Cool last night, and I’m hoping that continues. But it was sweatier than Satan’s butt crack in Houston. I was soaked to the skin loading the truck.
So yesterday was a bit of a kick in deeznutz… after doing my morning stuff, and just before I was ready to leave the house, I started getting texts about the power being out at the BOL, and there being a bunch of trees down, etc. That changed my plan for the day, and the weekend as it turned out.
Seems the bad weather that passed north of Houston Wed night did a number on the area around the BOL. In particular it dropped some big trees on power lines, and shook chunks of tree out of the sky all over the place. Including the roof of my house, the patio, and other places to be discovered in the light of day today.
Hearing how long the power had been out, I loaded up my truck with all the stuff I’d brought home to deal with the disaster in Houston- fuel, generators, tree cutting stuff… and I headed up. Had to do a stop on the east side of town to pickup stuff that couldn’t be delayed and EVERYONE was driving light idiots. Huge backups and delays throughout the Houston area. Took longer to get to my pickup, took longer to get to the BOL.
I only had about twenty minutes of daylight to get a gennie set up and survey the damage. One quick walk around and I was busy with propane and pull cords. Got ‘er adjusted and running, ran cords to the stuff that is supposed to be cold, and a few convenience items. Fans and starlink being the most critical. Cell booster antenna got knocked by a tree and will be one of the first things I try to put right today.
Then I’ll start looking at where I can cut and remove limbs and debris. Some stuff will need a pro, like the tree that is leaning on the chimney. I’d love to pull it back to vertical, but IDK if that works. Losing it will suck both for structural reasons -it stabilizes the hill, and for practical reasons = it shades the house in the afternoon, saving power on A/C.
Much of what fell was supposed to have been removed some time ago, but we delayed. That should be a lesson- if it needs doin’, do it.
That goes for fixing the generators too. I should have jumped on that. As for solar, it moved up the list, and involved some discussion with the boss. She’s on board with putting some up and getting started on the path.
It’s been a hellova few weeks, but it would have been a lot worse without stuff from the stacks. It’s not over, I think stuff like this is just getting started. Even if you are just getting started, stack something!
nick
Dang Nick. Hang in there. Hydrate. Use care on those trees.
Yah, that’s why I said jail, not prison. Jails are a lot less rule-bound, though I suppose that depends on each state’s rules and certainly depends on the sheriff or chief of police.
From what I read here, it doesn’t sound like procrastination as much as having chosen to work on other tasks. If you’d known in advance what was coming you’d have prioritized differently, but that’s a game no one ever wins.
Trees around the house in The South are a maintenance list item which need professional consultation at least once a year.
Texas trees are in especially bad shape since the freezes in 2021 and 2023.
Bell County got pounded this week. The local Faux News reported last night that a pair of tornadoes hit Temple/Belton, which is probably why my wife got the email early in the evening about the big Temple VA complex being closed to out-patient services today.
https://www.fox7austin.com/news/texas-severe-weather-significant-damage-bell-county
The thumbnail for the video shows the Subway and gas station where I used to stop when I worked at CGI in Belton.
That area is at the daytime broadcast limit of the Clear Channel blowtorch radio station in San Antonio so the media-generated gas “shortages” in Austin which the media created in 2017 and reattempted in 2018 never seemed to reach up there.
Now the media line is that you can buy an EV, save money by skipping the weekly fillup, and cruise by the suckers waiting in line for gas during “shortages” at Ludicrous Speed.
The CEFCO looks damaged, but they are open for business.
That station is on a key intersection, I-14 and I-35, and I’ve never seen it closed or out of gas.
There would be h*ll to pay if the military brass living in Rogers, etc. couldn’t fill the tank heading to Killeen or the Austin “futures” command boondoggle like where my wife’s nephew aspires to be stationed.
Inquiring minds want to know how you are able to accurately make the comparison.
Good point, Ray. True expertise can be gained only by hands-on experience.
Are you certain just the hands were used?
Liars and frauds
https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2024/05/24/those-all-electric-firetrucks-are-a-sad-joke-n3788988
All electric?
That’s like saying that teflon is “all natural”. After all, it is made up of naturally occurring atoms.
