Hot. Humid. HOT! It was high 90s yesterday and the humidity matched. Brain was boiling in my head. Had to get my cool vest out and wear it in the afternoon. Today will probably be similar.
I spent the morning fixing a second generator. New carb went on and it started on the third pull. Love that gennie, and glad it’s back in service. Power was restored around noon, so I didn’t need to use it, but I’ll take it back to Houston for the next blackout.
A quick note about extension cords while I’m thinking about them. If you are going to run a small gennie just for cold stuff and chargers, you will need extension cords. (assuming you don’t backfeed the house, or install a transfer switch). I like the ones with a molded on three-fer outlet on the end. I run 25ft and 50ft. I pick the length to put an end where I need it, and then extend to the next appliance. I always plug the “through” line into the middle outlet, and use the left or right for local power. This makes a nice branching power distro and is easy to troubleshoot. You don’t need super heavy cords if your gennie only puts out 20 amps anyway.
For the rest of the day I alternated picking up downed limbs, cutting the grass, and doing general cleanup. I’ve got two big burn piles, and I’m not done yet. I took the time to cool down several times. Even got my ice pack cool vest out of the freezer and wore it. It’s more effective than the evaporative cooling vest when it’s this humid. It made a big difference in my comfort.
I had to refuel the chainsaw twice so I guess I was busy.
Today will be more of the same, and if I’m not too crippled up I should be able to finish the cleanup. I’m pretty stiff and sore from the work. Physical fitness is a prep. I’ve never been one for working out, but I did do chinese martial arts and stretching for years. Unfortunately I stopped, and haven’t been able to get back in the habit. I’m finding that I can’t just “keep on” without extra effort though. Something has to change, and I think stretching and movement is a good place to start. I’ll add it to my list…
Stack. Especially infrastructure. You WILL need it.
nick
You tell the alumni.
The transfer portal and paid players might well be the end of the NCAA without any government intervention, however.
Here in Texas, two storied programs who floated by on reputation and past glory had their playoff chances ruined last year by “patsy” teams making effective use of transfer portal players on the opening weekend last year.
Texas State beating Baylor … Dogs and cats living together … mass hysteria!
We spend $85 million on high school football stadiums in Texas, and I saw this week that the University of Florida is talking a nine figure price tag generated from alumni donations … at least in theory … to rebuild their stadium, “The Swamp”.
Of course, Texas goes way beyond Florida, giving away the state’s $17 billion budget surplus to the local governments and school boards to temporarily hide tax increases which they will waste on nonsense like stadiums.
Driving by some of those high school stadiums in the Dallas area I was stunned by the facilities. Some of those stadiums far surpass what the smaller colleges have in Tennessee.
UT (TN) is one of those sports programs with a university attached. The university makes millions on concessions, parking and merchandise. Supposedly the ticket sales and broadcast money are directed towards the sports programs. I don’t fully believe that as there are some accounting tricks used to move money between buckets.
People are not allowed to bring their own food and drinks into the stadium. Instead, one must pay $8.00 for a 12-ounce bottle of water that can be purchased at Costco for $0.25. There are no drinking fountains that I have ever found in the stadium. If drinking fountains exist, they are well hidden and not plentiful. A hotdog (over cooked and shriveled) and soft drink (with 75% ice in the cup) will set a person back about $19.00.
The men’s urinal consists of a slate wall over a drain system. Bubba, the biker wannabe, tries to show off by discharging as hard as he can splashing urine on unsuspecting victims on either side. Then fakes his completion like his is shaking a one-foot fire hose.
A family of four (two parents and two children) will probably spend over $200.00 at the game with food and snack along with perhaps a horribly over-priced souvenir. Add in the cost of the tickets, probably about $350.00, and parking, $20.00 (and a long walk), means I have no desire to attend a game in person.
Standing for most of the game, because everyone in front is standing, listening to people scream, while trying ignore the sweaty double size lady in front that farts the entire game, having not taken a bath in about 18 days, and the person to the right opting to leave their seat for whatever, every 8.5 minutes.
Even more worthless are the cheerleaders down on the field. No one pays any attention to any of them while they prance around satisfying their own egos. Then there is the band tucked into the corner. How many times must a person listen to “Rocky Top” before it becomes the second most annoying sound in the stadium? Answer, once.
