Hot and humid. ‘cuz Houston. Yesterday didn’t start that hot, but it was dripping humidity. Of course in the garage it was a sauna. Today should be similar. I’m hoping that there isn’t any actual rain though.
Spent most of yesterday moving stuff in the garage to get to the freezers and the back of the ailing one. Moved most of the stuff to other places. Moved the freezer contents to the fridge and the other freezers. Ordered the part I hope will fix the problem. Just getting the freezer out and a new one in would be a major task, so replacing a part would be preferable. I’m really glad we came home from the BOL when we did. I should have been more aggressive diagnosing the problem too, I was fooled because I wanted to be fooled.
If the part doesn’t do the trick for the freezer, I’ll stop by the auctioneer I use to sell stuff, and pick up the chest freezer I’d dropped off for him to sell. That will add one more stop to the trips…
Otherwise, today will be doing some repairs, doing some sorting, and then doing a couple of pickups. I got a bunch of stuff from an auctioneer I always watch but who usually starts his items too high, so I don’t buy much from him. This time he not only had stuff I wanted, it was reasonably priced. I might have been the only one bidding in the whole auction, I was the only one bidding on my items. And I got some stuff from my normal super cheap but full of shenanigans auctioneer.
I would like to get some of the stuff together for a trip to the BOL next week. Wife and kids are all out of town, so I am thinking of heading up for a concentrated burst of work. I might even rent earthmoving equipment. Still thinking about that though. I’ve got plenty to do and the dirt will sit there just fine for a while longer if needed.
It would be nice to get to a range for an hour sometime this month. I’m feeling like it’s been too long. Not a good feeling.
There are only so many hours in the week though, and I’ve been using mine to go backwards lately. Kinda depressing really. It’s bound to happen, just isn’t fun. At least I didn’t come home to a dead freezer full of rotten meat.
The stacks did take a small hit. I’ll have to work a bit harder now. Keep stacking and keep the faith.
nick
Apologies, I was behind on my timeline and posted in late Wednesday, so reposting.
I think I have mentioned in the past that I had migrated the hosting of my domains to ibrave.io. The deal, which I took ‘advantage’ of in July 2021 was for ‘lifetime’ hosting for an up front fee of USD99.99. Clearly, when a deal is ‘too good to be true’ then invariably it is too good to be true. But for the price, I thought I would give it a go.
Today I received an email from ibrave.io advising me that they were ceasing operation 1 November 2024.
Overall, the service I have had over three years has met my requirements and at a very reasonable per annum cost; and I did go into the deal with my eyes open. It sounded like a ponzi scheme, and turns out to have all the characteristics.
This goes into the ‘experiences’ file.
Who the heck is that?
Privately held by the partners.
Last night I was half paying attention to the local Faux News “international” segment when I heard the anchor droid mention some new process software that the Iranians have which is raising concerns since it will allow them to speed up their uranium enrichment operations.
Any new sales to weird companies with Paris mailing addresses lately?
The house next door sold a couple of weeks ago, and a painting crew has been there for the last few days.
The previous owner spent a bunch of money, including a complete repainting of the interior, prior to putting the house on the market this Spring.
Super Mario is coming to Orlando with his friend Donkey Kong.
In the meantime …
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/universal-orlando-s-mib-alien-attack-seemingly-trolls-disney-s-galactic-starcruiser/ar-BB1oAkMU
“Low Miles”
“Agent B”
My MIL put her house on the market yesterday. Her realtor said someone has expressed interest in making an offer. We shall see. I was looking at the pictures on MLS and joked with my wife that, yeah the pictures make the house look immaculate, but her house looks like that EVERY day. Even if an offer comes in, I advised her to wait until after the open house on Saturday.
In related news, the MIL’s new house (6 miles from us) just had the forms laid for the slab. I’m going out today to see if they have the plumbing laid out yet.
Heh. I was visiting with a friend last month and we went over to his friends mother’s place to drop something off … yeah, there are still old ladies like that around.
@ITGuy1998
Your MIL should advise the listing agent that offers presented before the open house should not expire until Sunday noon.
I had an agent that wanted to present a short-time offer. I rejected it over the phone.
Real estate agents are always ready to throw the seller under the bus because they don’t have much skin in the game.
I’m going out today to see if they have the plumbing laid out yet.
–if they do, see if they’ve glued the DWV drain pipe connections. I’m always amazed that so many guys cheat on this because it will be buried and can’t come apart…
Real estate agents are always ready to throw the seller under the bus because they don’t have much skin in the game.
— someone did the math for this, maybe Freakonomics? They are incentivized to sell your house quickly, but their own houses tend to stay on the market longer as they wait for the perfect offer.
