Sunny and clear. Temperate. Nice. If I’m lying, I’m crying… Yesterday ended up being a gorgeous day. Shirt sleeves, with a nice breeze, and mostly clear sky. Very nice by afternoon. I’d like more of that today please.
Did my auction pickups. Couple of kerosene heaters, solar panel, some smalls for the BOL… desk chair for my wife to use up there… Spent some time chatting with a couple of my auctioneers. Always good to touch base and talk.
Didn’t feel like driving up to the BOL at the end of the day though, and I was watching my bids in a big auction with a lot of stuff I wanted. So I will likely head up today. WHEN is an open question, but not “if”. Unless something changes.
I’ve got chores to do up there before we all go back for the Easter holiday. It would be nice to get ready to do a bunch of attic work too, and knock most of it out next trip, before it gets really hot.
I don’t have any good observations for today, brain was pretty empty by the end of the day. It’s springtime, and that’s a time for looking to the future. Do your cleaning, repairing, and planting (actual and metaphorical.) Get ready for the rest of the year. It’s bound to be a rough ride.
Stacks of stuff, and a deep bench of people you can count on, will help.
nick
Good morning! It is supposed to be springtime here too. The weather is doing the all-seasons thing though.
In the space of a couple of hours we have had semi-darkness and leaden skies, torrential rain, a blizzard, a hailstorm and blazing sunshine.
It is a good day to be inside, looking out. I did go out to get some rolls and viennoiseries for breakfast, and I was glad to get back indoors.
I have a fresh pot of tea and a new book to read, so no hardship.
Blackrock manages the iShares ETFs. The management fees are actually typical.
I’m sure they have some 2%-ers on the payroll for clients with way more money than brain cells, but the company’s real wealth and power comes from the massive numbers involved.
Like State Street, most people probably have money in Blackrock funds through their 401(k) plans or pensions without being aware.
Right now, Blackrock is heavily involved in pushing AI. Every time we get a crazy customer request with big dollars attached to a potential sale, Blackrock is inevitably involved somewhere.
Switch.com has a massive new AI datacenter going up in Round Rock not far from the intersection of I-35 and the 45 toll road, hidden in with all of the business class hotels and Joe’s Crab Shack. I swear I remember Blackrock being involved with Switch.com somewhere, but checking quickly, I can’t pick up the trail.
Switch.com is privately held. Lots of weirdness going back to the founding out of the remnants of Enron’s network purchased at an auction where, conveniently, Switch was the only bidder.
Kenny Boy!
More Deep State.
The Exploder just passed two weeks at the dealer, waiting on a part which may arrive Wednesday.
Ford has serious problems.
https://fordauthority.com/2024/03/2024-ford-ranger-production-increased-but-none-were-sold/
I forgot that Blackrock is involved with the real estate trust which holds the title to my wife’s nephew’s house. The off-base housing allowances were dramatically increased in the last Defense bill.
My guess is that the deal puts him in the house with nothing down for the monthly payment equal to his housing allowance, with an option to buy at a certain price at the end of his current posting or discharge.
The trust is in Blackrock/iShares big S&P index fund so chances are some of you have a piece of that house.
And it’s a beautiful day. Shirt sleeves, small breeze, sunny.
Now I need to get moving to get out of here at a reasonable time.
n
Inside Austin’s housing boom and bust: Texan city was the poster child for America’s thriving Sunbelt during the pandemic – but as average prices tumble $150K, experts warn properties are now 35% OVERVALUED
–says some rando on the interwebs.
n
Of course size matters.
No one wants a small cup of coffee.
h/t to AoSHQ
@Nick
I found earlier Delany unreadable and a total waste of time. Never bothered again.
The only author that I can think of off-hand who started out writing dreck and improved tremendously is Dean Koontz.
That story has been making the rounds on the National wires since the primary election.
“Figures from Redfin” could mean many things, including punching $750k into the mortgage calculator and playing “what if” games with rates. $150k is pretty much rule of thumb for a three percent increase in 30 year rates.
More lazy reporting from The Mail.
And, no, I’m not in denial. I carry our house on our books at the price we paid in 2014, and I’ve long said that this area is overvalued. The situation is simply more complicated on the ground than it appears from the Weston condo (guessing) where the Mail reporter lives.