Trees around the house in The South are a maintenance list item which need professional consultation at least once a year.
– we had the bid, just couldn’t coordinate a time to do it. 7 trees needed big work. Fewer now, I think
Inquiring minds want to know how you are able to accurately make the comparison.
– “why, by the taste of course”
————————
no power this AM despite the late night chainsaws. Woke up after the gennie ran out. Hot. 80F in the shade. Mostly overcast with a breeze. Don’t think wife and kids are headed up.
My mom and sibling canceled their flight yesterday.
Changed the bottle and got the gennie up without a lot of fuss. Still not completely plug and play, but wasn’t too onerous. More than W is willing to put up with.
Plan for the day is get bigger gas gennie running with the new carb. Make the cordset for the connection…
Dig out the A/C unit from the shed, if possible. I’m starting to think I don’t have a running one up here and didn’t have room in the truck to bring one from the house. I can steal the unit from the dockhouse window if I need to but that’s less flexible than the roll around kind.
The Moka Pot makes a fine cup of coffee, even with modest source material. With the honda running well, I am loathe to change the load significantly, especially with something as heavy and variable as a coffee maker. I’m not sure why it’s being so fussy, but I will do some more research at some other time before hurricane season really gets going.
Time to finish the cup and groan my way into the day. Loading the truck and all the extra lifting has me starting this project behind the eight ball…
n
I wanted to watch a DVD last night. So turn on the stereo to power the blu-ray player. Turn on the player, insert disc and the remote didn’t work. A leaky battery. I replaced the batteries. The remote still doesn’t work. I can live with pressing the Play button on the player. That doesn’t work either. Unplug the player like a fool for a few minutes and try again. Rats. I did get to “enjoy” the commercials but if the controls don’t work? Time for new.
I bought the player when I bought the TV. I suppose 12 years or so is good enough.
I went to Newegg because I have a $15 coupon. I found a couple of players. Panasonic? Ok, They use to be pretty good. After checking out I noticed my mistake. The Panasonic is a DVD player. I have a few blu-rays I might want to watch again. Cancel the order. Buy the Sony BDP-S1700 blu-ray player. $62 with tax and my $15 coupon. Better price than Big River. Half the price of the old player.
I have a tracking number. USPS, well, maybe Wednesday. You never know.
Crutchfield has good info: https://www.crutchfield.com/p_158BDP1700/Sony-BDP-S1700.html
I also have a Sony Blu-ray player. It’s several years old, but has just worked. I keep telling myself I need to get another one to put on the shelf as a backup, but I keep finding other stuff to spend money on.
Hey I’m back up. Power was restored about half hour ago. Been putting stuff back on the house outlets.
I installed the new carb and the 25yo generac started on the third pull. I let it run for a bit, then shut down when I saw the power co-op in the neighborhood. Decided to start clearing downed limbs and give them some time to finish repairs.
Got most of the small stuff cut and piled, or at least off the patio. It’s 87F in the shade so I’m really glad to have power and A/C.
Starlink says it has partial obstruction now… I guess the leaves made a difference, or maybe the aiming moved. I’ll look at that later.
I think I’ll get a ladder and see what the roof looks like, and get the cell booster antenna restored…
n
No holes in the roof, antenna mostly pointed back where it should be..
Boy is it hot though. Had to come inside and cool down.
n
Cool last night, and I’m hoping that continues. But it was sweatier than Satan’s butt crack in Houston. I was soaked to the skin loading the truck.
I got soaking wet just doing my 1.3 mile walk at 8pm. Just about a million percent humidity.
I miss Montana.
“A few disaster recovery considerations coming out of Houston, TX”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2024/05/a-few-disaster-recovery-considerations.html
“Talking to friends in that area, I’ve been struck by the additional problems being experienced by people with breathing difficulties – asthma, COPD or the like. I’m hearing reports that those conditions are being aggravated by the humidity down there, which is about as high as it gets in the continental USA (and still is not at its full summer height). I’m told some patients have had to be admitted to hospital for breathing assistance, while others who rely on electrically powered technology like HEPA filters and CPAP machines are finding it very difficult to cope without them. Many are using generators, but after several days are running short of fuel for them – and fuel isn’t yet reaching local gas stations in the quantities required. My comments in earlier posts about emergency preparations, suggesting that we add gasoline to our supplies, are confirmed, I guess.”