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86F and overcast. VERY wet. The rain I didn’t want started around 2am and continued for a couple of hours, I think. Better than during the day I guess. Glad I put stuff in the garage when I noticed I’d left it out.
———————————-
I am really starting to like the magic series Lynne recommended. I’m on book 4 of 10 and it’s moving along nicely. The first was a bit of work, but now they are cranking along. Kept me up for an extra ½ hour last night…
n
102F predicted here today, and over 100 for each of the next 6 days by the NWS.
Summer is here.
—–
And I see the last iPhone update turned in autocorrect again. Jerks.
There’s a song about that…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWNSAikVIDw
Which one are you reading?
Kate Daniels. Iona andrews is the listed author…
n
Yep, that the same series I’m reading. Good stuff.
Fri. Jun. 21, 2024 – one more week gone, no TEOTWAWKI, hooray.
The week ain’t over yet.
Any new sales to weird companies with Paris mailing addresses lately?
Nope. The Iranians are using a cracked version of my version 9.11 software (I am releasing version 16.20 today maybe). I get a phone home every couple of weeks so they don’t have a firewall.
Alley Oop: Bodacious Caveman Era
https://www.gocomics.com/alley-oop/2024/06/21
Nope, the caveman era was way before 2,000 BCE.
Except, we still have people living in caves, millions in China and around the world apparently.
I am really starting to like the magic series Lynne recommended. I’m on book 4 of 10 and it’s moving along nicely. The first was a bit of work, but now they are cranking along. Kept me up for an extra ½ hour last night…
The books really get moving after a while. And there are 4 or 5 more books after the main 10 book series.
BTW, Lynne is for GURLZ and Lynn is for BOYZ. I still have an outie…
“Memorial Park custom-built townhome boasts a live oak blocking the garage”
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/garage-tree-house-houston-19525430.php
“The luxury five-story townhome with dual rooftop terraces is listed for sale at $1.6 million.”
It is a pretty tree.
“BREAKING: SCOTUS Rules 8-1 Against Gun Owners – Thomas Dissents”
https://www.libertynation.com/breaking-scotus-rules-8-1-against-gun-owners-thomas-dissents/
“The Supreme Court has upheld a law allowing the removal of Second Amendment rights on thin procedure.”
I agree with Clarence Thomas. Taking away somebody’s guns (probably never to be returned) casually is not constitutional.
“Old, but it still makes me laugh out loud”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2024/06/old-but-it-still-makes-me-laugh-out-loud.html
What the heck happened to the tractor towing the tank ? Surely the tank was not loaded.
I had an agent that wanted to present a short-time offer. I rejected it over the phone.
Real estate agents are always ready to throw the seller under the bus because they don’t have much skin in the game.
An old sales rule, ABC – Always Be Closing.
“Used Electrics Now Cheaper Than Gasoline Cars”
https://www.carpro.com/blog/used-electrics-now-cheaper-than-gasoline-cars
People now understand that electric vehicles have battery issues, sometimes way before even 100,000 miles. The manufacturers refuse to replace the batteries many times, claiming abuse. Not good and the lawsuits are coming.
I finally cleaned the carb on the lawnmower. Not hard, just tedious. You need a ½ ratchet socket and a 5/16th nut driver.
Remove a piece of trim. Open the air cleaner. Then three screws that attach the air cleaner to the carb. Half inch socket to remove the bowl.
Wipe the brown powder, almost as fine as baby powder, out of the bowl. Turn on the gas for a moment to make sure the filter isn’t plugged. Put it all back together. Knock the dust out of the air filter first.
I turned the gas on, rolled out of the shed, and it started on the second pull. Cool!
The bolt that holds on the bowl is also the jet. Easy to clean using a bread twister with an inch of paper removed.
“Inspired Idiot: This is what the Left thinks is “part of the problem””
https://www.schiffsovereign.com/trends/inspired-idiot-this-is-what-left-thinks-is-part-of-the-problem-151082/
“Tim Sheehy is a former Navy SEAL who graduated from the United States Naval Academy and served multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“He earned a Bronze Star with Valor for his distinguished service and a Purple Heart for his wounds. And after leaving the Navy, he started a successful aerial firefighting business which now employs 200 people.”
“Fed up with the direction of the country, Sheehy is now running for Senate in the state of Montana and hoping to unseat his opponent— Montana’s incumbent Senator Jon Tester.”
“Tester has represented Montana in the Senate since 2007, during which time the national debt has increased by more than $25 trillion.”
Senator Jon Tester needs to go back to his Montana farm. He is too liberal for Montana.