For now, people still believe in The Real Life Tony Stark, and Apple’s corporate relo people have been working the realtors to find houses for the employees they move out here to Hotter-‘n-Hell Acres from California.
I get 2-3 calls or emails a week from realtors looking to buy homes for Apple employees. I’ve even told rude one to go f*ck himself, and he still emails.
The AI monkey trick has not resulted in employment gains and associated relo packages where I currently work. The physical machines aren’t built here, and nothing else sells in tech currently.
In my group, we are told on a regular basis that we have been spared from layoffs … for now.
@nick
glad you checked in, I was getting anxious…
Last year was a tough haul with the stress of the broken trusses. The ten feet of snow since October has been a major time suck and stressor. Up on the roof a couple times in snow up to my crotch to clear it. I’d like to hire it out but there aren’t enough bodies willing to do the work to cover demand. It’s melting and soon the dogs won’t be able to leave the yard at will.
Schoolwork for daughter has required a lot of oversight. Stuff going on there we‘re working thru. Is a time and brain suck.
Not spending much time online. I‘m mentally tired. Playing music has been a real help and stress outlet.
Good to hear from you, Jenny.
Best wishes for smooth melting.
Yep, nice to hear from you, Ms Jenny.
Hi, Mr. Greg
Female migrant is intercepted at southern border while wearing ultra-expensive Canada Goose jacket and toting iPhone
Surely she is not a WuFlu spy.
Apple’s HR department must be run by a fat Amish chick in yoga pants:
Bizarre moment Apple accountant snapped other passenger’s boarding passes at airport, then used one to board Delta flight that was full until he was arrested for hiding in toilet
Sure, Mr. Wicliff Wves Fleurizard is a “native” Texan.
Here come da pork, here come da pork:
Senate PASSES $1.2 trillion spending bill – after missing midnight deadline, with vote continuing into early hours
Yes, indeed. Why this and a ton of pork?
Our Congress sucks!
@jenny, did you ever consider something from this page?
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=snow+removal+for+roof&tag=ttgnet-20
There are alot of chinese crap versions that show up in my returns auctions because they are flimsy. Also I’d get one of the “slicer” style if it was me, the scraper style are just too leveraged to be effective from what I can see.
Climbing on the roof seems risky…
n
I always agree with MrAtoz. Wonderful, I also enjoying hearing you again, Jenny.
Time to reset the “Days Since an Islamic terror attack” sign.
Moment Moscow massacre suspects ‘were arrested’ – as videos show alleged killers of 143 claiming they were paid for the attack as ISIS claims responsibility
n
Bang Bang!
When we hit Chicago in 2019, the Chinese businessmen in town were all running around in the womens hip-length ~ 38 inch long Canada Goose parka, obviously purchased new at the store on Michigan Avenue. The clerk at the front desk clued us in to what was happening when my wife made a comment while we were checking out, after spotting another group of men in the lobby wearing the coat.
“That’s for the mistress back home,” the clerk said. “They buy the coats new but can’t get through customs without paying duties almost as much as the price new. Putting a little wear on them lowers the bribe involved to get it classified as a personal item and avoid the taxes.”
Apple HR is run from California. They’re probably white women with art history degrees from Fancy Lad U like the chick who ran HR at my last job.
HR based in Atlanta is sure to be all Amish women, regardless of qualification.
Rick Scott RINO-Fla.
Now that’s funny.
Scott is up for reelection this year, and that race will be on the page of the ballot after President in Florida. Even if Trump dominates in the state, there aren’t any guarantees that the voter will continue past the first page.
Little Marco had the top position on the ballot in 2022 when he ran for reelection in Florida so anyone voting for Governor had to look at the Senate race first.
A requirement for single topic bills would make pork harder to hide. Of course, for that reason, Congress would never support such a rule.
I released audiobook versions of my fictional books on Amazon today.
It uses their text-to-speech technology. I was invited to participate in their beta of that service.
I think the narration sounds good. Not 100% perfect, but ‘good enough’. I could get ‘perfect’ narration if I hired a real person. But, at a cost of a couple thousand dollars, not something that will happen. (So I am not taking away income from narrators – an audiobook won’t happen with an actual narrator.)
