Still hot. Still humid. Still summer in Houston. Still really just the beginning of hurricane season.
I hid from the heat most of the day. Read. Minded the generators. Had “Walking tacos” which are like “Frito Pie” except taco meat and fillings in a bag of Doritos(tm), not chili and toppings in a bag of Fritos(tm). Spent a few minutes cleaning my office. It’s hot and dark in there so I gave that up pretty quickly.
And today might be pretty similar. I’m toying with the idea of doing some work on the vehicles. I have new headlights for the Ranger. Fog lights for the Expedition, and new license plates for both. I should install some radio gear too, to go with the plates. But it is so hot I’m afraid to do much with no cool house to go back to. I’m really feeling the heat, almost like after my heat injury. Don’t want to get back to that mess.
I’ll find something to do, I don’t have the time to just lie about reading, not really, no matter how uncomfortable it is to work or how worn out I am by the labor.
I will try to do some stack sorting at the least, and I need to get out and refill gas bottles and gasoline cans. We could be at this a while.
Wife and kids are contemplating heading to the BOL, where there is power, a/c, and internet for work. I’ll stay here and mind the house. Kids have been really good so far, but are getting a bit stir crazy. D1 wants to go out with her friends, but D2 is ok with books and internet so far. Neither wants to clean house or do chores.
Heck, I don’t either.
Stack something, you will use it eventually, and be glad you had it…
nick
The Democrat sleazeballs are creating great memes for themselves:
yesterday: Joe is our leader and cheap fakes!
today: we have the sads! Joe must go!
Joe and Kamala understand. We worked hard for this.
Pass the wine and where is that bag of gummies?
Nick,
I am curious your thoughts on your BOL. I got to thinking,
you have put a lot of blood and treasure into work on the BOL (which seems
to server as vacation home / Bug out location). You have also brought up
“stacks” to bolster its use as a BOL. My question is this: In a SHTF
situation where you and the family hit the road to the BOL, what is you
plan if someone has “taken over” the BOL? You have spent time making friends
and starting the integration, but would any of the locals “fight” to keep
your BOL free of squatters prior to your arrival ?
Say hello to my little friend
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLdfDEG38zo
Been out back grilling chicken. Needed cooking before too late and now at 81F in the shade beats 111F predicted for 5pm this afternoon. Grill would be in sun then too. 100+ all the way to Sunday when it cools to only 105F.
After regular pool service yester they couldn’t get a prime on the pump. Watch the pinhead kick the wings on the lid to the pump basket to tighten and loosen. Stub pipe from the pump had pulled out of the balance valve. Told them to send a repair man out. I was fooling with it after they left and noticed the valve handle was turning wrong and looked close to see the lid was 180 degrees backwards. This had to have happened when they replaced the pump last year and put new rings in the valves for over $2k. Repair crew came and I explained my concerns and watched him pull the valve innards. Yep, that means the intake to the pump was being at least partially blocked. Found to loose joints. Yeah kicking things breaks PVC joints. Rrpair guy mentions they have a tool to use on the lid. Working well now and the vac is preforming right. Received a $175 bill by email for the repair. I’ll pay it but only after I have a talk about to owner about pinhead service guys.
85F and sunny with a very light overcast. Nasty.
———–
@darryl,
Those are good questions. The first unspoken- yes it is a vacation house. My first rule for myself and prepping is that nothing can be irrevocable. The apocalypse is rare, and people are wrong all the time. Prepping has to enhance our lives, not degrade them. So stuff is mostly dual use, and if there is a conflict between priorities, the lifestyle choice wins.
We looked at, and even put money down on a property that was perfect as a BOL, much less perfect as a lakehouse to spend weekends at. I’ve told that story here several times.
WRT stacks, there is a real debate about how much to have at your residence, how much and what to have at a BOL, and what to do about other back up or off site stacks.
In practice I am leaning toward having complete duplication, eventually. We should be able to arrive empty handed, and still be able to live well, at either place. Might not be able to get out of town, or to the BOL so gotta have stuff here… Certainly don’t have a lot of room for transporting stuff from here to there in an emergency. Although, if we were leaving here for there for realz, we’d try to bring as much food, fuel, meds, and defensive tools as possible.
We’ve currently got a few months of food, and all the normal household stuff at the BOL. Got more of it here.
As for squatters or thieves, that’s always a consideration. I do think we are welcome in our neighborhood, and that my buddy would defend my place and stuff, if only to secure it for his own family if he thought we weren’t coming. If Houston got nuked for example, and we didn’t show up in the first few weeks, it’s a safe bet we’re not gonna…
I think community is going to be very important, perhaps the most important factor, in getting through what’s coming. We have some solidarity on our block in Houston, but we have more sense of inclusion at the BOL. I’m working HARD on that, and it takes a lot of work and savvy. I may not be up to it, but if I’m lucky, my kids will be accepted as the first circle of outsiders… maybe “friends of the pack.” I’m sure my wife and I will always be “the folks that bought George’s house.”
n
Could we make that DC instead.
