Possibly rain all day here at the BOL, with moderated temps. It was grey with occasional drizzle most of yesterday with temps in the mid 60s F.
I worked anyway. It’s just a little moisture from the sky. I did spend the morning doing auction catch up stuff. Starlink doesn’t love the rain. And latency is an issue for me. The auction site, hibid.com has an incredibly bad website, that seems to have lots of problems with slow connection timeouts, and with high latency connections. It was nearly unusable last night with latencies around 40ms. They seem to be using a strategy of loading the whole page, then unmasking parts of it, and it suxxx. Even on my fiber connection at home it sometimes sux. It was unusable on 4G lte. With starlink and my older lappy, it’s maddening. If it doesn’t load immediately, the best strategy is hitting reload until it does. Waiting for the pieces to load, especially if there is some sort of race condition error, is crazy making.
Hot Skilzz- they don’t got um.
I did finally get out of the house and I worked on the pump and sprinklers. Got the pump primed, got the inlet out of the silt, and viola! water spewing forth… a mighty gusher…
Continued running hoses and setting up the sprinklers. They are not actually called “chucka chucka chucka” things, apparently they are called “impact” sprinklers. Who knew? Each hose run will only supply 3 heads, but the pump will fire all of them at the same time. I may double some of the zone connections to keep the back pressure down, and cut my watering time in half. The lesson is that I will use big trunk lines when I bury pipe, and then 1″ branches. The pump is clearly oversized, but it is also pushing water up 30+ feet of elevation. Better to have more than I need, I think.
Today I’ll do more sprinkler setup, and maybe a thing or two indoors. If it’s dry, I’ll wait as long as I can and then try mowing before I leave. I don’t want to have the next week or two of growth start from the point it’s at now, or I’ll need a scythe to cut it and some kids to stack the sheaves.
At some point, I’ll close up the house and head home. It hasn’t been the most productive week, but it was a nice break for me đ
One other thing I’ve learned having the computer set up and actually using it- I need to find a good chair and set up a workspace for my bride, or she’ll be crippled up like me…
Take care of the folks around you and plan for the future. That’s prepping in a nutshell. Oh, and STACK what your plan calls for, of course.
nick
Thirty eggs in the last seven days from six hens. The generic hens are keeping up with the egg-layer breed. They have been for the past month. Don’t know why.
The birds were out for about five hours yesterday while I worked on my van, did a bit of yard work, and then brought my computer out and worked while they sat in the sun or scratched for grubs. When they first came out, they were running all over the driveway, the neighbors’ driveways, and the street, nomming up worms. I helped a little by using my greater height to spot worms and then one would mosey over when I pointed and whistled. And then a couple others would charge over at top speed to try to steal it. Entertainment for hours, or at least until the worms are gone. Later, while I was working on the computer, the red hen hopped up, climbed up my arm, and was pecking at my whiskers. Did she think that the white hairs were grubs? Who knows. She’s a chicken, with a chicken brain. Daughter got a couple pictures. The bird also seemed fascinated by her reflection in my glasses.
We’re thinking about getting more chickens. It’ll be some extra work while they’re little but once they’re grown enough to stay outside and they’ve integrated with the flock, it’ll be no more work to care for ten or twelve than for six. The coop would be crowded at night, but that’s just for sleeping and they generally like snuggling together so I think it would be ok. I might also be able to figure out how to get another roosting rail in there, which I’m sure they’d all appreciate.
My wife and her mother want to get some meat birds, purchased and raised specifically to be butchered. Daughter vetoed that, even if she doesn’t eat them or need to see the butchering being done. I understand her viewpoint but don’t sympathize much with it. We ate chicken for supper last night. She knows that it wasn’t grown in a lab, she just doesn’t want to think about the process of turning a living animal into table-ready food. I imagine she’d freak out if we raised a calf for a year and then I butchered it. (Or rather, assisted someone else in butchering it.) Which reminds me, I need to ask around and find someone who’ll sell a quarter cow; the people I knew are either retired or already sold out. I also need another chest freezer. I also need a place to put another chest freezer.