Next step: a ‘book trailer’ and some more advertising. Both are low-budget (or no-budget) activities, using open source video editing program (“Open Shot Video Editor”) and some open-source audio files.
The book writing stuff is low-budget. Or I am a cheapskate. Or both.
@nick
did you ever consider something from this page?
-snip-
Climbing on the roof seems risky…
The roof is parallel to the road. the backside is a two story drop followed by a long hill. The front side is interrupted by a flat roofed garage and a flattish roof of a deck at the front door.
This, plus my 59” mid 50’s sedentary hiney limit the tools with which I can be effective.
I have used both the snow rake and the slicer doohickey. Both require more upper body strength than I can manage for long. The snow rake is GREAT for the rabbitry roof and the portion of the back side of the house roof I can reach from the second story deck. I cannot use it on the front side of the roof because access is blocked from the ground or a flat roof is in the way.
The snow slicer works GREAT from the peak of the roof working toward the back of the house. I can only manage a couple slices before my upper body muscles quit.
A shovel works pretty well, and I don’t venture onto the back side. The probability of severe injury isn’t worth the mild risk. I work in small bites and fling the snow as far as I can so I don’t have to reshovel stuff that lands on travel paths.
It is hard work.
Speed testing my LAN. All done!
The NanoBeams say 540 to 600 Mbps “throughput” which is each direction added together. Sneaky.
It’s closer to 230 to 300 Mbps each way. I just noticed that detail.
All Ethernet is now CAT8. Overkill but Be Prepared like a Boy Scout for the future.
Files being tossed across the LAN are folder of 10.3 GB = 1162 files, 101 folders, 1263 items of mp3 and a few FLAC files.
On the old mix of random wires, speed was 8.5 to 12.3 MB/s Started at mostly 10.4 MB/s, climbed up to 11.3. Win11 said about 16 minutes.
With new wires and GB speed switches, speed is 30 to 47 MB/s Generally about 35 MB/s. Which TA-DA! equals 280 Mbps. Win11 says “about 5 minutes”.
The NanoBeams are the choke point. As expected. Looking around on the web I seem to have my pair running as good as it gets.
There’s another Win11 PC. It’s on Wi-Fi and the same folder of files transfer at 5 to 6 Mbps and maybe 35 minutes. I guess that’s a normal speed for Wi-Fi. I’ll run a wire from the switch some day. When I do I expect to see the speed around 125 Mbps…. aka GB speed. Maybe tomorrow.
Our Congress sucks dead bunnies through a straw!!!
FIFY
Putin Was Warned This Attack Was Coming But Brushed It Off
Putin pooh-pooh should be a lesson to him
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeF1JO7Ki8E
FDA Settles Lawsuit over Ivermectin Social Media Posts
https://www.newsweek.com/fda-settles-lawsuit-over-ivermectin-social-media-posts-1882562
Settled without admitting a damn thing.
Plaintiffs shoudl sell teeshirts:
“Even tweet-sized doses of personalized medical advice are beyond the FDA’s statutory authority.”
A California Company Is Making a Business Out of Kicking Squatters Out of Properties
https://redstate.com/brandon_morse/2024/03/23/a-california-company-is-making-a-business-out-of-kicking-squatters-out-of-properties-n2171801
Rip the doors off and force them out.
Almost SteveF-ian
Friday Funny: Sen John Kennedy Embarrasses another Climate “Expert Witness”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/03/22/friday-funny-sen-john-kennedy-embarrasses-another-climate-expert-witness/
The headline is incorrect. The witness [Gus Schumacher] embarrassed himself by his willingness to present himself as an “expert witness” when he is an ignorant know-nothing.
The U.S. Olympic cross-country skier has personally “observed” the effect of “climate change” on his sport during his 23 years on earth.
Break a leg, Gus!
oh, wait, is that only for theater?
Tonight’s gruel starts with a small can of corn. Well rinsed and into the pot. Next is two cans of canned potatoes rinsed and cubed into chunks. A 28 oz can of Keystone beef. Not rinsed.