It used to be that the HOK stadiums were individual district wish list items which were up to the local taxpayers to approve, but the property tax “reform” passed last year by the Legislature and voters included an initiative allows state money to continue to be funneled into the nonsense even after the surplus is gone in two years.
I don’t think that the property tax rate “compression” will be a one time deal, but the question next time around will be how to pay for it.
We went to the Outback Bowl in Tampa the year Tennessee played Penn State so I know the agony of “Rocky Top” on repeat.
Of course, the really disturbing aspect of that afternoon in retrospect is that the Penn State Assistant Coach was probably raping the kid elsewhere in the stadium at halftime while Paterno contemplated the topology of his navel in the locker room before giving the team the obligatory pep talk.
Of course, Penn State won the game which was all the alumni care about, even now.
I gotta quit editing while multitasking.
“The most important tech product in the world” is slightly less important this morning for a reason I can’t discuss, but the big vendor’s CEO yakked up our factory shipping product as being critical to the success of the company’s quarter the other day so the pressure is still on our group.
No one is forced to attend games… the market says a $19 hotdog is reasonably priced as long as people keep buying them…
People are forced to PAY for stadiums under threat of law, so I object to any public money being spent beyond clean safe sturdy facilities that are used primarily by students in Phys Ed, or intramural sports.
We grew up with schools supporting sports as part of a cold war readiness program, and because the kids wanted to play and would play in the street if needed, so schools accommodated that desire.
It’s evolved into something else entirely, and other than the foreigners and their futbol, and the inner city ‘ballers’, no one seems to want to play for the sake of playing.
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82F and part clouds.
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Rough night. Woke with the worst leg cramps I’ve every had. And in my right leg, which never happened before, as well as the left. Man that sucked.
Getting started on the day though.
n
The Lithium-Ion Battery ‘Energy Storage’ Facility Blaze You Hadn’t Heard About…Is Still Burning
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2024/05/24/the-lithium-ion-battery-energy-storage-facility-blaze-you-hadnt-heard-aboutis-still-burning-n3788991
For conventional dispatchable power the costs are well-understood and documented over decades of operation.
Energy cost comparisons used by the green weinies do not take into account the true costs. When limited battery storage is added, which is only good for a few hours, the costs never include failures like this. A responsible approach would be to investigate not only the causes of failure, but also the costs of dealing with it. Those 15 million gallons of water used to fight the fire will contain unknown amounts of chemicals that do not magically disappear, and most probably leave the site through storm water drainage that is not connected to a treatment facility (even though such facility would not be capable of removing the chemicals) or containment. 15 million gallons is a bit over 2 million cubic feet, which would require a containment facility 500×500 ft2 by 8 feet deep.
@Nick
“People are forced to PAY for stadiums under threat of law, so I object to any public money being spent beyond clean safe sturdy facilities that are used primarily by students in Phys Ed, or intramural sports.”
Bonding bills usually require a simple majority of the votes cast, which result in taxes being extracted from all property owners.
It’s much easier to get people to vote for something than to motivate people to vote against, and these votes are preferentially scheduled for off-years that do not have the turnout of general elections.
I’d like to propose that only those voting for luxury expenditures get taxed, but I’ll cut to the chase and compromise: People voting “for” in an off-year get taxed double, and the obligation stays with the property if it is sold.
new video of Scttie Scheffler’s arrest:
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2024/05/25/all-of-scottie-schefflers-charges-will-be-dropped-n2639280
The police report filed is not an accurate description of the events in the video, to the extent that a civilian could easily be charged with filing a false report.
The video shows Scheffler’s video proceeding slowly, and from the time he turned left and let off the brakes to the time they were re-applied less than two seconds elapsed. I’m sure his speed and the exact elapsed time have already been determined, along with the distances involved.
In addition the officer that made the arrest, presumably the idiot that jumped on Scheffler’s vehicle, has been given “corrective action” for a policy violation, which phrasing later in the link sounds like he refused to turn over bodycam video and may have destroyed it.
And finally, the idiot blue city mayor wants the legal process to play out, but the parties directly involved seem to agree that charges should be dropped.
https://www.wave3.com/2024/05/23/sources-say-scottie-scheffler-arresting-lmpd-detective-mutually-agree-charges-should-not-proceed/
I just texted that link to a good friend who lives in SD county, Carlsbad-ish, he had no idea it was still burning.
A quick check of the CalFire website shows “no incidents” this morning.