RIP Olive Oyl
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/11/arts/shelley-duvall-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.6U0.Zagq.Fl__KGBSfVi8&smid=url-share
Headed out for fuel.
got a lot of empty bottles…
n
SNL Shelley Duvall & Joan Armatrading S02E21 is no longer available on the NBC site.
A lot of strange stories float around in the area about encounters with Duvall. Apparently, she hadn’t been well mentally for a while.
Blanco used to be the boonies, but now it is part of “CA lite” running between Austin and Fredericksburg.
segment that NBC News Now did with Parkinson’s expert (and lifelong Democrat) Dr. Tom Pitts, who deals with “20 patients a day” with the disease.
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2024/07/10/parkinsons-doctor-on-nbc-its-parkinsons-n3791625
This didn’t start four years ago. Dr. Pitts should be asked to rewind to 2020 when a number of people–including many Democrats, before Biden was put on the nomination track–were questioning Biden’s mental fitness.
Outside of cataract assembly line shops, a dozen patients is a busy day in a specialist‘s office.
The VA specialists are really spoiled right now. They may see 3-4 remotely and dump the rest on the GPs.
Ruh Roh. The Tonytaxi is delayed?
20 points (so far) from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter.
The last hour could be brutal.
NBC News’ Chuck Todd reveals ‘senior’ cabinet secretary told him in 2022 Biden ‘can’t run again like this’
https://www.foxnews.com/media/nbc-news-chuck-todd-reveals-senior-cabinet-secretary-told-him-2022-biden-cant-run-again-like-this
When President Trump’s White House sends the media letters in January 2025 explaining why authentic journalists will get more preference in WH press events this should be part of the documentation.
Chuck Todd was perfectly fine for at least two years (solely based on this report, but does anyone think this conversation came as a shock?) in utterly, abysmally failing to do the job that gives the press First Amendment rights in this country. The U.S. Constitution does not recognize those rights so that people like Todd can get bigger salaries, get invited to better parties, or act as de facto shills for one political party.
“Oh, my! I just now noticed that there is a problem!” and “Well, yeah, I’ve known for a x years and covered it up.” are both dishonest. The former, if true, is proof that the source it not capable of being an arbiter of the news. The latter is a contemptible, irresponsible liar who should never again get a seat at any government press conference.
Good. I will add a couple shares to my beer money brokerage account when it drops like this then sell it when it recovers for an %8-10% gain.
Doctor appointment in the Houston Medical Center this morning.
Google maps took me through residential neighborhoods near Rice University.
Hurrican Beryl did a number on that area. Fences down, limbs still in the street, debris everywhere. Many stoplights either flashing or dead. I’m guessing lots of people still without power.
Don’t know if it’s because of the storm and power outages, or work-from-home, but the morning commute (I-10, then 610, then 59) was much better than I remember it back pre-covid. It actually moved, mostly, and driving past the Galleria on 610 wasn’t slit-your-wrists painful.
Speaking of specialists, this was a general surgeon with lots of time for me. Doctor found out I was suing Methodist and I refused the jab; told me I was doing God’s work. Doctor was bullied into taking the jab, under threat of Methodist CANCELING PATIENT’S SURGERIES. This from the same people who slandered me as “not putting patients first”.
Also asked me to keep the name and opinion to myself, so I won’t share the name or details. So the bullying and intimidation continue.
Based on the appointment slots I was offered, I’d guess on office days the doctor sees about 6 patients for presurgical and follow-up visits.
I’ll be having some very minor outpatient surgery in the next 6 weeks. Estimated about 10 minutes on the table… Obviously, not at a Methodist facility.
https://humanevents.com/2024/07/09/vox-clamantis-constitutional-accountability-is-back-in-vogue
Under our constitution the laws must originate from the legislative branch. If the law is not written clearly the legislation is defective.The problem with either the executive or judicial branches filling in the details is that neither has a lawful legislative function. If the details need to be filled in the law should be sent back to the legislature as “Unworkable As Written”.
Oh, and I walked around the public areas of the hospital for the first time since I was fired, since I was in the neighborhood. It was weird, with my new-found education. Lots of people wearing paper masks in the hallways, like some sort of totem to ward off the evil eye.
Even as jaded as I was going into Covid, I never fully realized how much of modern medicine is a cult and a religion. I wouldn’t trust these people with my dog.
https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2024/07/11/biden-aside-the-regime-media-is-toast-too-n2641641
The farce will be forgotten next week if there are no consequences.
Consequences, consequences, consequences.
That should be the mantra for the next four years of the Trump Administration.
The consequences for the “licensed and authorized propaganda front for the Democratic Party” media should be RESTRICTED ACCESS. They get their power from viewers, which in turn gives them advertising dollars. If people want to hear what Chuck Todd has to say third-hand, as opposed to a first-hand account, then they are free to make the choice.