I had no idea that many people were on CPAP machines.
Constant running to the gasoline station or the propane truck coming out is why I hooked my whole house generator up to the natural gas meter at the house. It cost me an extra $3,000 for a 200 foot pipe in the ground from the meter to the generator but was well worth it for the peace of mind.
I always hear folks going on about the humidity. They never lived about a 1000 feet from Mobile Bay. With no a/c. In the old duplexes of Brookley AFB.
Moving to the Edinburg/Mission/McAllen area of the Valley in Texas was like moving to the desert.
“Why are foreign countries’ borders always the priority?”
https://www.schiffsovereign.com/trends/why-are-foreign-countries-borders-always-the-priority-150875/
“This morning Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Yolanda Diaz, released an announcement to “celebrate that Spain recognizes Palestine State. . . [which] will be free from the river to the sea.””
“This comes on the heels of her boss, the Prime Minister of Spain, announcing formal recognition of Palestine as a sovereign nation, alongside his counterparts in Ireland and Norway.”
“Their joint statement preached that “We believe in freedom and justice” and that “permanent peace can only be secured on the basis of the free will of a free people.””
“High sounding language. Too bad the Prime Minister doesn’t apply the same logic to his own country, which is inundated with its own separatist, independent movements from the Basque Country to Catalonia to Galicia.”
“In 2017, for example, “the free will of a free people” in Spain’s Catalonia region voted overwhelmingly (92% to 8%) to become an independent, sovereign state. Leaders of the movement were soon arrested by the Spanish government and put on trial.”
Yup, hypocrites there.
“I miss Montana”
Yesterday morning we woke up to 4″ of heavy wet snow, about 20 miles south of Missoula. Today the temps were in the mid 60’s and sunny. Spent most of the day cleaning up broken branches on the lilacs and trees. Only one big branch and it was off of the apricot tree… which has beautiful blossoms every spring and has given us about 3 apricots in over 15 years.
“NCAA, Power Five conferences reach deal to let schools pay players”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/ncaa-power-five-conferences-reach-deal-to-let-schools-pay-players/ar-BB1mWWYo?ocid=nl_article_link
“The NCAA, the Power Five conferences and lawyers for the plaintiffs in three antitrust cases concerning the compensation of college athletes on Thursday completed approvals of a proposed settlement that would include a nearly $2.8 billion damages pool for current and former athletes and fundamentally alter how current and future athletes are paid for playing their sports.”
“The SEC and the Pac-12 conferences provided their approvals of the deal on Thursday, sources familiar with those actions told USA TODAY Sports. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing state of the process, which includes the parties needing to craft a formal version of the proposed agreement and obtain court approval for it. Thursday’s moves followed approvals earlier this week from the other three conferences and two NCAA governing boards.”
I have been waiting for this lawsuit to come to fruition. My analysis is that the NCAA will file bankruptcy and shut down about a year into it as more and more lawsuits are filed.
Nah. Try Communists instead. They don’t care about their border or citizens and welcome the moslem invasion that go on welfare.
Hey, like the folks in Washington DC.
Pretty strange way to get one lasting for more than four hours.
I don’t give 2 figs for sports, really, and except for baseball pre-strike or my kids’ teams, never did.
So my opinion has little value. I’ll give it anyway.
When the NCAA gets disbanded, bankrupted, and finally goes down in flames, I’ll drink a toast to their demise. I never cared about sports, but I went to the University of Illinois, and I loved our
mascotsymbol, Chief Illiniwek.Who was unpersoned by the NCAA. As little as I care for sports, I care for the opinion and offense taken by local indians less. Which was far from unanimous, in any event.
Woke NCAA bastages can all rot in the hot place.
I can imagine a world where universities exist as seats of learning and learned discourse, where ideas are explored, and scholars may choose to play sports, and prestige is gained by the contributions to science, technology, and the arts by their graduates. Not a world where a university is judged by the money their athletes make and their win/loss record in sportsball.
