Hot, still and again. But it’s the humidity that is killing me. Just standing still outside, in the shade, with a breeze, and I had sweat trickling down my spine and sternum yesterday. My thermometer said 101F, in mixed sun and shade. Dunno what the actual RH was but it felt like 95%. Probably get that again today.
I didn’t do any work during the day yesterday. I spent several hours just sitting and talking with my buddy up here. I did do some of it while moving some of the stuff out of my truck bed, and sweating with that little exertion, so I feel like I made the correct call about doing any work outdoors. I still could have done some stuff inside though.
Late in the day I did the string trimming, and I ended up blurry and soaked to the skin with sweat. Had to shower and it took a while to cool down. I was dumb, and pushed just a tiny bit too far. Good warning for taking it easier though.
Today I’ll be unloading the rest of the truck, picking up some posts I bought up here to use for dock repair, and doing some other stuff, indoors with A/C, as a break. I might even do laundry.
That should be enough to wear me out. The humidity is crippling. Well, very limiting at the least.
Working to improve my situation… and stacking stuff against future need. Like most days.
nick
I used Angry Orange from Big River when cleaning up after our last cat.
Pooph gets mixed ratings.
Even cash in a “Money Market” fund is a risk post-MF Global.
Most of my “beer money” plays are under water.
Or trace the purchase of the boxes, or the purchase of the stickers. Even wearing gloves, I would probably make a mistake, somewhere. And it would be guaranteed that almost every three-letter government agency would be in on the investigation. Probably even the IRS. If not for the purpose of finding out the person(s) involved, but to get their faces on the news so they can increase their anti-terrorisim budget.
It would be hard to get a plate from a vehicle in the dark with a ring camera. It would certainly point out the real resolution and capabilities of the camera. It would also point out how many hidden cameras, as in trees and light poles, the government has stashed around Oak Ridge. There are many poles in the city with mysterious boxes that I don’t think are related to phone or cable systems.
Great minds think alike and do the same dumb things. 90F and 90% humidity is really rough when working outside.
Freefall comic 1000!
we put a hex on you
http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff4100/fc04096.png
and…
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2024/08/02
Coffee Alert:
“There is a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule docked at the ISS right now, but that’s the lifeboat in case of catastrophic failure, so the plan would be to send up a second capsule to ferry Butch and Suni home.
Disclaimer: Just don’t land in Bolivia.”
– Pixy Misa
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/tech-ceo-says-people-will-enjoy-paying-a-monthly-fee-to-use-a-mouse-you-re-going-to-really-love-that/ar-BB1qZ08g?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=e7df340039d34b5caa5691f78bc12930&ei=60
Yeah….no.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13698057/bill-gates-relationship-women-girlfriend.html
The legend of Bill G is being assaulted again. Who did he tick off this time?
According the front page of the DM, the US unemployment spike means you can ”buy the dip” on any stock in the World.
#biddenflation
Ann Winblad is an old story. The tale of BillG and the Hurd widow is kinda-sorta new but only something which surfaced since the husband assumed room temperature.
Mark Hurd had lots of women problems, but he finally found a kindred spirit with Larry Ellison before he (Hurd) passed. Together they built the party facility which was briefly Oracle HQ downtown.
Geesh what is it with these guys.
As for who Gates ticked off, he is rumored to be secretly running Microsoft again.
The real owners of everything certainly seem to be sending a wake-up call to the industry this week — make the AI monkey trick profitable … or else.
My employer’s stock is below where the execs RSU grants vested in March. Ruh roh.
Intel is getting roasted alive.
And, “Kamalanomenon” Is apparently a thing according to the LSM.
#KamelPower
Simone Biles takes the Taylor Swift route:
Simone Biles takes a five-word swipe at Trump after winning gold in gymnastics at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Dropping the “s” off her last name sums her up politically.
#EntitledLife
The accident investigation report on the C22 crash off Japan is out, and as suspected, it was a gearbox failure.
Compunded by pilot error, electing to continue the mission until after the third “debris in gearbox dection” alert – and then aborting to an airport 60 miles away instead of closer airports. They died on final.
https://www.twz.com/air/cv-22-osprey-crash-in-japan-was-caused-by-gearbox-failure
Time for a “short victorious war” maybe.
Venezuela, or Iran?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diversionary_foreign_policy
(A cynic might note a western bias in examples … thousand year old civilizations like China and India and Persia are nowhere to be seen.)
86F and rising. Sunny day. I decided to make breakfast tacos today. Yum. Coffee is in the mug too.
Still staying up too late reading.
Still have a bigger list than I can get too.
Oh well.
n
Winchester SilverTip and Winchester PowerPoint both work very well. The deer don’t come back.
The UH-60 “gearbox chip caution light” emergency procedure is to land ASAP. Day or night, that means land when you see a clearing, not when you feel like it. I suffered two of these in a Blackhawk. One at night and one during the day. As soon as we saw a clearing, we landed. One on base one out in the civilian world. Let your maintenance company recover the aircraft. A hydraulic light caution is “land immediately” since the UH-60 is fly-by-wire.