“NASA, Boeing delay Starliner astronaut landing to June 26 amid thruster issues”
https://www.space.com/boeing-starliner-earth-return-delay-june-26-thruster-issues
“Starliner’s planned 1-week stay at the ISS has been extended considerably.”
You ever have people show up and you can’t get rid of them ?
Seriously, this sounds very not good. We do not need another space ship crash landing right now.
The amount of the national debt increase is irrelevant. That was going to happen no matter what. What matters is “since 2007”. How much money does he have compared to what a Senator is paid?
Seventeen years is more than long enough to suck off the public teat. Go get a real job. Or retire with your millions of bucks.
>>So tell me more about “the best economy of our lifetimes” that I keep hearing about. (Or whatever the current talking point is.)
It’s “Cheap Fake”
@CowboyStu – Thanks for the kind words about the “The Red Rock Redemption” book. Glad you enjoyed it!
That area is one of my favorites to visit.
Also, thanks for taking the time to leave a review on Amazon. Those help a lot. It gave me a quick bump up to the top 1000 in all three categories (now back to the top 2000-ish). And those ratings also help.
Hope you enjoy the other three books. Books 1 and 2 are related to each other, so you should read those in order. Book 3 (and 4 – The Red Rock Redemption that you read) are standalones.
Thinking about where Book 5 will be set. It might contain a bit of back story on the main character and why he’s traveling the country with a fake identity. Not sure about the rest of the story yet.
Thanks again for the kind words!
@Rick, I do have a couple of comments regarding that book. If you would like me to post here I will, or you could send to my email and I could reply back. But neither is a major issue.
The commonly held misconception is that someone buying an EV will be able to get 15 years of usable life out of the vehcile by gaming the system to get a new battery at 5-7 year intervals under warranty.
@CowboyStu – always interested in comments. You can send them here, or on any of the book sites. My author site (www.RichardHellewell.com ) works fine. It goes directly to my main email account.
I wouldn’t be surprised about any issues. Got a major complaint (in a review) of the first book when I mentioned a ‘safety’ switch on a Glock. Which that particular model didn’t have. (I fixed that issue.) I research most everything that I don’t know about in the stories (weapons, locations, etc), but would not be surprised if I missed something. I only did 10 full edits of the books – and still found minor issues in the last pass.
So, and comments are welcomed. Here on via the contact form on the author website. Appreciated.
The Dragon can accomodate seven in a pinch, but Boeing and NASA still want Starliner declared operational with this flight if possible.
There was a Chinese EV model where you just swapped the battery out at an automated station. Very fast.
That moves the battery issues to someone else…
Sounds right except everybody has to pay for the ones that go bad. And besides what does the exchange cost. Won’t be cheap.
… and means that any battery that you get is likely to have problems.
Unless the Chinese charge station owners and operators were diligent and competent about testing all batteries and removing any that fell below 80% of new capacity or which showed the slightest sign of damage or instability.
-insert braying laugh-
Note that Rick didn’t mention needing to research how a heroin addict hides needle tracks. Nor did he say anything about not knowing anything about forging Renaissance artwork. Mighty suspicious, if you ask me.
Military installations probably don’t have an outbound firewall, but Iran has some very advanced routers implementing their filtering made by Cyberguard, purchased grey market during the time when Sen. Rick Scott (RINO-FL) ran the company.
My stories don’t have those issues, so I didn’t research them.
Perhaps, more correctly, I should have said “For various subjects/stuff in my stories that I have less knowledge, I do research to improve accuracy. I still miss things. The ‘safety’ issue in the first book was a less than successful researched item.”
The battery is a major component of an EV’s structural integrity. A vehicle with a capability to do a battery swap probably wouldn’t pass current crash test standards in the US.
Of course, a 2010 S Class Mercedes sedan won’t pass the current standards either, and I doubt you would feel unsafe riding in one of those.
“How a union vote cost Philadelphia workers their jobs”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/3054182/how-union-vote-cost-philadelphia-workers-their-jobs/
“More than 30 Philadelphia coffeehouse workers are out of work after a successful attempt to unionize resulted in an unexpected cost: their own jobs.”
““It is with a heavy heart that we must announce the closure of all three OCF Coffee House locations,” OCF Realty posted on Instagram last week. “After 13 wonderful years of serving our beloved community, the time has come to say goodbye.””
Before one raises the cost on something, one should verify that the money is there to justify the raising. So many businesses have been destroyed over the years by the workers demanding more than the business could pay.
“Washed Away”
https://www.aarp.org/home-family/your-home/info-2024/washed-away.html
“As more older Americans move to the coasts, rising seas are wiping out their homes — and retirement dreams.”