What sorts of pollinating insects do you have in your neighborhood?
Sonny Vaccaro, Matt Damon’s character in “Air”, moved on from Nike to become one of the driving forces in the early lawsuits about college players getting money from endorsements.
“Air” is more interesting to watch if you go into the movie knowing this factoid.
What sorts of pollinating insects do you have in your neighborhood?
We have several kinds of bees, bee hives scattered around the valley. The main problem is about the time they blossom, we get hit w/a hard frost and they are gone. Every once in a while, we see several green apricots but the birds get them B4 they ripen. We basically just keep it around for its looks. The apple tree, on the other hand, gives us (and the deer) lots of fruit.
“In 2017, for example, “the free will of a free people” in Spain’s Catalonia region voted overwhelmingly (92% to 8%) to become an independent, sovereign state. Leaders of the movement were soon arrested by the Spanish government and put on trial.”
Makes me want to contribute a few bucks. Wonder if there are any Spanish separatist violent murdering, baby-killing rapists and if they have a GoFundMe?
“I can imagine a world where universities exist as seats of learning and learned discourse, where ideas are explored, and scholars may choose to play sports, and prestige is gained by the contributions to science, technology, and the arts by their graduates. Not a world where a university is judged by the money their athletes make and their win/loss record in sportsball.”
A lot of plagiarized woke dissertations need to be cleaned up and millions of dollars in fraudulently paid salaries clawed back–hard–first.
if the Republicans get the control trifecta, a bill giving people with undiscovered plagiarized dissertations 30 days to resign and turn in their fraudulently obtained degrees but keep their back wages might be very popular with the taxpayers. After 30 days, using a fraudulently obtained degree to qualify for a job results in total forfeiture and prison time, with bail set at the sum of the last five years of disputed wages.
Kansas City Fires Butker Doxxer
https://hotair.com/headlines/2024/05/24/fafo-kansas-city-fires-butker-doxxer-n3789027
City employee that posted KC Chief’s kicker’s town of residence gets canned.
The Republicans only have to reverse the EOs regarding loan forgiveness in progress next January.
Borrower Defense will take care of academia, including many “good” schools.
After Trump is elected and Hunter Biden is charged, tried, and convicted, it’s nearly inevitable that he will suddenly get in touch with his feminine side and identify as a woman so as to get placed in a women’s correctional facility.
Rumor has it that a couple of inmates are contemplating the same ruse in the hope that they will get to be his cellmates. They have begun to lay out a plan, the first step is to change their names.
Best wishes for future success to Butch and Mallet.
A few months ago, I started watching Lake Speed Jr’s YouTube channel, Motor Oil Geek. I have found a lot of good information there, but as usual it takes a lot of time to learn much from videos. This 45 minute interview video packs a lot of summary information:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fAUweaRrc8
It is a good summary of hours’ worth of his regular videos. He doesn’t spend time here giving much of his reasoning, so if you have questions, Google his name or Motor Oil Geek with the topic of interest and select the Videos subset.
In this interview, he covers primarily how often to change oil, and why. There are some reasons stated here I have never found in the past. There are related topics. I like his belief in oil analysis and engine testing to prove theories. Although his background is racing, a lot of what he has found applies to everyday situations.
Today, the manufacturers’ advice is biased by the EPA, and the need to get the car through the warranty period. Most of what we are told outside of this is opinion.
Our “orchard” is down to six trees. Weather, stinkin antlered forest rats, and who-knows-what killed the rest. And only four of the trees produce anything. One of the species – apple ? — need a male tree and a female tree to get fruit. I think. And we’re down to the one. The other non-producer, I don’t know what the problem is. And the four that do give fruit don’t give much, and the bugs, birds, and stinkin antlered forest rats get most of it, and what’s left is usually misshapen. Doesn’t help that our soil is heavy clay, drainage is appalling, and neither my wife nor I know much about crops. She puts in the effort, I’ll give her that, but I don’t see much return on the effort so I think she’d be better off following my example, throwing up her hands and giving it up as a waste of time and money. Pretty much ditto for the garden. She and Grandma are always so proud of the vegetables they bring in but I’m neither innumerate nor forgetful and can see that we are paying well above premium prices for that basket of vegetables. -shrug- The main reason to keep it going is to give Grandma something to do and get some exercise. It’s worth it on that basis.