As I was tying that, a hawk flew low over our back yard. The chickens are all in their run, which is still on the patio under the deck, so there was no danger. It’s a good reminder that they can’t go out any more without someone being around them. Once the garden is planted and has grown they’ll be able to stay in the growth but that’s a few months away.
Ford and Tesla have different charging port locations. Given the âShow Yaâ personalities typcially involved with EVs, a Ford occupying two Tesla slots on a busy day would lead to problems.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/08/tesla-nacs-extension-cable-fix-supercharging-issues-different-port-locations/
I kick myself for not taking pictures of the insanity in George West last year on the Friday night before SxSW opened, when every Tesla charging station at the Love’s near the freeway had vehicles waiting three deep.
Good night, it is incredibly dark out there at 7am. Millions of school kids tomorrow morning will be waiting for school buses in the total dark. When did we as a nation become so desperate as to change our clocks back this early ?
When Shrub signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
The change most likely originated in the Florida Congressional delegation. Adam âOpie” Putnam was still the Bush cabal’s promised choice to run for Florida Governor in 2014 and served as the Administration’s point man on immigration. Early or even permanent DST is a big issue in Florida for tourism, particularly on the West Coast.
âAnytime the word âarbitrageâ is spoken out loud, a puppy stops wagging its tail.â
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHXu-uoThIM
Why is it military people are always involved with the real estate weirdness as of late?
Who is advising them and inserting words like âarbitrageâ or âportfolioâ â my wife’s nephew’s five dollar word as of late â into their vocabularies?
The caller doesn’t make the connection between the arbitrage activity and her living in a van.
Point of Order: for the Irish, it’s âSaint Patrick’s Dayâ, or âPaddy’s Dayâ, but never a mixture of the two!
I am currently celebrating by being laid low with the crud. Maybe coughing up green still counts, but I can’t help wondering what I might have done to incur the glorious Saint’s wrath on this of all days. I certainly never called him âPattyâ, for instanceâŚ
It only hurts when I laugh, so remember what Saint Patrick said when he was driving the snakes out of IrelandâŚ
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âAre ye alright in the back there, lads?â
61F and grey. Huge thunderstorm around 5am woke me up. Don’t see any limbs down, so the wind must have been moderate.
I don’t think it will dry up enough in the next 6 or 7 hours for me to mow, but I’ll still hope for a while.
Time to get moving on the other stuff.
@denis, hope you feel better soon. Coughing stuff up, especially colored stuff, is no fun. You have seen a Dr, right?? Don’t let a respiratory infection get out of handâŚ
n
Isn’t it the mission of Green Berets to train insurgents? Who thinks Taiwanese will need to be fighting as insurgents??? (actually, who DOESN’T think that?)
n
Did a short driving lesson with The Child this morning, her first. Short because she did extremely well, within the constraints of a small parking lot. There wasn’t much more to be accomplished there; maybe do it again in a week to make sure that she didn’t just get lucky. Next step: boot the lazy load in the rear sufficiently to get her to study to get the learner’s permit.
Problem is, she doesn’t have much motivation to drive. Yah, once in a while it would be convenient to be able to drive to a friend’s house or to take the car to one of the after-school parties without needing me to take her, but that hasn’t been enough incentive yet.
Apparently it’s a wide social issue, with a lot of teens and 20-somethings not bothering to learn to drive because why? Their only friends are online, they take a bus to high school or they can do college online, they’re living with their parents so groceries are taken care of. Why get a license?
That used to be one of the big missions. Probably still is, but only one of many.
I feel you. After teaching 5 daughters, when the first grandchild asks, âGrampa, will you teach meâŚâ, no, get lost, you have a mother and father, you know. Trying to get âsituational awarenessâ in their heads is ongoing, even with the 45 year old.