Two problems here. The first problem is that we have pumped the ground water, crude oil, and/or natural gas out of the ground, causing subsidence of the ground to be as much as twenty feet at the coasts. If the seas have risen eight inches in the last 150 years then that is pittance but I question even that much of sea rise. The big problem is land subsidence, nature abhors a vacuum and will fill it one way or another.
Second problem, if your home or business is less than thirty feet (Ike was 24 feet storm surge) above sea level on the Gulf Coast or the East Coast, you will be flooded some day by a hurricane. Or a King Tide. Etc. If you do not have flood insurance, then life is going to be tough for you. I do not know about the West Coast. In fact, even with flood insurance life will be tough if your local government demands that you raise your home after the event or even before an event.
It wasn’t as if these risks are not known in advance, and, before Ian, Fort Myers Beach was cheap for a reason.
Now it will gentrify as dumb Yankee money chases any return they can get on investment in beach real estate … until the next big storm.
May be a useful Plan “C” :
SCENTS RATS HATE
Based on various sources, including online forums, articles, and expert opinions, here are some scents that rats despise:
Remember, while these scents can help deter rats, they may not completely eliminate the problem. It’s essential to combine these methods with other rat control measures, such as sealing entry points and removing food sources.
When dumb Yankee money chases returns on real estate in The South. I don’t keep up – is this a new YouTube trend?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqKm3lOsuXc
$80k in a 401(k) and this woman in Boston thinks they’re good to speculate on houses … in Alabama.
You may want to let the grove rats in Florida know that they are supposed to hate citrus.
Of course, they prefer Oreos, as we discovered one night in the grocery store when we moved a dumpster near the returns processing desk only to find a rat diameter hole bored through commercial construction cinder block, with remnants of cookies near the hole.
Back then, some citrus groves were still scattered around North Pinellas County, FL, including an overgrown piece of land behind our store awaiting development.
@paul – Channel 46 out of Waco/Killeen is slated to have MeTV Toons on subchannel 46.7 starting next week. We’ll see if it actually happens on the launch date.
Channel 46.5 is how we watch “Star Trek” reruns every night via a monster HDTV antenna I have stashed in our attic mounted on a loudspeaker tripod.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrCqaDwYCnU
The ‘safety’ issue in the first book was a less than successful researched item.”
— lack of an external manually operated safety was THE big point of glocks… but even former cops and soldiers get it wrong when writing, so don’ t beat yourself up too much. (the other is “pulling the hammer back” on a gun with no hammer… the movies have conditioned us to think someone isn’t serious until they pull the hammer back.)
—
The rat thing is interesting, but I’ve tried the spray, which is many of those scents combined and it didn’t work. Haven’t tried essential oils.
—
Realestate markets are LOCAL LOCAL LOCAL. One block can make a difference. Being on the wrong side of a street can make a difference.
——-
wrt houses on the beach, the biggest threat in the real world isn’t subsistance, or oceans rising, it’s beach front erosion. The water gets closer and closer until it undermines the house. Happens on lake Michigan too and there isn’t any sea level rise there.
n
I don’t understand buying a house sight unseen. My wife’s nephew did that with his place here even though it is more of a lease-to-own than outright purchase.
I guess the military has agreements with realtors so their people don’t get hosed, but I would still consider it to be a risk.
The swappable battery station was probably these guys:
https://www.nio.com/news/nio-pss-4.0
Call me cynical but until a Biden or Kerry or Gore gets on the board of directors you probably won’t see it here.
As for crash tests …. if wind turbines can kill eagles and whales without fear of prosecution, then what’s a few dozen dead and maimed of the unwashed masses? If it is good for
Berkshire HathawayGaia then it’s good for America!“Illegal Immigrants Suspected of Murdering 12-Year-Old Girl Were Recently Caught by Border Patrol”
https://resistthemainstream.com/outrage-as-alarming-details-emerge-for-illegal-immigrants-suspected-of-murdering-12-year-old-girl/
“Two Venezuelan illegal immigrants stand accused of killing a 12-year-old Houston girl found strangled in a creek earlier this week.”
I don’t know how but this needs to stop.
Venezuelans are not Cubans. Neither side gets that.
“SCOTUS Decision Raises Timing Question On Biden’s Illegal Immigration Order”
https://www.dailywire.com/news/scotus-decision-raises-timing-question-on-bidens-illegal-immigration-order
“Davis pointed to Biden’s recent order legalizing immigrant spouses of American citizens, calling it “oddly specific” and noting that the Supreme Court’s decision in The State Dept. v. Munoz made the timing of that order seem suspect.”