FIFY
Daughter, some friends, and one of the friend’s mother are dress shopping, for the school’s end-of-year formal dinner. I’m wincing at the probable cost (what with the budget being a bit tight lately, what with expenses being up and household income down considerably from last year, what with the booming Bidenconomy) but the good news is that my daughter is even more reluctant to spend than I am. That being the case, and with her being accompanied by the mother and one friend with good fashion sense, I sent her off with a wad of cash and a credit card and told her to go ahead and pick up an interview-worthy pant suit and a couple blouses if she saw anything good.
The credit card is in her name, in fact, though of course I’m responsible for payments. She’s had it for about a year, a sign of how much trust she’s earned on that front. A handful of classmates have noticed it and remarked on it. “Lucky!” Yah, see, that’s why she’s trusted with a credit card and you aren’t. She doesn’t view it as an opportunity to go on a spending spree.
Taking a break to cool down and eat lunch.
Went out to finish mowing and the belt jumped off the mower deck which led me to think the universe might indeed be telling me to do the freaking maintenance FIRST and NOW.
So I started that by power washing the mower. The dirt on the motor was at least an 1/8″ thick and if I was going to wash it anyway, better to do it BEFORE working on it. In the mean time, it’s 94F in part shade. So I’m taking a break.
And I’m doubling my efforts to stay hydrated.
n
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.
Yup. This has become a farce. I do not know what the graduation rate of college scholarship athletes is but, I doubt that it is above 5%. Shoot, it may not even be 1%.
Graduation rates in general aren’t that wonderful:
https://www.bestcolleges.com/research/college-graduation-rates/
Dual Monitor problem
Today when I turned my desk top system on, I found my dual monitors are mirrored. Rebooting and switching the cables didn’t fix the problem.
I have an ASRock X470 motherboard with an AMD Ryzen 7 5700 CPU, and an ATI Radeon RX 580 display adapter with 8GB of display RAM that was new two months ago. Windows display settings does not detect a second display. I’ve tried unplugging both power and data cables and this doesn’t change.
I turned the system off and switched the DVI and HDMI cable at the monitors and again no change; I only have mirrored monitors.
The monitors are ASUS VK266H that I bought many years ago. Their built-in cameras are not supported and I have no problem with that.
Any suggestions?
Bob Sprowl, if you have a monitor with a VGA port and a cable or adapter to go from your computer to VGA, try hooking it up that way.
Try a cold boot (power down, wait a bit) with only one cable in the computer and then plugging in the other cable and seeing what happens.
We went through this with my daughter’s gaming computer (hand-me-down from her brother and his wife but still good) running Win10. I don’t remember exactly how it got fixed, other than a lot of trying a bunch of stupid things which shouldn’t have made any difference but eventually did.
I can tell SteveF is worn out. On two different posts he has referred to his “daughter”, formerly known at “The Child”.
My monitors have DVI, HDMI, VGA ports; my display adapter has one HDMI, one DVI and 3 display adapter ports.
I’ll try a cold port with one monitor and wait awhile (if need to walk my dog) and then add the second.
“The U.S. Built a $320 Million Pier to Get Aid to Gazans. Little of It Has Reached Them.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-us-built-a-320-million-pier-to-get-aid-to-gazans-little-of-it-has-reached-them/ar-BB1n15ug
“An ambitious U.S. effort to get aid into Gaza via a floating pier in the Mediterranean Sea has gotten off to a sluggish start, facing many of the same logistical challenges that have throttled broader attempts to ease the humanitarian crisis in the besieged Palestinian enclave.”
“The Pentagon spent $320 million and engaged 1,000 soldiers and sailors to open a major maritime corridor last week, delivering on President Biden’s promise in March that the U.S. military would install a temporary dock off the Gaza coast for cargo ships to unload food, water and other supplies. Fourteen ships from the U.S. and other countries are involved in a mission supported by humanitarian groups and several nations including Israel.”
“But in the first week of operations, only 820 tons of aid was delivered through the pier, of which around two-thirds reached distribution points within Gaza, the Pentagon said Thursday. That is roughly equivalent to 71 truckloads—far below the initial target of 90 truckloads a day, and about 15% of the estimated minimum daily need for a population of more than two million people facing crisis-level acute food insecurity.”
Everything Biden touches is a failure, except for his election.