I’m too old for that shite.
There should be mandatory military service for every citizen of the FUSA.
They get healthcare until they’re 26. What is the incentive to get a job out of college.
My replacement at the tolling company, Roger, Fancy Lad, Cornell alum, quickly learned that my job sucked to the point that even Ivy League credentials wouldn’t protect him from the management sh*t show so he’s spent the last 18 months on a âcareer breakâ according to Linked In.
Roger never held a real job other than lifeguard at the community pool prior to graduating from college.
The Taiwanese don’t need training about giving Number One Son a headache trying to occupy the islands, but the general population will need education about modern explosives and placement to blow up the advanced infrastructure starting with the TSMC fabs.
Ukraine taught the world about the costs of a major power invading a smaller country with McDonalds, cell phones, and daily Fedex deliveries. Taiwan is much more advanced.
And, as I’ve stated before, I believe in a nuclear Shanghai Surprise.
Between the loss of the fabs and Shanghai, the whole world is going to go backwards a few decades if not more so China can teach Number Two Son who is boss in the family.
The nonsense never changes.
Hawk came by again, seeing all of those fat, yummy morsels on our front lawn. Too bad, loser, there’s an apex predator watching over them. He wasn’t doing a full attack stoop, but he veered impressively quickly once he saw me.
D1 is poking me about learning to drive, but she’s unusual among the kids I’ve heard about. I think I shared the story of one of my auction contacts? He son is in college in SA and is just now learning to drive.
These late bloomers will skew the accident vs age stats for a generation.
n
n.b. sex-based differences. Despite the claims by leftards that there’s no difference between men and women or that you can be whatever you call yourself.
That would be a useful answer to the question âWhat is a woman?â A woman is the one who has car accidents because she’s too focused on one thing and doesn’t pay attention to the dozen other possible hazards every second while driving. (A young man, by contrast, is the one who has car accidents because he’s showing off.)
Gotta disagree with you on that one. I’d be ok with extra status, privileges, or benefits coming from military service: reserved parking places, going to the head of a line, tax reduction. The college benefit for vets used to be a good one, but between college now being about worthless and there being grants for anyone who can claim some kind of legacy grievance, I don’t think it counts for anything anymore.
Already happened, in NYS and probably other states.
More than a decade ago, it was noticed that young drivers were disproportionately involved in accidents. The solution: make it more difficult for 16- and 17-year-olds to get licenses and put a lot of restrictions on them â no more driving at night, only one other teen in the car unless a parent was also there, some others.
The result, easily predictable to everyone except politicians and activists, was that the big bump in traffic accidents moved up a few years.
Gee, who would have thought that the real problem was number of hours spent driving, not age?
The ability to fill a âVeteranâ quota along with a quality degree still opens a lot of doors. The college benefit can mean graduating without debt which is a huge achievement anymore.
My wife’s nephew is counting on his ability the quota to get a six figure tech manager job here in Austin with his J-school degree when he leaves the Army in another year or so.
Even today, I’m multitasking with work mess.
I didn’t mind teaching my grandchildren to drive; I’m ready to start on my great-grandchildren.
I have them learn on my Ranger 5-speed. I cover lots of extras. Why they should dirve slower when there are other (distracting) people in the car. How to recover when they miss a turn. Why it is sometimes better to make three right turns instead of one left. How to read a paper highway map (if their phone is dead). How to safely change a tire. How to follow a highway via signs through towns.
In most school districts that I am familiar with the classes start early for high school and later for elementary school. This is contrary to decades of research that shows that high school kids need a lot more sleep than they get.
So what do we do? Schedule many sports practices before school, to get time in facilities that are over-scheduled, so the kids are even more tired. All to feed a corrupt sports machine that at the NCAA level allows men who âfeel like a woman toadyâ to rip off biological women and trample their rights.
