Cool and clear again, which is awesome. Yesterday was very nice too. Drove around with windows down. I am hoping for another great day.
Did my pickups yesterday. Put one off until next week, forgot one that I’ll try to get today, and added one that I blew off on Tuesday. Hit the goodwill outlet and got some good stuff while I was north of town. That was in addition to all the domestic bliss of laundry and cleaning. And testing some auction items. Oh, and cycling some of my smaller lead acid batteries through the smart charger. The big ones are always connected to a smart charger/maintainer, but all the smaller ones get topped up when I think about it.
What I didn’t get done was any additional work on my hobby website. I’m suppose to report to the board at today’s meeting. Today is my non-prepping hobby meeting, and then I’m headed to the BOL with D1. D2 and my wife are doing Girl Scout things this weekend. I’ve got a bunch of stuff to load up for the trip, and I’m sure I’ll have more to do there than just cutting the grass. I’m hoping I’ll have some weeding to do in the garden… thinning out the radishes and turnips for sure…
And I’ll have the blueberry bushes to plant that I didn’t get in the ground last time. I’ll be taking some seeds with me and discussing with my buddy if it’s worth putting some of the stuff in the ground. It would be a bit late here, but the BOL is one zone behind.
Or maybe it’s not too late here, as one of our friends is putting in a quite ambitious garden here in town. Interesting to see people taking action… finally.
It’s not too late to start or to expand your prepping. Until the disaster happens, there is still time. It just gets more expensive and difficult the longer you wait. So don’t wait. Stop coming up with reasons why NOT and start working the problem. I’m blown away by the creativity applied to NOT taking any steps to prepare shown in the comments on some other blogs who have recently started featuring prepping content. Spend that energy on something helpful, something that might make a difference in your life.
Start stacking!
nick
The other day Lynn opined that my little red hen was a dog. I dispute that. Would a dog happily sit on my head and rest there?
Yesterday Red Hen was on my head. More precisely, she was on my Stetson, which was on my head. I was sitting and working, per usual, and she jump-flew onto the back of my Adirondack chair to check on what I was doing and to make sure that I was earning money to buy more food pellets and mealworms for her. Having satisfied herself on that front, she investigated my hat and then tried to get on it, for reasons that no doubt make sense in a chicken brain. She couldn’t quite manage to get past the brim because it wouldn’t hold her weight, so I helped her up. She then settled down to chill out. I didn’t manage to get a picture because my laptop’s camera app was acting up. Unfortunately for her nap time, the hawk came buzzing the yard again within minutes. I’m guessing that it didn’t recognize that a human was right there, presumably because I was sitting with a computer in my lap and a chicken on my head. As may be, it came within easy rock-throwing distance, if I’d had a rock, which I didn’t. I got up, dislodging Red Hen, and went to check that the rest of the birds were in the bushes or otherwise safe from the hawk.
@Nick
Blondie hit mainstream with in 1979 with “Heart of Glass” from their third album, Parallell Lines, and followed with “Call Me” on the soundtrack to American Gigolo in 1980.
Yeah, overplayed. Along with “Dreaming”, “Hanging on the Telephone” and several more.
Try “Rip Her to Shreds” and “Rifle Range” are from their debut album in 1976. “Denis” from Plastic Letters. “Fade Away and “Radiate” and “11:59” are on Parallel Lines, when they transitioned moved away from new wave toward pop.
At some point I may sieve my cd collection and put together a “Bang a Gong” theme album. Blondie and Robert Palmer will be the first two covers.
Top NHS adviser on trans health failed to cooperate with Cass Review
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/11/top-nhs-adviser-trans-health-failed-cooperate-cass-review/
My, isn’t that awkward?
You don’t suppose that their patient outcomes conflict with their public statements?
I have been impressed with the Apple Airpods Pro. The noise cancelling is really good. There is an adaptive audio mode that cancels most of the annoying noise but allows speech to be heard. There is also the anti-wife mode that blocks all sounds. I used the Airpods on the flight to, and from, Europe and Washington State. They worked really well and are much smaller to carry than my Bose headphones.