@bob sprowl
In Windows, open Settings, System, Display, and make the appropriate changes in the ‘Multiple Displays’ area. It’s possible that the ‘auto-detect’ setting is not enabled. Or the ‘remember windows locations based on monitor connection’ has been disabled.
Graduation rates in general aren’t that wonderful:
https://www.bestcolleges.com/research/college-graduation-rates/
When I started at the college of engineering at TAMU, we were told that the graduation rate was one out of three in Eng 101. I have no idea what the actual graduation rate was.
I did graduate in four years, even with changing my major from Chemical Engineering to Mechanical Engineering in the middle of my sophomore year. I had to take 18.75 hours per semester in order to make those four years happen which played havoc with my GPA.
When I went to TAMU, all you needed to graduate from any of the colleges was a 2.0. In my junior year, they changed that to 2.25 for incoming freshmen in the engineering college. Now it is 2.75, something that I do not approve of. TAMU was built to graduate mass quantities of engineers and farmers, not to compete with elitist Ivy League colleges. TAMU has graduated almost 600,000 graduates since the 1876, I think that there should be way more graduates.
He filled many soup bowls.
That’s because Hamas steals all the aid. They’re probably storing it in their tunnels. Hamas also executes Gazans who try to obtain any of it. We were doing better air-dropping it.
A minimum of 3.0 is typcially necessary for a Masters, but, after going through two grad programs in CS, I don’t even look at a resume listing a non-thesis MSCS with a GPA below 3.5.
With a thesis, I’ll look at ~ 3.0, but I’ll also read the thesis. Most are available online these days.
Professional Development Masters? That’s an attendance certificate.
Google Search’s “udm=14” trick lets you kill AI search for good
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/google-searchs-udm14-trick-lets-you-kill-ai-search-for-good/
The land grant schools have lost sight of their mission.
I’ve heard bad things about Stroustrup’s tenure as department chair at TAMU.
It probably grates on ol’ Bjarne that AT&T still holds the copyright on his book. He tried to develop a text at TAMU which was inflicted on the students.
RickH: Windows only sees one monitor.
Sounds like a cable problem with the 2nd monitor, perhaps. Assuming that you did the ‘detect’ thing on the ‘multiple displays’ area.
You might try going into the “Device Manager” screen, right-click the “Monitors’ entry, and ‘scan for hardware changes’. Maybe do the ‘update drivers’ for the 2nd monitor.
(Also assuming Windows 11. Similar settings on Windows 10.)
Exhausted.
Exactly the same model of monitors. Both are showing the same thing on the screen.
Oneis connected via a HDMI port and the other via a DVI port. This morning they worked fine when I first woke the system.
When I woke the system just before lunch, I discovered that instead of two displays I had only one. I’ve change the HMDI cable, swapped the power cords and moved the HDMI and DVI calbes between the monitors.
Windows Display Settings and Device Manager only sees one generic PnP monitor.
I scanned for Hardware Changes and got nothing related to monitors or dispaly adapters.
Delete all the monitors in device manager, restart windows. No work, delete the video adapter and restart windows. No work, no idea.
In Device Manager, remove the 2nd monitor from the monitor list. Then scan for hardware changes, which should put the second monitor back on the list. Then do an ‘update driver’ for the 2nd monitor and reinstall drivers.
This assumes that both monitors have HDMI and DVI connectors. And that each monitor works with the HDMI and DIV connectors used (separately, of course) as the primary monitor. (Try each monitor with HDMI to primary monitor connector on computer. Then repeat with DVI cable – if possible.)
I still suspect a failing cable.
When I just now went to shut down my system I noticed that the “sleep” option is not available. I wonder if this is related to my problem…
I tried to set get it back my changiung power options, etc but could not restore it.
Man it got hot this afternoon. Sweated thru my clothes.
Got the 42″ deck rebuilt with a combination of leftover new parts and parts I’d used on the 46″ deck. Also had to steal parts off the 46″ to replace or repair old damage to the 42″. Got it all mounted, changed the fuel filter and air filter, and tried to run it. Fail. Thought it was adjusted for too little air from the old clogged filter, but it still had the problem with the filter removed.
SO. Noticed that gas was leaking out of the carb and thru the air filter box. That means the float valve isn’t closing. And that explains my issues initially too. Too much gas in the carb causing hesitation and skipping. The old gas filter must have been letting just enough gas thru most of the time to run the motor wide open. New filter let too much thru.