The White House should throw out all the rules designed to give advantages to the large news organizations that have not done their jobs, open up the events and find some honest journalists. The MSM should still get some access, but media channels that participated in the coverup should be second-class citizens–fewer seats for them, and maybe their pool camera is black-and-white.
From your lips to God’s ears, but I suspect nothing much will change. They will try to hammer down Orangemanbad and after he’s killed, they’ll say “this is what you get when you promote right wing extremism.”
———————
Rain was hammering down in NE Houston, parts of SE Houston, and the west side of Downtown. I’m back home and there isn’t any rain here on the west side.
From a distance downtown was a glowing city bathed in sunlight while black storm cells raged around it.
Crazy.
———————
Got 30 gallons of gasoline, and 4 bottles of LP gas. About $130 in all. I”ve got more money in the cans and bottles…
There was a line at my propane guy today, and he had one guy taking money while he and another filled bottles. It also gave them a third guy if someone needed a break. I was in line for 20 minutes which wasn’t too bad. I didn’t wait in line at my local HEB for gasoline.
———————-
People still driving like Mad Max, but I didn’t see any fender benders today. Traffic control is out all over Houston and there are pockets with lights and signals. No rhyme or reason to it…
n
22.23 and still going after hours. Everyone must still be out in the Hamptons and on the boats today.
To drop another movie reference, many Shrubs and Zuuls will know what it is to be roasted in the he-depths of the Slor tomorrow I can tell you.
Lots of very dry martinis will get consumed tonight. No ice. No olive. No glass.
I don’t remember where I heard that one, but it was recently.
Does Texas have asinine laws against “price gouging”?
Charlie Crist’s legacy as FL Governor.
Also, “The Hug”, the Geico Gecko shakedown payment, and a reengineering of the state’s homestead exemption which may yet see the whole thing tossed as unconstitutional.
How did Charlie even get 40 points in 2022?
Having been involved with someone with dementia I realize, I think, I know where Spongey comes from. The individual does not realize they have a problem. They do not realize their mental faculties are diminished. To them everything is normal. People correcting them are just being annoying for no reason. Spongey won’t quit because he does not realize his brain is toast. That and his leach of a wife is enjoying the privileges of being in the White House.
The democrats are going to have to remove him the ballot, forcefully. Even invoking the 25th amendment is not out of the question and should be considered. That way the Kamel can be enshrined now rather than going through the hassles of convention voting. The democratic convention is going to be a shambles, a circus masquerading as an event. Most of the conventions are but this one will be particularly confused, disorganized, vengeful mess of fools.
If the truth were known there is a lot going on in the background in the White House among the staff to keep Spongey going. A lot of help, prompting, practice sessions, etc. are being done to keep up the facade of Spongey being anywhere coherent. The White House staff, especially that Brillo Pad, toilet brush, mushroom, masquerading as a press secretary, are all lying through their teeth to keep the charade alive. And to protect their jobs. A change in administration is usually a change in staff.
I have no doubt that the Kamel has already selected who she wants to give 6 figure jobs to friends and people she owes. Nobody that is really qualified for the job, just political favors.
Still hasn’t rained more than a sprinkle at the Casa De Nick… although the front dropped the temp to 85F.
n
plugs interview tonight can only make it worse. When you lose Jorge Clooney, you know the jig is up. I only hope the sheeple look behind the curtain and sees the lies. I don’t have high hopes, though. The dementia is real. It is evident. Get him out while he has some dignity intact.
I replaced my wallet a few years ago. I found a cool clip thing at Walgreens. $8, ? Metal, made to hold cards on one side and cash on the other. The springyness spronged to the point that a fat rubberband wrapped around it was an improvement. I bought a new wallet from Big River a couple of years ago.
Nice. Leather. Smells almost good enough to eat. Made in India so forget the eating thing. Clunky. It folds in half, the card slots are vertical which makes the cash section almost useless. You can fold cash in half or fold over a third and either way, more than five bills is a pain. It has no slack, it’s like a pair of Levis that are a bit small or you are a bit fat and yer dangly bits are smashed flat.
I was looking for something and and found my old wallet. Huh. It’s about the same size as the new wallet but the card slots are horizontal and you don’t have to fold your cash. Yes, it looks like heck. Things have happened since 1985. Sort of beat up. It went through a wash and dry cycle because that’s what happens when you go out to the bar and get home smelling worse than an ashtray. Strip, load the washing machine and go take a shower. It has been water skiing and swimming, too.
So I switched. A little more space for things like the medicare and drug plans cards, I suppose I need to carry them. I might need them some day. It was an improvement.
Remember when cartons of cigarettes would have a premium? Basic 100s had things like battery operated clocks and penlights. Marlboro 100s had stuff too. Like key rings and wallets. They also had a program where you saved the UPC from your empty packs to mail in for more. Like, a solid brass Zippo lighter that vanished.
I quit smoking in ’96. Saved enough in a few months to pay for an HP DeskJet. 890Cxi or something like that. Almost $400.