Which in turn feeds a corrupt professional sports systems that will whore themselves in every way possible (China calling, LeBron?).
And if you think sports is in any way a meritocracy, find a roster for your favorite sport and do a simple plot of birthdays.
@SteveF
âThere wasnât much more to be accomplished thereâ
Parallel parking. Still useful, even if the clock is ticking down the path of the manual transmission and the analog watch.
@Bob Sprowl
Cooking lunch on the block while you drive?
Seriously, all good A-level skills. Not only good for driving, but good for expanding the ability to think.
Had a good time with auctions ending Friday night. Won 7 lots: 4 under $10, 2 $10-12, and one over $20, all after figuring BPaT (buyer’s premium and tax).
One of the mid-price lots was a 5-lb CO2 extinguisher, which sells new for a cool $295.
That one is going in the truck. 5-lbs is too small for much else, and from years of fire training my considered opinion is they are dangerous in mostly untrained hands: 5-lbs is enough to knock down a small fire by starving it of oxygen, but does not provide much cooling effect, and just about the time you run out of gas many fires have enough heat to re-ignite and get you in trouble if you have been foolish enough to advance without a backup person. If you have a small shop, a 15-lb CO2 extinguisher gives you 3X the knockdown for about 25% more expense.
I pulled up the website of a local company that inspects and recharges, and noticed that they also provide training. I didn’t look at the cost, but I would highly recommend that as a useful activity.
Also bought some books. One lot included a very âniche-yâ title that has no current listings online, making it difficult for the scanner people to get a grip on.
I bought a couple of pallets of âexpiredâ dry chemical extinguishers. It’s cheaper for most places to replace them than to re-certify them (pressure test the tank.) If the gauge shows âgoodâ I have never had a problem with one, and I’ve used a bunch.
I have extinguishers everywhere. Put one in your master bedroom closet. If you smell smoke in the night, you won’t have to go PAST the fire to get an extinguisher. Put one inside the door of your garage, grab on the way in or out. Put one in your mudroom or entry for the same reason.
CERT provides live training for small fires and shows what âsmallâ means. If you have a CERT class available to you, you will benefit.
It’s funny, since that one really bad year, I haven’t come across any car fires, but I still have multiple extinguishers in each truck. The extinguishers are just meant to buy you some time.
n
Don’t forget mechanical parking brake. At least until the class action lawuits start.
When I was in my early 20s, I took an introductory class for truck drivers. It was classroom only, but included written materials for the driving instruction part of the class. I found it to be very useful. I tried out some of the driving tips, but only the ones that were appropriate for an automobile, plus trailer towing.
One of the most useful things I learned was how to know where all edges of a vehicle are with respect to obstacles, plus how to know where all tires are, to avoid contact with objects.
I also learned how to use mirrors much more effectively.
Oh, and the classroom study had good tips on anticipating dangerous situations.
Learning to drive a manual transmission well should be on everyone’s list. This should include shifting a crashbox without clashing gears.
Optional: learning to operate a motorcycle, especially surviving in traffic. This might make people better four wheeler drivers, although there are a lot of annoying bikers.
Currently in Idaho, Nampa, close to Boise. Spent the night in Richland WA in a Motel-6. We just needed a bed but it did remind me of why I avoid staying in places that have outside entrances to the rooms. The rest of the hotels were $180.00 or more. I have no idea why.
Gas in Washington was $3.90 a gallon or higher. Gas in Idaho is $3.49.
Visiting the brother and his wife. It will probably be the last time I see either of them alive unless my younger brother dies first. Perspective is a bitch sometimes.
I had forgotten how barren eastern Washington, Southeast Oregon and Western Idaho is. Brown everywhere, mostly scrub brush, some rolling hills, some agriculture. But still very bare compared to the western regions. Speed limit on the I-State in Idaho is 80. Western Oregon and Washington should do the same.
So far uneventful and hoping it stays that way.