The first, second, and third cause of military aircraft crashes is pilot error. You learn the aircraft operating envelope and memorize emergency procedures for a reason. Maybe they had a black box voice recorder. I would like to hear the pilot-copilot decision process.
All of Venezuela has been waiting for a “war” for 25 years, especially the expat elites who fled to their Collins Ave. condos and never went home after Chavez took power.
Maduro might try to invade Guyana to cover his own domestic problems. That might be enough of an excuse for NATO.
The downside of a war with Venezuela now would be the number of military age males from that country who have entered via the southern border thanks to Biden. Think Maduro didn’t slip in a brigade or two to stir up chaos here?
Trying to turn a computer mouse into a subscription model? No. Just…no. The pointy-haired managers of the world need to be turned into Soylent Green. At least they would serve a purpose.
Yeah, sure, but there’s plenty of time for the honeymoon to end before the elections. Just get her talking in front of people, and it will end pretty quickly.
Somewhat related: we watch a fair amount of TV. I came across a survey that said that the median age of viewers (in the US) was well over 60. I can believe it – neither of our kids owns a TV, or would even think about buying one. Because…why? Everything you want is online or downloadable.
Social media claims to provide news, but it is so disorganized, and you have no idea if – because of your personal bubble – you may be missing something important. TV news is stupidly biased, of course, so it is only marginally useful. In the end, I wind up scanning a dozen or so different sources: TV, newspapers online, social media, news agencies like Reuters. And still sometimes run across topics “why didn’t I hear about that?!?!”
And on the gripping hand: Anything other than local news is, honestly, irrelevant to most people. Why do I care about elections in Venezuela? Why do I care about wildfires in the US? Actually…I don’t.
– – – – –
And on a completely different topic: Sometimes projects just don’t go the way you expect. I’m trying to put in a small area to store gravel. I want to lay some garden slabs on gravel, in a frame that I cement in place. Um. First, I hit a decades-old compost pile. Really deap, rich earth. Can’t build on that, so dig it out. Then I hit bedrock. Talked to a neighbor who has some expertise – he said my approach of hammer and chisel is really the best. The bedrock here is pretty fragile stuff – didn’t spend enough millions of years underground – so it’s not worth getting out the big guns. Tedious, though…
Well, Venezuela is closer and weaker, even the diminished and demoralized US military led by DEI hires could win. Even if Maduro has a brigade in the US I doubt they’ve been paid in the last six months.
Iran is bigger and tougher, and the US mobilization would take so long that their version of the Manhattan Project could easily have the bomb by then.
Taiwan has been wargamed – and we lose.
Broadcast TV and AM/FM radio will not go away despite the best efforts of the CoDominium to convince the Congress critters to free up that spectrum for the Pizza Box Dream.
I’ve long believed that Starlink is the CoDominium’s stalking horse to get that final < 1 GHz bandwidth auction, but there have been other stalking horses, the last one being Clear, run by a family with their names on a few buildings around Downtown Seattle.
To put it further: Why do I care about wildfires in California? Actually…I don’t.
Except it affects my homeowner’s insurance rates. I have seen on the news where people have built in the same spot, twice, and had their home destroyed both times. Insurance should be made available, mandatory, with the yearly premium 20% of the value of the structure.
No need. The Dems are paying them. And feeding them, and housing them, and giving them cell phones and voter registrations.
Probably more than Maduro would have.
LOL! Mashed POTATUS:
This Is Sad: Watch Biden Wander Back on Airplane for Some Reason (We’re As Confused As You)
Maybe he needed a change.
#NotMyPlane
Unless Taiwan has a nuke, as I believe that they do. Maybe more than one.
I think that is the real deterrent. Shanghai Surprise!
I don’t believe that putting the democrat/socialist/criminal machine that already runs California in charge of (more in charge of, actually) would make it better.
whew, getting hot. Got the truck unloaded and the stuff distributed around the homestead. Not put away, exactly, but in the right area.
Guy has pushed me to after 2pm to pick up my first load of posts.
That’s ok, I need to cool down after unloading. It’s that miserable.
n
Chevron moving to Texas – Hell ‘va job Screwsome
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-08-02/chevron-in-a-blow-to-california-says-it-is-relocating-to-houston
The Kamel is now the Dumbo’s official nominee. Installed by the PLT’s without a primary. I hope enough Dumbo’s are disgusted with this that she loses in a landslide.
#tRumpEndsDemocracy LOL
The Humper is being touted as a black female Asian American by CNN. I wonder if a couple other minority words can be added to cater to other blocks of voters. If the media added Stupid making it “Stupid Black Female Asian American” the Humper could cater to the left half of the Bell Curve where 50% of the voters live.
Unfortunately, the employees bring their California voting habits with them.