The biggest downside is the expense, currently about $200.00 on sale.
Well, the worst has happened. plugs cut his umpteenth vacay short because of IRANNNN!
Things could get interesting.
@ray, are they rated as noise protecting though? Most ‘noise cancelling’ head and ear phones are not.., and would be inappropriate for shooting or construction work.
—————-
beautiful sunny day, 80F, with a mild breeze. Home from my meeting, and changed into some shorts for loading the truck. I need to UN-load it first though.
Meeting went well and we are starting planning for our big show in August already. Fun times.
n
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/04/update-6-dead-sydney-mall-mass-stabbing-attack/
n
Revealed: Sydney knifeman, 40, who killed five women and one man in Westfield shopping centre bloodbath ‘was known to police’ and targeted screaming mother and her baby first in 15-minute rampage until lone female cop shot him dead
The Sydney knife man doesn’t look very English. That “he was known to police” and they aren’t saying his name says a lot.
Thass rayciss!
The thing of wonder is that anyone at all believes the MSM about anything at all.
“Football club” jersey. I’m guessing Middle Eastern origin of some sort.
The budget line item which funds them is cut by 10% for every day they refuse to comply, and they don’t get the money back once they knuckle under.
Criminal charges may also be possible, for anything from refusal to comply with open records requirements to breach of contract to defiance of a subpoena.
That, and the scruffy beard, and the big knife. The Aussie police wouldn’t DARE release the number of pro-Hamass and pro-intifada videos found on his phone. Because Australia has fallen to the Islamic hordes just as Britain and Canada have done.
The parents of a colleague are downsizing, and he received a Nilfisk pressure washer. Not having a use for it, he kindly gave it to me.
I went to use it yesterday, to get the pollen crust off our vehicles, and it promptly gave up, leaking from the mains-pressure only.
Today I took it apart, to see what I could see. The culprit was the non-return valve on the pump unit, which had failed, allowing water to escape. An 8-buck replacement part.
Unfortunately, since I had been into the mechanism to diagnose the failure, I would also need a set of replacement O-rings, plastic valve seats and a new on-off valve to do a proper overhaul, plus some silicone grease and 80ml new high-pressure oil for the pump.
In total, over 65 bucks in parts and consumables, for an 18 year old unit, plus my time and labour. Not happening. I can get a whole Nilfisk washer, one generation younger, new in box, delivered and under guarantee for 90.
I hate our throw-away economy. I cannot economically repair a piece of quality equipment.
Ah well, at least I now have 3m of good quality power cord, with a moulded plug, a handful of nitrided self-tapping Torx screws, three hardened and ground steel pins (the former valve stems), a few stout springs, a thrust bearing with hardened washers, and a rather nice ⅓ to ½ horsepower electric motor and switch.
What am I going to build with all that? Hmm …
Welp, this did happen at a shopping mall. Maybe he was confused and couldn’t find the Hawaiian snack bar.
Until he did.
“Iran Readies Over 100 Cruise Missiles For Possible Strike Against Israel: US Officials”
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-restricts-diplomats-travel-israel-bracing-iran-attack-expected-weeks-end
“Update(1740): Multiple European airlines have canceled all flights to and from Iran, and flight trackers also indicate that skies above Israel are clear of civilian aviation.”
“Speculation is at a frenzy over the ‘when & where’ of the coming Iranian retaliation attack. “Anonymous US officials” have been feeding alarming headlines to media outlets all day – and among them the following:”
I have no idea what is going to happen but this has been building for a long time. Israel has been enduring daily attacks from Iran proxies for years. I admire their restraint, I would have responded at the next level years ago.
DM reports a possible drone attack on Israel by Iran.
What Will plugs Do? WWpD?
“Net Zero? Fossil Fuels Are Leaving Us Before We Leave Them”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/04/12/net-zero-fossil-fuels-are-leaving-us-before-we-leave-them/
“Figure 1: Projection of Chinese coal production to 2100.”