A tablespoon or so of flour. About a half cup of tomato juice, just to get it out of the fridge. A decent sprinkle of black pepper and some salt. A wave of onion and garlic powders. Hmm… add a thick pat of butter. It’s still missing something. Oh, a heaping teaspoon of Knorr powdered beef bullion.
Almost there, just needs to cook a bit.
Currently in Walla Walla for the night. I did take a drive down the Columbia River Gorge for a few miles. Actually fairly boring. I thought about Multnomah Falls but that was too far away to drive. I am tired from driving 1,300 miles on this trip anyway. I have been to Multnomah Falls before and have hiked to the top.
Impressive is the sight of hundreds of thousands of acres of tilled fields. I am fairly certain it is wheat. Rolling hills as far as a person can see in various stages of sprouting. It is difficult to appreciate the AIS (Ass In Seat) time those farmers must put in to get all the stuff planted. Turn under last years, crop, seeding this year with the application of fertilizer while planting. Some really big tractors spotted, many with 4WD and dual tires on the rear, the others with tracks to avoid compacting the soil. None of the machines were small. Expensive and costly operations.
Timing was good for the visit. The weather is supposed to turn tonight in Coeur D’alane and Boise. We have sun, reasonably warm. Tonight is about 2″ of snow in those areas.
When I lived in Spokane, I had a friend who was a big wheat farmer in that area, near FDR lake. He has a lake house with a speedboat over there.
He farmed something like 1500 acres of dryland grain. One year wheat, one year barley, one year fallow because it takes an extra year’s snowfall to raise a crop.
He retired recently.
He enjoied my stories about raising grain in the midwest. We’d sometimes get 3 crops in 2 years, vs. his 2 crops in 3 years. I had a winter wheat/soybeans/corn rotation. I also had 60 inches of rain annually, vs. his 18 inches.
Outsquatting the Squatters
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/03/outsquatting_the_squatters.html
“an inept and morally bankrupt judicial system”
Pretty much all of it.
Just finished binging Away on Netflix. Story of the first manned flight to Mars and the troubles encountered, both on the ship and back at home. Hillary Swank stars as the mission commander.
Alas, Seasons 2 and 3 were cancelled. What was to be covered sounded interesting.
Got up here and got the yard mowed. It wasn’t as bad as I’d expected, but still looked better mowed.
Spent about half hour fishing. No luck.
Set up my firepit for tonight. It’s damp and chilly at 62F, but a fire will be nice.
Starlink is working. Set up a Roku stick and I can stream my youtube fix seamlessly. I want the wife to try working from here Friday, so we can see what the latency does with her VPN and work server. still have a bit of time to return it if it really won’t work. FWIW the antenna kept its aim thru a couple of windy storms, despite my makeshift mounting system
———
@jenny, I figured you must have tried most things before risking life and limb, but I also figured it was worth mentioning. I also seem to recall some technique involving throwing a rope up and over and then pulling it down and sideways, but I could be mis-remembering. I suppose counting on global warmening isn’t working out..
————
I followed a different route here today on a whim. It was only 10 minutes longer and the drive was beautiful. As I turned onto the road to the lake I came across an accident that was clearing- the ambulance drove away as did the fire dept. The cop stayed to talk to someone. A pickup truck had spun around and slammed into the ditch and trees. It was pretty well totaled. Couldn’t tell if she got hit or just lost control. Anyway, my detour kept me from being there around the time it must have happened. Sometimes a whim might be more than a whim.
n
For those that are wondering (@Nick) – Brian Bilbrey is still in the building.
Just too busy to update his blog. All is well, says he.
re: starlink mounting
I’m researching masts for ham radio antennas, and there are some fiberglass pole options that have starlink mounted on them. Not too tall, but how much height do you need?
I, on the other hand, want a minimum of 33 feet, and higher is better. I’ll have to go with a guyed system. Either aluminum or fiberglass. Aluminum would probably be better, but more of an investment.
@Jenny
@Nick is not mis-remembering.