What brought this nonsense post up? Yesterday Frost Bank called. Seems that having almost 50k sitting in savings means I must have need of a Personal Banker. To help me do something. I asked her when did I open my account? She said February 1982. Which didn’t sound right to me.
I rummaged around in the Library closet to find my savings passbook. I didn’t find it. Not the one I was looking for. I found the one from my savings account in Mobile. Closed that out in ‘73 when we moved to Texas. Almost $150 and can I have it in Ones, please? They asked “why?” and I said I’m 14 and if I break a 10 or a 20 it’s going to assumed that I stole it Plus it’s gone. I can ration dollar bills. I finished that pile of cash off about 15 years ago. ←-weirdo
I found a BRAND NEW Marlboro wallet. Which makes me stupidly happy somehow.
I rummaged around more this morning. I found my savings passbook. She had the date wrong. I opened the account 3-10-80. At the only bank or S&L in bicycle range that would cash the deposit refund from my old apartment in McAllen. Sure, I had to open an account with $50 but they gave me the rest for silly things like groceries. The other banks I tried were like “you need to open an account to cash this check and you can make a withdrawal after a month”. All of those banks have failed since. I had a job but the whole “work two weeks before you get paid” was a problem because I was out of money. How many days will a can of tuna last an always hungry 23 year old?
I think her date is when the bank added 37 as a prefix to my account. When the Chase National Bank computer system was fully absorbed by Cullen-Frost and later renamed to “Frost Bank North Austin”… but before branch banks were a thing. A few years before First City failed the second time and Frost bought it all from the FDIC.
Sheesh. 44 years. Never a problem.
I like, a lot, Nick’s BOL plan. A vacation lake house a hundred miles or so north of the Houston sprawl sounds innocent, yes?
That he is stocking it full of provisions, ready to go, makes it all the better.
For what little it is worth, I’m a cup shy of having used 20 pounds of sugar this year feeding hummingbirds. One feeder.
One of those was probably NBC Bank.
At one time branch banking was not allowed in Texas. Then in the early 80’s when the Texas oil economy was tanking the law was changed. Now branch banks were allowed. Mainly to keep smaller banks from becoming insolvent. There were lots of acquisitions during those couple of years.
I think it was City National Bank. Austin TX, if my memory was correct. I knew several people at the bank and did some contract work for that bank. My bank, NBC, also sold them the PULSE network software so their ATMs could participate in the network. Maybe there was a First City, the name just does not sound familiar.
I probably could have gotten a job with Frost bank when my bank, NBC, sold the IT department to MTech. I was the person in charge of the operating system for four mainframes, I did the teller software, I did the ATM software, I did the PULSE software, I programmed the ATM controller, I managed the network processor. I was the top dog software person at the bank.
I did have a standing job offer at Broadway National Bank. I never took advantage of it because the IT manager was not exactly the most competent. There was also another guy working there with whom neither of us saw things the same way. They did buy my PULSE software but the modifications that he made caused problems which the IT manager blamed on my code.
I have no idea why I did not apply at Frost. If there was not a job opening, they probably would have created an opening. I think I really just wanted to get out of San Antonio.
Everybody wants to be a two-percenter. Plus Frost is probably large enough to have a dark pool of stocks to transfer into your account and put the bonus commissions into the Personal Banker’s pocket.
I dunno Greg. I’m pushing 50 grand hard in savings. 0.90 % interest.
I have another 50 grand in t-bills that pay 5%+ ish.. And yeah, that t-bill stuff is pretty random. Eight week, 17 week, 26 week, whatever, ten grand per. Clicky click and whatever, it all pays more than CDs from the bank.
Am I doing this stuff right? No telling. But other than insurance and property tax bills of theft, I have a couple of monthly phone bills and a couple of electric bills, everything is paid for, Need money for groceries and beer.. That’s about it.
Last I looked, Frost is about 50 billion. And as far as I’ve ever seen, honest.
The Inside Story of How the Trump Campaign Eliminated Lobbyist Influence on RNC Platform
https://redstate.com/mccabe/2024/07/11/gop-operative-how-trump-campaign-team-managed-platform-committee-flawlessly-n2176652
I read some caping earlier in the week about things that were “eliminated”, but I suspected that something like this had gone on.
Nope.
I think you are right about it being City National bank. Like 1978 ish. On Congress in Austin, 3 or 4 hundred block on the east side of the street. I went in there with a jar of change and they acted like I was going to rob the place. There was a lot of name changes happening. Whatever in Dallas, changed to Momentum Bank and that changed to M-Bank.
M-Bank failed and then whatever…. OneBank. I think. From Ohio? OneBank is gone and is whatever now.
Cullen-Frost didn’t play the games. I like Frost because they were never bailed out.
Getting out of SA is not a bad goal. 🙂
That bank from Laredo forced the issue. Laredo National Bank? The Tx-DOB well, pussys. I was there as a file clerk and I read real fast while making copies of stuff. Laredo said “we are making branches, what ya gonna do?” And that’s why we have branch banking in Texas.