So Biden wants to pardon all of the illegals eventually. That won’t fly with the American public.
“Supreme Court’s Immigration Rebuke Suggests Biden’s Border Order Is Unconstitutional”
https://thefederalist.com/2024/06/21/supreme-courts-immigration-rebuke-suggests-bidens-border-order-is-unconstitutional/
“The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Thursday that U.S. citizens do not have a constitutional right to guarantee their noncitizen spouse admittance into the country, something President Joe Biden tried to cement in his most recent executive order concerning the ongoing border invasion.”
“American Sandra Muñoz sued the federal government after her husband, Luis Asencio-Cordero, an MS-13 gang member, was denied a visa by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2015 due to “unlawful activity” the immigration officer suspected based on a gang affiliation tattoo he spotted on the El Salvador native during the interview.”
Why in the world would Biden want MS-13 gang members in the USA ?
For no valid reason, you can be sure of that.
That won’t fly with the American public.
– when was the last time you were asked, and your opinion honored? On any subject that was important?
Why in the world would Biden want MS-13 gang members in the USA ?
– terrorist to justify fascism? Or footsoldiers for the door to door confiscations.
This will stop when ordinary people just start shooting illegals. They’re not hard to spot.
n
Fridge part got here, and didn’t solve the problem. That means the compressor is bad. Time for a new fridge.
I’ll pickup my chest freezer tomorrow as a stopgap.
Dammit.
and to add insult, the part wasn’t the one I specifically paid more to get, identical to the original. It came with a chinglish note that my ordered part wasn’t available so they sent a functional substitute. The substitutes are all over amazon at $15- 25 not the $50 I spent to get the EXACT part. That one is going back no matter what their return policy is.
n
That won’t fly with the American public.
– when was the last time you were asked, and your opinion honored? On any subject that was important?
When Trump was President.
On Bailing and Bailing Out
https://coldfury.com/2024/06/21/on-bailing-and-bailing-out/
https://www.dailypundit.com/dailypundit.wordpress/2024/06/21/on-bailing-and-bailing-out/
I’ve pulled back. I’m still talking to people, trying to save whoever I can, but I’ve internalized the idea the ship is foundering. If it doesn’t sink, it’s because it’s stuck on the reef.
n
Anyone else having trouble with youtube? I am getting multi minute load times, interrupted streams…
I thought they were messing with adblock users again, so I shut it off, but that didn’t make a difference. btw, it said it had blocked 34K things on youtube.com…
n
We did just that, in the spring of 2020. My wife had taken a house-hunting trip from Sacramento to San Antonio and arrived the day that Gov. Abbott had declared a quarantine; nobody could come to Texas without a 2-week quarantine, starting “tomorrow”. She met with a couple of realtors and really hit it off with one of them, a delightful man. They spent 10 days driving around different neighborhoods without finding what she wanted. So she came back to Sacramento, and we continued house-hunting on Zillow. Between Zillow, a local real estate service here, and Google Maps – and the realtor – we were able to find a place that had everything we NEEDED, and most of the stuff we WANTED. We got house inspections, plumbing inspections, septic tank inspections, just about everything we had to have, and bought the place without ever seeing it.
We packed everything in PODS, loaded up the 12 cats and all the gubs and jewelry into a used 27 foot RV, and drove from Sacramento to San Antonio in August 2020 heat. On day 2, we decided to get up pre-dawn and drive until noon-ish, and that mostly worked. When we drove up the driveway on Day 6, it was the first time that we had actually SEEN the house. We lived in the RV for 10 days until the PODS arrived and we could actually move in.
It was a risk, but it paid off. We were about 90% happy. There was some minor damage from the previous owners’ dogs, some places where the laminate flooring had been warped by wood, and a few other things, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed – or ignored. We needed to rebuild the well water filtering system; the water had been “liquid rust”, and a $15K filter system gave us good tasting clean water. The “driveway” didn’t exist; Zillow said it was “gravel”, but it was a path of big rocks 3-4 inches across. My wife couldn’t walk on it without help. So that needed to be paved, which was expensive. The “lawn” is rocks and leaves, and not much dirt above a layer of limestone, so a garden is difficult; we’re doing raised beds instead.
It wasn’t perfect, but 4 years later, we’re quite content. Reading the news from Cacafornia, we’re relieved to be out of that madness, and concerned about or friends and relatives still there.
I’m going to try for an early bed, as I’m likely to have a trying day…
n
I have an antenna in the attic that was connected to the stereo aimed towards Waco. But they became a Clear Channel whatever and the music changed. The antenna is still there but with a metal roof it’s useless.
KWTX 97.5