“Their best guess of the year of the production peak was 2024, which is now. There is no plateau; production tips over into a decline rate that settles down at 75 million tonnes per year and starts bottoming out late in the century. There is some support for this prediction in that Chinese coal imports have started rising strongly in the last few years. To fill their production contracts in 2024, Chinese coal mines are tending to wash their coal less, producing the contract tonnage but with a lower calorific value.”
“Most of China’s coal production is from underground mines with mining cost increasing with depth. It is said that the average depth of Chinese underground coal mines is increasing by 10 to 25 metres per annum. The average dip of coal seams mined is 13˚. There is indirect support for the view that at least half of China’s coal endowment has been mined from this graphic from a 2023 paper:”
Yesterday it was Peak Oil. Now it is Peak Coal. Tomorrow, Peak Nuclear ?
Last I recall the U.S. had over 200 years of coal reserves based on our usage.
I brought in five bags of wood stove pellets on a sunny day in late February. A case of “if I don’t, I’ll need them and it will be sleeting snow”. Today I toted them back to the stack in the barn.
It didn’t seem like a mild Winter but I used only 10 bags of pellets. I used 23 bags last year.
The house plants, all three, are about to go out the sliding door. It’s mid-April, they should be fine.
My grandson (age 13) has expressed an interest in a PC gaming system. He (and the family) have various gaming consoles (PS/5, Switch and more). He enjoys playing on those devices, but has expressed an interest in other systems.
Some basic research indicates getting an Intel Core i5-13400F or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X processor with a n Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 or AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT video card are recommended, with at least 16GB RAM, and a 500GB SSD drive, with maybe additional storage (1TB SSD?).
Will also need an appropriate sized monitor, and whatever handheld devices needed. New system, possibly refurbished or used? Desktop or laptop? Cost under $1k possible? Mail order or retail store?
He (along with one of his four siblings) been recently diagnosed with Pompe disease
Still working on the treatment plans for him and his younger sister (age 7) – which involves gene replacement therapy (via IV) and physical therapy. The gene replacement therapy is not a cure, and the disease may result in early death (ages 20-30).
So, we’re helping out where we can.
I’m not a gamer. In all my decades of computing, I’ve never gotten into the gaming scene. So, recommendations from the hive mind here for a gaming system that would be appropriate for him are appreciated.
>> https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/04/update-6-dead-sydney-mall-mass-stabbing-attack/
No CCW ‘down under’…
In Australia, to legally possess a handgun, the owner must be licensed, and the gun must be registered; the owner must be a member of a recognized gun club, and the gun may be transported only between home, range, and the gunsmith’s shop.
Sympathy for the grandkids, Rick. If the hivemind here doesn’t have sufficient suggestions, I’ll ask my younger son. Considering how busy he is (really is; he’s the one in the Army, wears multiple hats, and is a leader in an understaffed group) he sure spends a lot of time gaming and fiddling with his and his wife’s gaming computers.
With exceptions for the Only Ones, of course.
wide curved monitor for gaming, it’s de rigour these days.
other hardware, Greg is probably most aware, unless someone who doesn’t comment frequently has some expertise??
n
Off to the bol.
n
I don’t game much on the PC beyond Civilization III and Starcraft II, but I built two systems last year, one with a Ryzen 5 5600 which is my new primary desktop.
Note the 5600 without X or G. I was only interested in picking up enough CPU and memory upgrade to run Docker for Windows, but the machine is really fast with 64 GB RAM.
The other system is a Ryzen 7 5700X which is my wife’s new primary desktop. I’d probably look at that CPU for a game machine if you want do do AMD don’t want to step up to AM5.
That system got 64 GB RAM as well, identical to my new desktop. Whichever machine we keep longer will evetually get the full 128 GB.
Both new machines used AM4 motherboards, one a business class Asus (my desktop) and the other an Asrock which had to be returned for exchange once due to the board being DOA. AM4 is at the end of its life.
As far as graphics cards, my desktop got a GT710 which is not a gaming card. The other desktop got something newish and Nvidia for about $300 which was new about a year ago.