On the plus side, countering the family ineptitude with plants, I’m good with animals, including the scared, hostile cat that we kept for a couple weeks while its owner was on vacation. Want to guess who in the household did not get clawed?
My chickens mostly pretend to be scared of me when I reach down to scratch their necks but I’ve noticed that they tend to stay nearish me when I’m sitting down and working on my laptop while bird-sitting outside. Not always and sometimes they wander into the neighbor’s yards, or into the street when they’re gobbling up worms after rain, but more often than not they’ll be scratching somewhere near me or nestling into the mulched bushes near where I’m sitting. I have a handful of Adirondack chairs around the yard and will sit in whichever lets me keep an eye on the birds, get out of the direct sunlight, and get into or out of the wind. Sometimes they’ll trail along behind me when I’m doing chores out in the yard. Why, it’s almost like they know who feeds them.
If something scares them, like the hawk who nests behind our house and sometimes buzzes the yard, usually they’ll run for the bushes but sometimes will run to me and cluster around my legs. Great, I’m now playing the role of the rooster. Ignore the academic success, the international renown for expertise on a (now defunct) bit of software, or the fair few teens who put away the smart mouthery and the attitudes and come to me when they need serious advice about something serious. No, all that pales when set against a half dozen hens who come to me for safety.
Comment on the choices in the upcoming elections in Germany:
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2024/05/24/german-afd-members-expelled-from-far-right-coalition-group-right-before-eu-parliamentary-elections-n3789010
“In 2017, for example, “the free will of a free people” in Spain’s Catalonia region voted overwhelmingly (92% to 8%) to become an independent, sovereign state.
NOT TRUE
Leaders of the movement were soon arrested by the Spanish government and put on trial.”
TRUE
For the record, all my ancestors are Catalonians
Independence is a very cumbersome issue
Independence is a very cumbersome issue
Given the choice, the USA would break up into somewhere between 7 and 70 countries. Likewise with all of the other countries of the world. Of course, the USA being the third most populous country in the world, would probably resist the breakup the most.
Family has arrived. I ‘m so sore, and tired, I’m going to bed early. I got a LOT of stuff done.
wrt the “palestinians” it’s always easier to tell the other guy what to do than to do it yourself. Bonus points if it hurts the jews too.
n
Great, I’m now playing the role of the rooster.
Or the scarecrow. 😀
@nick, appreciate your detailed updates while also being the proverbial one-armed paper hanger.
Sorry for travails you’re facing, happy things were not worse.
And don’t forget Sgt. Esterhaus: https://youtu.be/T2QApwtE8zQ?si=htAd_Q4nzyfbbq4v
They need to stop pretending the athletes are there for college. What they have is a junior professional sports league, and it does not belong attached to a school. For those few athletes who also actually want an education, they will have to divide their time, just like anyone else who works their way through college.
For the rest of the student population, they can certainly do sports for fun. It’s their free time, after all. It’s even nice if the college provides some facilities, but again, it has nothing to do with getting an education.
I’m not up-to-date with Spain’s government, but this is just weird. Especially given their handling of Catalonia. Which looks like it may try again…
I was displeased to see pro-Palestine posters and flags at my school yesterday. I told the school administration what I thought of it. They replied that they have allowed this for a “limited” time, after which the display must be removed. We’ll see what kind of limited time they have in mind.
Hamas could end the violence any time. All they have to do is lay down their arms, stop hiding behind civilians, and surrender. Won’t happen, of course.
For most people, gardening is as much a hobby as anything else. Plus, fresh produce really is often better than store-bought. At least, you can grow varieties that would never survive the transport to a store.
That said, there is a huge difference in skill, and it’s not obvious (to me, anyway) what that difference is. There’s an older lady living in the apartment building next to us: she still has a tiny garden patch, and the stuff that comes out of it is…amazing. What does she do differently from anyone else? No idea…