If you can throw a rope (3/8″ poly is good) over the peak from the opposite side (or throw it down both sides from the roof), and anchor it on the non-working side, you can start in the middle, pull down and work it side-to-side a couple feet, and you should start loosening some at the bottom so it will fall off. Widen from there. Helps if you get to it when it hasn’t had time to set too long. With a person on the anchor side you can saw the rope a bit to work it down at the peak.
If you have cap shingles you should note which way they run. The rope will pass over them one way but tend to hang up the other. With some practice you can “crack the whip and move the rope to that side as needed. If you snag one it is not an instant hole in the roofing and they are easy to replace.
If the side of the roof you are working gets some sun, clearing a bit at the bottom will encourage melting and discourage ice dams.
There is another trick if the roof gets sun and you can get to the peak: broadcast a couple pounds of pulverized wood ashes. The ashes are acidic, but much easier on plantings and grass than ice melt salts.
The conventional way to deliver the latter is to pack a pound in an old sock, tie it off, and toss it up from the ground. But if you do it from the rook you can spread that pound in a line just down from the peak and get a lot of bang for the buck.
This is not a chemical process, it is simply solar absorbance. Snow will reflect about 90% of solar energy, whereas wood ashes, being mostly carbon, will only reflect about 30%.
Thank you for the excellent ideas gentlemen.
Took daughter to see Luca today. Laughed a LOT.
I want to see GB3 but that’ll be on my own.
Everyone is snacking instead of dinner. Most nights I cook, tonight I’m lazy.
re: starlink mounting
The height of the Starlink antenna doesn’t matter NEARLY as much as the percentage of clear sky looking up from the antenna. Of course, the higher the antenna, the less stuff like trees will interfere. I need to move my Starlink antenna; a couple of oak branches have been intruding into the sky above the Starlink antenna. SOME foliage above is tolerable, but when the leaves form a canopy, you’re going to get dropouts.
“The greatest thing Scott Adams has ever said. It gives me the chills to finally see the gears of the machine.”
https://www.reddit.com/r/dilbert/comments/1bm5asd/the_greatest_thing_scott_adams_has_ever_said_it/
“Trump’s Third Act has begun. It’s a beauty.” by Scott Adams
https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1771256365597741224
“Next week, Trump could make over $4 billion when his media company goes public, removing all doubt about his billionaire status. And you can stop asking if he would have been better off putting his inheritance in a savings account in the 70s. I expect Trump to leave a 15% tip for Leticia James and the Democrats because they made his windfall possible by hunting him and censoring him for years. You can call it a bond, not a tip, if you prefer. When the Supreme Court tosses out the unconstitutional fine, Trump gets most of his “tip” back. The Democrats planned to cripple Trump financially so he couldn’t spend as much on the campaign. Trump turned Leticia James into his best fundraiser.”
“SpaceX launches its 30th Dragon cargo mission to the ISS (video)”
https://www.space.com/spacex-nasa-crs-30-iss-cargo-launch
“SpaceX launched its 30th cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA this afternoon (March 21), carrying 3 tons of supplies and scientific hardware to the orbiting lab.”
Impressive. Repeatability is not trivial.
>> In my group, we are told on a regular basis that we have been spared from layoffs … for now.
Just consider keeping your CV updated as another prep.
“First Human to Receive Neuralink Implant Says It Lets Him Play Civilization VI”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/first-human-to-receive-neuralink-implant-says-it-lets-him-play-civilization
“29-year-old Nolan Arbaugh, a quadriplegic, says the brain implant has allowed him to play chess and Civilization on his PC using his mind. ‘I’m so freaking lucky to be a part of this,’ he says.”
Wow, scary stuff. Good for him, I will pass though.
How do you keep the hackers out of your brain implant ? I can’t keep them from hacking my software.
>> Impressive. Repeatability is not trivial.
More TSLA distraction.
Nice night out on the dock. Lots of great music on WRMI Legends, 9.455mhz.
Some things can get better with age, like a 30 yo Montecristo…
Spent 2 hours + instead of my usual ~1 hr.
Sky had a light overcast, so no stars, but the full moon was making a ring in the sky.
I’m really liking my electric infrared heater to keep my back and neck warm as the fire dies to ashes. It’s a lot simpler to set up and use than the LP gas patio heaters.
And it actually got warmer, from 58F to 60F in the last hour.