Both systems have Cooler Master CPU fans. The stock AMD fan is not sufficient.
A laptop is not really an ideal gaming machine.
>> What Will plugs Do? WWpD?
Hide in the WH basement instead of the Delaware basement.
Last I recall the U.S. had over 200 years of coal reserves based on our usage.
Most of the coal in the USA has at least 200+ feet of overburden (dirt) to be removed before it can be gotten to.
There is 200 years of proven natural gas reserves in the USA. Half of the natural gas wells are closed off due to lack of market. There is probably 1,000 years of natural gas in the USA.
ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 4060 with 8GB RAM. Currently $319 at Newegg.
The card seems to work fine, but that system has not been used much in the last year.
No. There is some discussion on Apple rumor mills about Apple somehow making the AirPods also function as hearing aids. If Apple can pull that off, and get certification, that would really be an almost “game over” for Miracle Ear and other such companies. Their products are already highly overpriced by a few hundred percent.
Take a nap.
Include me and there is 1,000.10.
As long as the AI monkey trick lasts, those systems are going to consume an increasing amount of power which is starting to get scary.
Crusoe Energy, which was a big player in bitcoin mining by diverting flared gas, announced a move into AI last fall with the H100, etc. They’re making all the puppets dance at the prospect of the kind of money they have to spend.
>> There is some discussion on Apple rumor mills about Apple somehow making the AirPods also function as hearing aids. If Apple can pull that off, and get certification, that would really be an almost “game over” for Miracle Ear and other such companies. Their products are already highly overpriced by a few hundred percent.
With thousand dollar iPhones you expect Apple to sell hearing aids as a loss leader?
I was actually referencing Miracle Ear but I suppose Apple could be included. Samsung and LG phones are also overpriced.
@Lynn
https://redstate.com/bonchie/2024/04/13/iran-may-have-just-overplayed-its-hand-by-attacking-israel-n2172722
Limited response:
Reduce the the 200 fighters by 90%
Reduce the ballistic missile sites
Drop every bridge on every road into or alternate route to Qom, every electrical substation within 20 miles, and all communication lines more sophisticated that a string between two tin cans.
Carriers are financing the phones again which makes most people oblivious about the true cost.
I am financing my phone. Only because Xfinity gave me $830.00 (spread over 24 months) for my two year old phone for which I paid $900.00. I did do the math and know the true cost. I don’t envision myself changing carriers for a couple of years. The only disadvantage is the SIM lock on the phone. I pay $60.00 a month (not including the phone payment and monthly credit) for two lines, unlimited, with tethering allowed.
Very nice here at the BOL. 71F with a light breeze. I didn’t quite get the grass mowed, I”ll have to finish tomorrow. I will def have a fire and some radio on the dock tonight. Beautiful nights are not to be wasted.
REALLY don’t want the opening salvos of WWIII while my pack is divided…
n
Iran should be taken back to the stone age. No surviving electrical power, no bridge over any water way, no wharfs in their harbors, airports reduced to rubble. Solar panels and antennas are guaranteed targets. Any Palestinian may be transported there without Israel having to explain why. Any country may use the interior of Iran for neutron bomb testing.
No vehicles – cars, trucks, buses, bicycles and trains get attacked whenever and wherever they appear including carts pulled by donkeys.
All of their citizens who are abroad have ten days to go home before they are declared stateless.
The Kurds may create a country out of whatever parts of Iran they wish to claim.
I’m probably being generous and left something out but I’m confident that you will point out my errors and omissions.
“Biden Is Spending $1 Trillion to Fight Climate Change. Voters Don’t Care”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/04/11/biden-is-spending-1-trillion-to-fight-climate-change-voters-dont-care/
“First published JoNova; “More than 60% of voters surveyed by the Yale University Program on Climate Change Communication said they have heard “a little” or “nothing at all” about the 2022 law known as the Inflation Reduction Act””
Biden is a dictator.
“The Earth’s Temperature”
https://temperature.global/
We are all going to die.