Thanks to open borders and flying ârefugeesâ in, much of the country will be brown everywhere, and economically and socially barren.
The high desert. A whole lotta nothing is east of Boise on I-84, all the way down to the Utah border.
If you’re making the drive to Salt Lake City, stop for gas in Burley or Declo.
The diner at the Declo exit, The Pit Stop (I’m not kidding), has decent shakes and I noted that the FedEx Ground truck drivers stop there regularly enough that the waitresses have “the usual” waiting for some of the guys.
Driving an EV rental? Fuggedaboudit.
I’ve made the trip a couple of times in both directions on I-84. I hope I never see that stretch of freeway again.
BTW, Declo was home to JR Simplot, who became a billionare supplying McDonalds french fries and then, later, investing in Micron.
@Ray – one of my favorite spots while driving from WA to UT on I-84 is passing by the Malad Gorge. Right next to I-84 – a sudden canyon gashed into the earth.
Had always wondered about early explorers in the area – and pictured them galloping along the open plains and all of a sudden coming upon a big canyon without warning – the land is mostly flat all around it. In fact, it intrigued me enough that I put it in my Classic Western stories (“Rocky’s Treasure”). Was an unfortunate place for the title character (a bandit) who didn’t have a name, but was eventually called âRockyâ for reasons you might figure out, as he was being chased by a posse in that areaâŚ.
Lots of interesting places to visit around there. Twin Falls, caves, ancient places, etc. My grandfather worked in the Paul ID area (in the 1920’s, I think).
If you head back to Spokane via I-84 east of Baker City – watch for Snoopy’s doghouse on the north side of the road just inside the trees about milepost 34 by Meacham exit. (Info about the doghouse here ). Always look out for it on those trips.
Baker City has a restaurant right by the Arco next to the hotel – has a model train running through it for kids to watch. Have stayed in the hotel next door a couple of times – nice rooms, reasonable prices at last check.
Gas prices in Snowville UT (about20 miles from Idaho border on I-84) are usually good.
That stretch of I-84 between Burley ID and Snowville UT can get some serious storms – high winds area, blizzards in the winter and dust storms in the summer. Often closed during big snowstorms.
Seeing Baker City recede in my rearview mirror while escaping WA State was one of the happiest moments of my life.
I stopped for gas in some place which gave off serious âTwin Peaksâ pilot vibes. The restrooms were both broken so I had to sneak into a restaurant to use the facilities. Maybe it was that one!
BTW, the Kyle McLaughlin iconic line is âClean place. Reasonably priced.â
The only sad part of that memory is that I had my cat in her carrier on the passenger seat of the car. She spent four years burrowed into our couch or in my lap in Vantucky asking, âWhen can we go home?â, and we finally got the heck out that night. She knew.
>> Problem is, she doesnât have much motivation to drive.
When it’s TEOTWAWKI, how many vehicles would need to be driven if/when you bug out?
Gas in Washington was $3.90 a gallon or higher. Gas in Idaho is $3.49.
You will think that is cheap during Biden’s second term. He thinks that he is a dictator and will want to prove it by raising gasoline and diesel prices to over $10 / gallon.
This is one of many reasons that entering the United States illegally needs to be re-classified as a felony:
https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2024/03/16/prohibiting-guns-for-illegal-immigrants-ruled-unconstitutional-n1224214
When itâs TEOTWAWKI, how many vehicles would need to be driven if/when you bug out?
You only get about 1 mpg in a severe traffic jam. Houston proved that when three million people tried to simultaneously leave right before hurricane Ike in 2008. Most of the people gave up and turned around when their gas tanks hit Âź or less when they had gone less than 30 miles.
And we got skipped by Ike.
AoSHQ: The Saturday Night Joke
Donald Trump, George Bush, and Joe Biden were set to face a firing squad in a Central American country.
Donald Trump was the first one placed against the wall and just before the order was given, he yelled out, “Earthquake!”
