convincing Congress about selling off the remaining broadcast TV and radio spectrum, I shudder to think what numbers those bids will reach.
The Pizza Box Dream dies hard, however.
“Bill Gates Kept Tabs On His Employees By Memorizing Their License Plates: ‘I Knew Everybody’s License Plates So I Could Look Out In The Parking Lot And See When Did People Come In And When Were They Leaving’”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gates-kept-tabs-employees-180430546.html
What an asshole ! You are suppose to get a secretary to do that.
“Report: Sports Illustrated lays off ENTIRE staff after AI controversy, using trans models on cover of Swimsuit Edition”
https://notthebee.com/article/corporate-media-meltdown-sports-illustrated-just-laid-off-their-entire-staff
“GO WOKE, GO BROKE!”
What were they thinking ?
It’s BS. The Legend of BillG, Boy Genius.
Pam Edstrom is dead so the chore of rehabbing Gates’ image in the wake of the Pedo Island revelations falls on less talented PR hacks.
The problem with The Legend Of … stories is that inferior management believes that they can “motivate” staff in the manner of Gates, Jobs, Bezos, etc. and obtain similar results without any negative consequences in the long term.
“This is a Blueprint for How the Dollar Goes Kaput”
https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/this-is-a-blueprint-for-how-the-dollar-goes-kaput-148658/
“That infernal clanging you might have heard outside your bedroom window this morning was the sound of the proverbial can being kicked down the road, yet again.”
“With no agreement on spending anywhere on the horizon for the current fiscal year, the US Congress passed yesterday a ‘Continuing Resolution’ to keep the government temporarily funded for another six weeks.”
“This is nothing new; in fact, Congress has passed more than 50 Continuing Resolutions just since 2010, primarily because they almost NEVER manage to figure out the budget prior to the start of the fiscal year on October 1st.”
“And if no action is taken, the scenario I outlined above is likely to play out over the next 5-7 years.”
We are going to inflate our way out of this mess. $1,000,000/oz gold.
I’ve never seen a case where Kharma didn’t eventually catch up with my bad managers, sometimes in spectactular and publicly humiliating ways.
Arena missed the licensing payment to Authentic Brands which resulted in the revocation of the rights to publish the magazine under the Sports Illustrated name.
Blackrock owns a controlling interest in Authentic Brands so I doubt trans models on the cover of the Swimsuit Edition was an issue.
The Time Inc. magazines were scattered to the winds after the meltdown of AOL TimeWarner.
Time Magazine itself is now owned by Marc Benioff, founder of Salesforce.com.
“Recent studies found that 7 percent of Americans are lesbian, gay or bisexual, according to the Pew Research Center. Among adults 18 to 29 years old, that number increases to 17 percent.”
https://christianchronicle.org/male-and-female-god-created-them/
Sadly, I believe these stats.
Woman Scorned Strikes Back: My Husband Paid Fani’s Way — And I Have Bank Records to Prove It
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2024/01/19/woman-scorned-my-husband-paid-fanis-way-and-i-have-bank-records-to-prove-it-n606173
exit music:
“Take a load off Fani”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaQDFk0fDTk
Whew. Long day.
Ended up starting my day with an emergency visit to my eye doctor. D2 accidentally hit me in the eye with a hairbrush while getting ready for school, and I started having the symptoms of a detached retina. If you don’t get that treated pretty quickly, it leads to permanent loses of vision.
So. Called the office, and my doc was in the office closest to my house, and they’d see me right away. (I’ve got a long history of eye issues and traumas. Last time I saw him was when I scratched the HELL out of my cornea.) Lots of examination, and I’m OK. I didn’t detach my retina, only the thickened gel that touches it. Apparently I just jumpstarted the aging process in that eye, so I got a mini version of the symptoms when you tear the retina loose by tearing the thickened gel loose. Normally it happens slowly, and you don’t necessarily notice.
That is great news, as I really didn’t want the retina damaged. Still sucks as my vision is affected in that eye, at least for a while, and in both eyes for the next several hours as a result of the diagnostics and exam.
Yup, the first bright day in a week, and I’ve got dilated pupils. Ouch.
In any case, I did my pickups, drove all over town, just less than 200 miles in all.
——————-
Saturday I’m sleeping in, then I am thinking hard about making a trip to the BOL to deliver all the stuff I’ve piled up this month. I’ve got to unload stuff from the truck first, and I didn’t get a chance to shop for a washing machine today, so I might do that too. We’ll see. Playing it by ear.
Wife and D1 have a girl scout thing that will keep them busy all day. D2 wants to sleep. I might drag her along out of spite. 😉 I mean- learning opportunities…
It’s always something.
So prepare. Then when the something happens, you’ll be better equipped to deal with it. And stack, of course.
nick
misposted on Thur:
Palette cleanser
https://hotair.com/karen-townsend/2024/01/19/feel-good-friday-nfl-players-signed-jersey-makes-mcdonalds-employees-day-n606116
When your brother is dating Taylor Swift there is no competition, so honesty happens.
“all reasonable people are prejudiced against the French.”
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2024/01/19/let-me-give-you-an-intelligence-test-n606086
and Rep. Barbara Lee (Dim-TX) is a bald-faced liar.
hah, may have won another 200 watts of solar panel.
n
who dat playin’ horn?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjNm4Axtol8
Fani not so keen on sex in the office in 2020:
https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1748470407672291383
Very glad to hear that you don’t have a detached retina. That is recoverable, if recognised and treated quickly, but involves needles and spending a few weeks lying prostrate. Better not to have it happen. I hope your vitreous detachment symptoms settle down quickly again.
Brad, I hope you will be happy with the telescope from Bresser.
Hah! Sent that paragraph to a friend of French & Swiss descent.