THAT is certainly true. I’ve already exceeded my allotted “three score and ten”, but my family has been long-lived, so I may have another 15 years or so. If FJB doesn’t manage to provoke WW III.
My grandson (age 13) has expressed an interest in a PC gaming system. He (and the family) have various gaming consoles (PS/5, Switch and more). He enjoys playing on those devices, but has expressed an interest in other systems.
All I do is play old Spider Solitaire from Windows 7.
https://www.groovypost.com/howto/install-windows-7-classic-games-windows-10/
Good morning (or Armageddon).
While we slept…
BBC is reporting “over 300” missiles, most of which were intercepted.
Has Iran now shot its wad, and will Israel respond with a public shrug and private assassinations, or with a show of overwhelming force?
Interesting times.
Finished my fire. Radio (WRMI Legends) was playing a nice mix. Wind was a bit strong but died down to reasonable around 1130. It started nice and clear and black but got a bit hazy later.
Saw my first shooting star of the season.
Got a bit chilly when the fire died out. 64F and a breeze off the lake = chilly.
Time to do a quick look at the news, then shower and bed.
n
BBC is reporting “over 300” missiles, most of which were intercepted.
Has Iran now shot its wad, and will Israel respond with a public shrug and private assassinations, or with a show of overwhelming force?
Iran watched the effects of its 300+ missiles on the Iron dome.
The next test will have 1,000+ missiles. Or, 5,000+ missiles.
Iran is a very large country with 90 million intelligent citizens. They are Persians, not Arabs.
>> REALLY don’t want the opening salvos of WWIII while my pack is divided…
Just my 2 cents but I don’t think it gets to WWIII level until the first nuke comes into play…
>> Good morning (or Armageddon).
While we slept…
Hey, a few of us on the left side of the pond are still up! 🙂
Besides, sleep is for the weak!
You are right in my case, at least. I conked out early last night while watching YouTube; an old b/w promotional film for Harry Ferguson tractors. We wants one, Precious.
My afternoon fixing stuff (or at least trying to fix it… I did manage to rescue W1’s favorite hairdryer) apparently really tired me out. Not fully over the pneumonia yet. Baby steps.
Was not expecting to awake to Armageddon, though.
Those I know describe themselves as “Persians”, as they want nothing to do with the regime of the Mullahs. Sad that the Iranians can’t or won’t free themselves. Also sad that Jimmy Carter, with help from France, threw the Shah to the wolves; perhaps he could have succeeded in westernising his country.
I am not betting on TEOWAWKI today, but I did just order a year’s worth of shaving supplies (Proraso cream, soap and balm, and Feather razor blades). Call that prepping, or optimism, as you will. I will face Armageddon beardless.
Those I know describe themselves as “Persians”, as they want nothing to do with the regime of the Mullahs. Sad that the Iranians can’t or won’t free themselves. Also sad that Jimmy Carter, with help from France, threw the Shah to the wolves; perhaps he could have succeeded in westernising his country.
A couple of my friends left when the Shah left. They have a flooring store here in Fort Bend County. They are frugal and do well. Both were engineers in Iran.
Another is a school study group member. He left TAMU in 1980 because Iran cut off his school funds in the middle of our junior year and he had no money. Iran wrote him a letter and ordered him to come home which he ignored as he was a nephew of the Shah. He learned how to fly an F14 as a teenager and it was his job to shoot down the planes going to Saudi or Iraq. I have no idea what happened to him. He was incredibly smart and always led our class grades except thermo, that was me.
Another is a university prof. He survived the purge and escaped to Kuwait. I reviewed his book on petroleum fractions that he wrote in the 1990s. I have even used it as a reference.
I am surprised that Israel didn’t immediately retaliate. It would have had to be a measured response: something like destroying several valuable military targets.
Since they didn’t, it looks like they are just going to “take it” – sit behind their Iron Dome and thumb their noses. Which is even more “measured”, but does invite a second, more effective attack.
On the gripping hand, the Iranian attack may be intended entirely for internal propaganda purposes. Where the government can make up whatever they want about how they massively damaged the Zionist infidels.