So tomorrow I’ll pull the carb, clean it, and try again. If I have to I’ll steal the carb off the blown up mower.
So. Mowers are apparently like PCs. You need n+1 to keep n machines running.
n
Open Control Panel:
Press Win + R, type control, and press Enter.
Navigate to Power Options:
Go to System and Security > Power Options.
Change Plan Settings:
Click on Change plan settings next to your selected power plan.
Change Advanced Power Settings:
Click on Change advanced power settings.
Expand Sleep Settings:
Expand the Sleep tree and then Allow hybrid sleep.
Make sure Allow hybrid sleep is set to Off.
Save Changes:
Click Apply and then OK.
You might need to restart your computer to apply the changes.
The actor told fans to stop watching, so they did. How’s it working out?
https://cosmicbook.news/woke-doctor-who-loses-another-400k-viewers
I have some toilet paper if he needs to wipe the tears–only been used on one side.
U.S. Special Forces colonel gives DFD award to illegal Chechen invader.
https://pjmedia.com/kevindowneyjr/2024/05/25/the-odd-us-special-ops-shooting-near-ft-bragg-from-three-weeks-ago-we-are-just-hearing-about-n4929344
Take note: “Utility workers” with no ID or company attire.
“Congress Should Boycott, Divest, and Sanction the Ivy League”
https://legalinsurrection.com/2024/05/congress-should-boycott-divest-and-sanction-the-ivy-league/
Columbia is a private institution and the U.S. congress is shoveling deficit spending funds to them at the rate of $1 billion per year?
“Coal’s Importance For Solar Panel Manufacturing”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/05/23/coals-importance-for-solar-panel-manufacturing/
“Coal is not the favorite “child” these days. It seems that almost the entire western political world has sworn to send coal to its grave. Not only have the United Nations and the IEA literally declared “war” on coal, but countless political, activist organizations and even leading financial institutions have pledged, if it had to be in their power, to immediately stop the usage of coal.”
“The reason for all of this is of course this “terrible” chemical element called carbon (number 6 on the periodic table). Please remember though that the same carbon is the 2nd most abundant element in the human body and it is a key building block for all life on Earth. By the way, carbon is not only essential because CO2 is plant food and plants grow best at 1.500 ppm of CO2 in the air (current atmospheric content is 420 ppm), CO2 is also a greenhouse gas, contributing to keeping our Earth temperature temperate and livable.”
“Solar power and coal are closely interlinked. Today, there is not one single solar panel that can be produced without coal (or even oil and gas). The coal is required as a reducing agent for silicon making and as source for heat and electricity for the industrial process required to manufacture solar panels, not only in China. As unpopular as it may be, the world requires coal, even for the so called “energy transition”.”
“George Floyd Getting Hollywood Treatment With ‘Daddy Changed the World’ Biopic”
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2024/05/23/hollywood-making-george-floyd-biopic-daddy-changed-the-world-with-floyds-family-executive-producing/
I wish I was surprised but I am not. That biopic is gonna get a lot of cleanup. I wonder if they are going to show him drugged out shoving a gun into his pregnant wife’s stomach ?
Just got up from the lake… had a tiny little fire, and the radio is a bit variable and noisy.
The wind is a steady breeze but is “quartering” which I think is the word for coming from different directions… Sky was nice but is hazing over. It’s chilly at 77F and damp.
Couple of kids fooling around in the water at the end of the community dock. Young love…
I’m going to bed, and I hope I’ve had enough electrolyte stuff to keep the cramps away.
n
You tell the alumni.
– meant to respond to this earlier…
Some schools might be the exception, but last time I looked into it the biggest boosters of college athletics were local businessmen made good. They are not usually even alums…
n
@Bob, CMIIW but doesn’t the Radeon video card have its own Display Settings software that overrides the default Windows Display Settings? If so, check there.
@Greg (resident Radeon expert) is the above accurate?
I occasionally have a problem similar to this. It’s under Linux, and happens specifically when I have booted to a different partition (different operating system). As near as I can figure out, something gets set wrong in the hardware that survives a reboot.
For me, the solution that works is to install a different video driver, reboot, re-install the video driver I actually want, and reboot again.
Nah, he’s just getting soft in his decrepitude.
I never understood why BLM made him into a martyr, when they had Breonna Taylor. She really was innocent and killed by incompetent police, and would have made a much better figure to rally around.