Cultural Appropriation — You Sure You Wanna Play That Game?
https://pjmedia.com/caskeet/2024/07/11/cultural-appropriation-you-sure-you-wanna-play-that-game-n4930565
My tribe invented trains, telephones, wastewater treatment, light bulbs, phonographs, automobiles, airplanes, freon, movies, color film, Scotch tape, nylon, the underwire bra, radio, television, penicillin, big ole jet airliners,white sidewall tires, frozen orange juice, tv dinners, the electric guitar, videotape, integrated circuits, computers, men on the moon, the internet, cell phones …
And, yes, for all its defects and problems, the most successful representative government the world has ever see.
Members of a lot of other tribes joined ours and helped with many of those things.
Now you want to be different and special? Saying don’t make it so, bub–hot air ain’t even good for balloons anymore. Give up the things you appropriated, leave us, and go create something of your own. But don’t be surprised if most of your tribe sticks with us. And if you’re successful, don’t be surprised if part of your new tribe wants to trade back in.
Home Invasion Illustrates Why Gun Control Is Stupid
https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2024/07/11/home-invasion-illustrates-why-gun-control-is-stupid-n1225559
I’d say it illustrates why not locking your doors at night is stupid.
Yeah, the current interest rate environment sucks.
You could always hear what they have to say, but most personal banking services involve a fee of 2% of the balance, 25% of the gains in a typical market year.
As much as I view with suspicion the way Vanguard owns everything, that’s where most of my non-401(k) investment money resides, in a group of index funds I’ve owned for a very long time, including, sigh, yes, VTSMX.
I also have some money at T. Rowe Price. The people who answer their phones and dispense advice used to be salaried, but I don’t know if that is still true.
If you want a book to start, find Andrew Tobias “The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need”.
I don’t agree with a thing former DNC Treasurer Tobias has to say about politics or Jim Cramer (one of his friends), but the book is great.
Biden’s 6th Grade Teacher Admits That “Something Was Just Not Right With That Boy”
https://redstate.com/bonchie/2024/07/11/bidens-disturbing-juneteenth-appearance-gets-much-worse-as-attendees-n2176699
As more and more witnesses come forward, re-analysis shows that FJB has been a stiff grope-happy amoral liar since birth.
“We made darn sure we were never left in a room with him. Just meeting him in the hallway was bad enough.” revealed Malia and Sasha.
Fly Family Who Lost Father to Double-Wingectomy Seek Justice in Changes to Statute of Limitations
News at 11.
EPA Chief Insists His Agency Has Not Sent ‘One Dime’ To Hardline Left-Wing Org — But There’s A $50 Million Problem
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/07/11/epa-chief-insists-his-agency-has-not-sent-one-dime-to-hardline-left-wing-org-but-theres-a-50-million-problem/
Mace should have demanded that Regan call his second-in-command back at the office and placed an immediate hold on the documentation of the review process, subject to the arrival of U.S. Marshall’s (armed, of course, and ready to shoot per standard procedure if they get any crap from any secretaries or custodians) in thirty minutes who will collect it all up and deliver it back to the committee RFN (Right Freaking Now) while the Big Boy is excused to wait in the anteroom until he is recalled and placed under oath.
I’d like to recognize a form of “justice” that has been ignored for way too long:
“TAXPAYER JUSTICE”
Which, in the hierarchy of justices is above “environmental” and “social” and a lot of other made-up justices that are in PLT vogue.
For decades our government has been raping taxpayers to fund PLT garbage like this.
Please make it stop, President Trump.
A dollar goes to DC and comes back at, what, 80 cents? Less? Can you do serious bloat and skim for only 20 cents on the dollar?
The Founders did not intend the federal government to be an advocacy group squatting on the necks of taxpayers*.
After Jan 2025 every penny in every fedgov budget that is allocated for grants should be frozen. Then a team of parsimonious taxpayers who work for a living–not in an office, not from home, not even in air conditioned spaces–should be given 30 days to triage the whole list: In( 20% tops), Out (60% min), Maybe (20% tops)
“Out” is removed from the budget, the administrators are down-sized, and the projects are put on the “Fedgov does not” list.
“Maybe” gets more discussion, later.
“In” is the stuff that makes sense, but only at the federal government level. If state governments should be doing this, kick it down to them.
*”squatting on the necks of taxpayers” is really what fedgov mostly does
No gennie?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/11/us/houston-beryl-power-generators.html
“as for being too “racist,” the country has elected a black president – twice.”
https://redstate.com/wardclark/2024/07/11/jen-psaki-circles-back-to-kamala-says-american-too-racist-and-sexist-to-elect-her-n2176701
I’m old enough to remember before Obama rode in on a beam of light we had to make do with Bill Clinton as our first Black President.
So, Amazon just delivered a buncha security goodies for my ground floor apartment. The 3 windows/slider have appropriate sticks in the tracks. The front door is a keyless number pad deadbolt which is Jetson cool, but not something I really like/trust.