But now, I’m well overdue for bed.
n
Lots of SF written about brain implants.
n
The only author that I can think of off-hand who started out writing dreck and improved tremendously is Dean Koontz.
Isn’t “Lightning” one of his earliest books ? I consider that to be his best work followed by “Odd Thomas”. “Watchers” fits in there somewhere.
Lots of SF written about brain implants.
Yup and not much of it went well for the implantee.
Climbing on the roof seems risky…
Climbing on the ICY roof seems risky…
Fixed that for you.
re: starlink mounting
The height of the Starlink antenna doesn’t matter NEARLY as much as the percentage of clear sky looking up from the antenna. Of course, the higher the antenna, the less stuff like trees will interfere. I need to move my Starlink antenna; a couple of oak branches have been intruding into the sky above the Starlink antenna. SOME foliage above is tolerable, but when the leaves form a canopy, you’re going to get dropouts.
My office Starlink antenna is only a foot off the ground. But, it is 15 feet away from the nine foot at the edge building and has a clear view of the northern sky.
I have a four foot pole for it that I plan to install any day now.
Yeah right, pull the other leg, it has a bell on it.
The book writing stuff is low-budget. Or I am a cheapskate. Or both.
Repeat after me, I am not a cheapskate, I am frugal.
A California Company Is Making a Business Out of Kicking Squatters Out of Properties
https://redstate.com/brandon_morse/2024/03/23/a-california-company-is-making-a-business-out-of-kicking-squatters-out-of-properties-n2171801
Rip the doors off and force them out.
Almost SteveF-ian
I did not see the baseball bats !
Just finished binging Away on Netflix. Story of the first manned flight to Mars and the troubles encountered, both on the ship and back at home. Hillary Swank stars as the mission commander.
Alas, Seasons 2 and 3 were cancelled. What was to be covered sounded interesting.
Travelers is by and far the best SciFi show on Netflix. Away was pretty good too. There is a movie, Voyagers ?, about a bunch of kids taking a generation ship to another star system, that is good too. Lots of good stuff on Netflix, lots of crap too.
RickH, thanks for the update on Brian Bilbrey, a relief.
And it’s a beautiful day. Shirt sleeves, small breeze, sunny.
Now I need to get moving to get out of here at a reasonable time.
It was a beautiful day for a funeral. We buried a good Christian friend today, 89 years young. Us guys in our little group went out to eat lunch three weeks ago. He exited the restaurant and managed to fall while putting his walker in his SUV. We tried to help without hurting but just ended up calling an ambulance for him. He somehow hit his head on the parking lot concrete and broke his nose. He had a brain bleed and they could not stop it, he passed in the ICU a week ago.
I told his wife that he made the last three years on sheer will power. He had a quadruple bypass about 5 or 6 years ago that went bad, he spent six months in St. Lukes after the surgery. He came out with 20% heart fraction output which is just about death level. I spent an afternoon with him while he was undergoing kidney dialysis (his kidneys failed after the surgery) and he was incredibly positive about the entire mess.
My wife and I have two relatives that I know of buried there in Forest Park Cemetery on Westheimer in Houston. It was surreal to drive through it and think about them. Also, we are getting older in our middle 60s, and have no end of life plans. We are talking about burial versus cremation kinda loosely. My wife wants cremation which is cheaper so more money can go to our kids.
Stuff you have to think about, even if you don’t really want to…
You never know how long you may live. I want to plan for 100+, in the sense that I don’t want to have to depend on our kids financially. Which also means that they shouldn’t plan on an inheritance – if we live that long, we will have used all of our assets (and anyway, they would themselves be retirement age). The biggest unknown, of course, is if/when we may need a retirement home.
Personally, we don’t much care for burial plots or mausoleums. Lots of expense, and for what? We both just want cremated, and our ashes scattered somewhere meaningful. I like what was written in “Old Man’s War”: the guy doesn’t want to visit his wife’s grave, because, in the cemetery, she has only ever been dead. He prefers remembering her life.
Part of SpaceX is genuine achievement.
But TSLA is nowhere close to a bottom.
These days, Musk won’t get a head fake rallly like DIS heading into the shareholder meeting next month.