The firing squad fell into a panic and Donald Trump jumped over the wall and escaped during the confusion.
George Bush was the second one placed against the wall.
The squad was reassembled, and George pondered what he had just witnessed.
Again, before the order was given George yelled out, “Tornado!”
Again, the squad fell apart and George slipped over the wall.
The last person, Joe Biden, was placed against the wall.
He was thinking, I see the pattern here, just scream out something about a disaster and hop over the wall.
He confidently refused the blindfold as the firing squad was reassembled
As the rifles were raised in his direction, he grinned from ear to ear and yelled, “Fire!”
The next time they say they’re going to make you eat bugs:
Researchers find use for gangbangers and illegal immigrants:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/03/16/let-them-eat-snake-python-farming-could-offer-one-of-the-most-sustainable-sources-of-meat-in-the-world-much-less-carbon-intensive/
I see a great potential reality show, hosted by an AI-generatred Marlin Perkins with Richard Dawson as his assistant. (yes, I know Jim Fowler has passed, but there is no writing that could exceeed his performances as a guest on The Tonight Show.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np1xbnynU2Q
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=johnny+carson+Jim+fowler
DOJ Indicts Girlfriend of Minnesota Man for Buying Guns He Used to Kill 2 Police Officers, Paramedic
https://redstate.com/jeffc/2024/03/17/doj-indicts-girlfriend-of-minnesota-man-who-killed-police-officers-and-paramedic-for-buying-him-guns-n2171521
from the embedded USDOJ link:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/burnsville-woman-indicted-straw-purchasing-firearms-used-fatal-shooting-three-first
They have her cold based on absolute proof that she knew of his status as a felon and text messages relating to his transfer of funds for the weapons and her turning them over to him.
It should also be a slam dunk convicting her of the murders of the officers, and if they can make that a federal case it will include the death penalty.
Dyrdahl, btw, is apparently a white woman:
https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/who-is-ashley-dyrdahl-burnsville-officers-shooting-suspect-shannon-goodens-girlfriend-arrested/ar-BB1jU11E
so it’s going to be interesting to see who tries to make some sort of case for extenuating circumstances.
Note that news reports emphasize the use of the two âAR styleâ rifles in the murders, but make no mention of the handguns. It will be interesting to see what weapons were found in the house and what use is revealed by the full investigation, including autopsies.
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Pythons have a tendency to accumulate mercury in their tissues.
Florida was studying the exact numbers as part of the effort to combat the invasive ball python in the Everglades.
No problem. We’ll get the CDC to bless the food use, then the pythons can be the featured meals at illegal immigrant shelters. The small radius of the food circle (not a chain) has a compelling eco-logic: alien invaders feed alien invaders feed alien invaders.
Have to check the tradmark status of Scalent Green
Rattlesnake isn’t bad, but I don’t feel any compelling need to eat it again. Same for gator.
Never had python.
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Home safe. Lotta cops on the road. Didn’t stop the street racer types. It’s almost always a charger or the other one that looks the same. Occasionally it’s a mustang⌠If I’m going with traffic around 80mph, and you blow by me like I’m standing still, you’re going too damn fast.
——————–
Smattering of light drizzle in various places on the way. Nothing to write home about though.
n
Rattlesnake isnât bad, but I donât feel any compelling need to eat it again. Same for gator.
Gator is pretty good. And we’ve got over a million of them in Texas alone.
>> One of the most useful things I learned was how to know where all edges of a vehicle are with respect to obstacles, plus how to know where all tires are, to avoid contact with objects.
360 degree camera views on my Nissan LEAF give me a better view than the mirrors.
Pythons, right. Skimming the article, it sounds like pythons are efficient at converting food into meat. However, you have to feed them protein, which means other animals. So that is a huge inefficiency that the article quietly ignores (or is entirely unaware of). Apparently, the Asian farms feed them fish meal, and overfishing is already a huge problem.
Yet Another Stupid Greenie Idea.