The plan is to reinforce the strike plates with longer replacements with 3″ screws and the lower 2 hinges, too. I used the plural for plates since the 3 closets in the common area will get plates, screws and matching locking lever knob sets and the 2 bedroom doors will get deadbolt knob sets. All door edges will be sleeved with stainless “C” sections. The kick broken doors I’ve seen are either or both split doors and/or jambs.
The “piece de resistance” is the “Flip Lock” for the front and bedroom door:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFM97FR3?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&tag=ttgnet-20
Useful only when I’m home, but I am here a lot.
The interior locks are because the front door lock is inherently compromised and management would get huffy if I used my jig tool to add another deadbolt. I do have the programming manual for that model…
Should be unobtrusive enough for the landlord’s minions to not notice or object and reasonably effective for the usual smash and grab bozo.
Growing up middle class white trash – BJ was not poor – in Hot Springs, AK, Clinton’s experience was probably closer to that of most African Americans in the US than Obama’s, whose grandmother was a bankster in Hawaii.
Clinton, like Reagan, came from not much and managed to get elected President of the United States, an achievement which still means something regardless of what happened afterwards. However, Reagan grew up relatively poor in Illinois while BJ’s mother was a nurse anesthetist IIRC.
The 50th anniversary celebration of “Emergency” flew largely under the radar because, as CA Governor, despite the expense, Reagan signed the bill creating the paramedic program which inspired the series after he realized that paramedics with a x minute response could have saved his alcoholic father’s life.
The COZI TV documentary gave a pretty good background even though, IIRC, the network is part of Comcast/NBC/Universal.
https://theblack90s.org/sound-music/why-bill-clinton-was-called-our-first-black-president-saxophones-black-votes-and-toni-morrison/
Don’t forget the former brothel madam turned poet Maya Angelou who delivered one of her works at the Inauguration.
Or Jocelyn Elders, Surgeon General.
Things that make you say “Hmmm” – MacKenzie Bezos was a student of Toni Morrison’s at Princeton around the time Clinton ran for President and Morrison tagged him “The First Black President”.
And MacKenzie drove the Bronco …
Rachel Maddow’s $30 Million Dollar Mistake
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraharnold/2024/07/11/rachel-maddows-mistake-could-cost-msnbc-billions-of-dollars-n2641739
On average, a $3 crack whore has a higher moral standard than the PLT media.
More from Jonathan Turley.
https://jonathanturley.org/2024/07/11/nbc-loses-major-motion-in-defamation-trial-by-doctor-called-the-uterus-collector/
Now the suit goes to trial, unless NBC gets it settled.
Settlement would typically include a gag order. In this case, the defendant has been widely accused of being a modern day Nazi Dr. Mengele, so I’d guess he’s not eager to settle. If it were me, I would seek the full-blown publicity and exoneration of a media circus trial, including having my family take the stand and describe the public humiliation. I would also get Maddow and the rest on the stand and grill them about how important it was to put out a high-profile anti-Trump hit job just before the election.
Make that $2.
@Nightraker , you can go a lot further if you are willing to remove the interior door trim. Pull the hinge and strike side moldings. Cut blocks of solid wood to fit between the rough opening 2×4 and the door jamb at the hinges and latch/strike/deadbolt. Make them longer then the hinges. Glue them in place before you run the long screws thru.
This is especially helpful on the strike side.
Make nice solid blocks out of the contact and support points instead of air gaps behind poplar…
Reinstall trim. Touch up with caulk and colored Sharpie ™ as needed.
You can get a clear window film from 3M to make your windows shatterproof. It’s probably worth it around the door or any accessible window that is hidden from easy observation.
My windows are so crappy that I haven’t applied the film, but I do the hinge and strike upgrade routinely.
n
“Things that make you say “Hmmm” – MacKenzie Bezos was a student of Toni Morrison’s at Princeton around the time Clinton ran for President and Morrison tagged him “The First Black President”.”
Has anyone run an actual DNA test on Pump Head? He might have more actual black DNA than Harris.
Yous ain‘t ‘tever been in a TN truck-em stop after midnight. That amount would leave change in the pocket.
NYTimes “World to end tomorrow, women, children, and the poor to be affected most”…
If you can’t afford a generator, ice and a cooler will keep your food safe for use while you wait to cook it. Coolers are cheap. I’ve picked up half a dozen off the side of the road over the years. I still use one of them when I need it.
There are already people in HOUSTON selling their new generators at huge losses. One says “we want to buy a bigger one, so this $2500 one is for sale for $1500, only used a couple of days.”
Assuming it’s not stolen, what sort of idiot takes a $1K loss like that? Who gets rid of the thing that saved them only days after they bought it? My bet is someone bought it on credit, doesn’t have the money to pay the bill, and is trying to raise at least SOME cash. And getting deeper into credit hell in the process…
This is only the first storm of the season.
FWIW, the people I saw filling gas cans and BBQ bottles are exactly the kind of people the NYT would think of as too poor to take care of themselves, yet they manage.
n
(couldn’t read more than the beginning of the article, paywalled… and I didn’t feel like going around it.)
For not reading it, you got awfully close.
Except there was more scorn and derision on the haves vs have-nots.
“Tesla Delays Robotaxi Event in Blow to Musk’s Autonomy Drive”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-plans-delay-robotaxi-unveiling-154306840.html
“(Bloomberg) — Tesla Inc. is postponing its planned robotaxi unveiling to October to allow teams working on the project more time to build additional prototypes, according to people familiar with the decision.”
Delay number one.
“Yous ain‘t ‘tever been in a TN truck-em stop after midnight.”
Guilty
Except there was more scorn and derision on the haves vs have-nots.
– the opening line and their history was enough to see which direction that would go…
Agitators. Class war, race war, doesn’t matter to them. Marx and his ideological descendants are working to a plan.
n
I have power at the office now ! We got power back apparently late last night just in time for lightning to strike a tree in the swamp a mile south of here and the tree took a power pole down.
We’ve got more lineman trucks running around here than I can count on my fingers and toes.
I talked to two of the guys in a truck for an hour while they were finishing up the new pole. They are driving a Ford F-550 with a Cummins diesel and a 60 foot bucket. Nice ! They are towing a 25+ foot trailer with a small bulldozer on it, maybe just 30,000 lbs. Said the truck requires a Class A CDL to drive.
This is their third trip to Texas in the last three months from Kentucky, they were here for the tornado and the Derecho too. Said the truck will make it here in less than 24 hours for the 1,400 miles, no bunk bed though. My guess is that no staties will dare to stop them being afraid of being blacklisted by Lineman’s Union.
They were parking their trucks at my warehouse today while waiting for the line to be energized. I like those F-550s, nice trucks.
Joe Biden’s press conference tonight was a worst case scenario for the Democratic Party. Biden rambled incoherently, frequently made no sense, was often unable to finish sentences. He whispered weirdly. His aides finally pulled the plug and got him off the stage. But he remained upright! He was still standing after 45 minutes! So it was a triumph for Slow Joe.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/07/go-joe.php
shopping list:
*If I keep lmao, sooner or later it’s going to roll into the least accessible corner of the workshop
actually, the lyrics are pretty good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OcO8VgCxjI
Third-best song on an underrated album
It is beginning to look like Centerpoint got caught with their pants down with only 1,500 linemen for three million meters. Lots and lots of overtime for the present linemen since benefits are so expensive.
When I worked at TXU, we had at least 4,000 linemen for two million meters. Those were the old days of put your spurs on and climb the wooden poles. No bucket trucks.
Centerpoint had a $6 billion profit last year and the CEO got a real nice eight figure bonus from what I heard. Not good now.
Will somebody put a fork in Biden, he is done !
https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/biden-refers-kamala-harris-vice-president-trump-comments-reporters
My neighborhood looks like a war zone with all of the trees down and branches piled at the lawn edges (we do not have curbs). I am wondering who is going to take all of the piled up debris. My lawn guy says that he will take some tomorrow and Saturday.
No, but I learned why the store is called Love’s around 2 AM one night/morning in Wyoming.
Hookers working the trucks and barrels of pr0n DVDs inside.
Nashville is only 12 hours from Austin. I imagine Houston is a similar distance. KY is an hour north of Nashville.
The worst part of the drive is Arkansas. No tax breaks, no Buc-ee’s. 🙂
City of Houston solid waste took some last time, and they hired contractors to get the rest. There are several areas around here that are being used as transfer stations, and to shred and sort the waste.
—————–
There are a lot of rumors and speculation about out of town crews sitting in parking lots because they haven’t received assignments. Some haven’t done the mandatory safety training, some don’t have any way to get paid, or temp accommodations. A big cluster if true and so different from last time as to make one wonder what changed?
The press picked it up and apparently the woman they were given to ask questions of didn’t have any answers, even to basic questions. DIE hire? Sacrificial lamb? Wanted the limelight so someone gave it to her, good and hard? Dunno but it just looks bad, and there do seem to be fewer crews working than last time.
——————–
W and the Ds are at the BOL for the rest of the week. I’ll hold the fort. Got my non-prepping hobby meeting on Saturday anyway.
Time for bed. Well, to read anyway. And get back on a more normal daytime schedule.
n
97% owned by institutions. Very little retail.
So much for T. Rowe Price being less Borg-like than Vanguard, T. Rowe Capital Appreciation owns 3% with their other funds holding more stock (5.17% combined of outstanding shares) than State Street (4.72%).
Home Depot doesn’t take the generators back?
Like big TVs after the Super Bowl at Costco?
Wife says they changed their return rules. Open the box and it’s yours, no matter what.
n
Costco and the other big box retailers changed their super bowl returns policies years ago. No returns.
n
I wonder if I can get an email addy or credential from my BOL volunteer FD?
https://askrail.us/
’cause that app is just kinda cool.
n
AT&T and Verizon still subject the management employees to pole climbing classes every three years.
Verizon actually had a strike in the recent past which went on for almost two months.
Credentials are probably tight. The railroads don’t want that information to be public.
Microsoft is probably the aggregator, like the national TV schedule.
“Will somebody put a fork in Biden, he is done !”
He’s scheduled to get a good forking in November.
@Nick:
Thanks! I’m picturing filling the gap between the jamb and the jack studs. Reattaching the trim, I’ve been needing to get a bit of Sherman William’s “Grecian Villa” for some other rub spots here and there, anyway. Still need to get the green shade name for the front door to cover the stainless sleeve.
Used to have the “Door Armor” kit on my old front door before the move. The strike plate was 4 FEET long and the hinge guards about 8 to 10 inches each.
I was thinking of mirror film for the slider out to the 8’x4′ waist high fenced patio from the LR. I’ll check into shatterproof as well.
The price of peephole cameras is a bit of a jump from regular Ring or Blink doorbell style and the ones I’ve seen have the main box on the outside of the door which seems stupid, but they need a spot for the doorbell button, I suppose. There are brackets to mount a doorbell cam on the door’s edge but I’ll have to claim hearing loss as an excuse as I’d like extra security items to be invisible to neighbors.
==========
This morning, discovered one of the upper 4.3 foot closet rods in the MBR had pulled the 14 inch 1×4 cleat holding up the rod and shelf above sliding dramatically down the drywall. The (over) load was mostly leather and winter coats on the rod and 15 boxes of work boots stacked to the ceiling on the shelf. No way that cleat that length had a fastener into a stud. I’ll get some 18 inch cleats cut tomorrow, drill pilot holes at 16″ from the perpendicular wall until I find a stud.
Corn Pop isn’t going to make it to November.
Tonight’s “TMZ” – effectively a Faux News division now — had a segment on Obama yuk-yuking it up with the Team USA basketball team while channeling Key & Peele.
Harvey Levin’s nipples were hard talking about the “beloved” former President.
Big Mike is coming.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2024/07/11/pelosi-and-obama-are-beyoind-nervous-about-biden-and-2024-but-dont-know-what-to-do-n2641771
Revenge is a dish best savored slowly, with lots of buttered popcorn on the side.
“Democrats are desperate for the dispiriting infighting to end so they can get back
to trying to beat the former presidentcolluding with the PLT’s in the MSM to filling up the news cycle with lies about Trump. ”FIFY
TSLA isn’t the only stock reliving Summer 2023.
DIS is treading some very familiar territory as the negative reviews for “The Acolyte” pile up.
Dear MSM,
Half the electorate have known for years with certainty that you are a bunch of narcissistic left-wing liars who will do anything to make Democrats look good and pump your own egos, regardless of the damage to country and fellow citizens. Recent events have given another one-sixth or so a wake up call starting them in that direction. The one-third or so that are still willing to vote for Biden are the metal filings in the transmission of modern life, many suffering from other delusions as well, and some lacking the perspicacity to navigate a crowded sidewalk.
You are on a short path to a museum, one that holds the memories of buggy whips and other devices that were often featured in photos submitted by readers to forums in antique magazines asking “What TAF is this?”
We hope your public death is long and excruciating, and your private death is short and miserable, alone in darkness, but just protracted enough that your regrets have long enough to fully play out. Don’t bother to get religion–there will be no forgiveness and redemption is not on your dance card.
Here’s hoping your obits will be suitably short, along the lines of “turns out he/she/zit wasn’t already dead”
“So, the Easter Bunny knew, but you didn’t, and you’re a leader in what party?”
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2024/07/11/dems-media-begin-captain-louis-renault-award-contest-over-biden-declinin-n3791675
Had an email from shopgoodwill.com today.
All the links returned “service is unavailable”
(The site is up, but the links do not work.)
They really do hire the handicapped.
-ping-
upright and breathing
hope folks are well
“Rain may cool things off slightly; and ranking Houston’s top five weather disasters in my career here”
https://spacecityweather.com/rain-may-cool-things-off-slightly-and-ranking-houstons-top-five-weather-disasters-in-my-career-here/
“The following list is totally subjective, but it’s coming from the perspective of someone who has probably written more words about the weather in Houston than anyone past or present—probably about 3 million words, or nearly six times the length of War and Peace. Anyway, after all that writing and thinking about Houston weather, here is my list of top five most impactful weather events since I got here:”
Not a bad list. But Eric Berger has only been here since 1997. The Great Storm of 1900 that killed over 10,000 people in Galveston. Hurricane Carla of 1961 that decimated almost the entire Gulf Coast of the USA.
xkcd: A Crossword Puzzle
https://www.xkcd.com/2957/
Explained and Solved at:
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2957:_A_Crossword_Puzzle
This is ridiculous.