In their quest to turn their new location into the shirthole(-r) that they just left.
Just like in TN. Move a piece of welfare trailer trash into a reasonable section 8 house and soon the section 8 house is looking like a trailer trash dump. I know one person who had their rental forcibly put in section 8. when the tenants were evicted there was no wiring or plumbing left anywhere in the house. The place was full of trash with piles of shirt(-r) in some corners. The house was condemned. He had to take his insurance carrier to court to get them to pay for the loss.
“Kyle Rittenhouse Sparks Controversy Saying He Won’t Vote for Donald Trump”
https://www.infowars.com/posts/kyle-rittenhouse-sparks-controversy-saying-he-wont-vote-for-donald-trump/
“Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted after shooting and killing two BLM rioters in self defense, stoked controversy Thursday with an announcement declaring he won’t vote for President Donald Trump, who he previously supported.”
Really ? Trump defended Kyle heavily.
“Chevron announces it’s leaving California and moving headquarters to Houston”
https://www.chron.com/business/article/chevron-california-texas-houston-19615677.php
“The U.S. oil giant says its moving its headquarters to Houston, the “Energy Capital of the World” due to excessive regulations in the Golden State.”
Most of Chevron’s people work here already from the Texaco acquisition. Two of my friends are retired from Chevron.
Most of my “beer money” plays are under water.
I am still 2X to 10X on most of my stocks. I never sell unless I have too.
I was checking the status of the drives in my Synology NAS. Both drives, which are WD Red Pro NAS drives (2TB) are functioning fine. I forgot when I purchased them, so checking the serial numbers, they are just past the 5 year warranty. I’m going to buy a couple new drives today, and upgrade my capacity to 8 TB.
Apparently Rittenhouse is under the tutelage of a never-Trumper 2A guy.
Or at least, one who uses 2A as his weapon against Trump. Trump, after all, had really bad advice and instincts on 2A issues in his first term. Hopefully, he’s learned to listen to Eric and Don Jr. instead of Jared and Ivanka.
Kyle is just 21 and has PTSD. He’s ripe for grooming.
My Microsoft shares are still at 15X or more even this morning.
That was a beer money play that worked far better than I ever expected.
The Market is throwing a temper tantrum about interest rates today, and the tech industry is on the receiving end.
When I contacted management earlier to ask about when regular one-on-one meetings would resume so I could ask about a few things, the response came back that he was waiting for certain announcements to get made.
Ruh-Roh.
Pearls Before Swine: Unfair Advantages
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2024/08/02
Yeah, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr wrote a short story about this, “Harrison Bergeron”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Bergeron
You can read the story at:
https://archive.org/stream/HarrisonBergeron/Harrison%20Bergeron_djvu.txt
So some cells pushing through now. A little thunder, 95F, a few drops that evaporate instantly.
The cat started growling at the thunder: those lightning gods had just better beware the wrath of the female American Shorthair!
Then she vanished.
Well, Venezuela is closer and weaker, even the diminished and demoralized US military led by DEI hires could win. Even if Maduro has a brigade in the US I doubt they’ve been paid in the last six months.
Iran is bigger and tougher, and the US mobilization would take so long that their version of the Manhattan Project could easily have the bomb by then.
Taiwan has been wargamed – and we lose.
Russia has been wargamed also – and we get some canned sunshine in the USA as a reward. Right after Germany gets theirs.
Never forget that Russia burned down Moscow when Napoleon captured Moscow. The scorched earth policy started right there in earnest.
Unless Taiwan has a nuke, as I believe that they do. Maybe more than one.
I think that is the real deterrent. Shanghai Surprise!
The rumor is that both Taiwan and South Africa got twelve nukes each from Pakistan with South Africa supplying the nuclear material for processing. The problem is that the nukes weigh 10,000 lbs each. That is C-130 delivery requirement and China will not allow a Taiwanese C-130 to cross into their airspace unchallenged without some major subterfuge.
The second rumor is that Israel has sold Taiwan some battlefield nukes. 200 lbs each. They will take out an invasion fleet easily.
BTW, all USA Carriers have around 220 battlefield nukes on them in the forecastle that are deliverable via F-18s. There is always a USA Carrier in the South China Sea right now.
The real question is, did Israel sell their old Jericho BMs to Taiwan when they moved to the Jericho III ?
The REAL question is whether the alien overlords will allow someone to spoil their food supply with radiation….
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.n
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😉
“Signs of weakness.”
Where they been for the last 4 years?
– it’s too early.
Scenario A– TPTB realize the Kamel can’t win, and the cheat would be too obvious, so they let T win. Then crash the economy, fight every reform, to put the blame on T. Unleash the hordes to cause fear and unrest, rioting, looting, end of ROL, terrifying the middle class. Run a jesus candidate to “save us all” from T’s mistakes, rule the next 12 years….
——variation A – kill T at some point during the 4 years, then blame attaches to V, that could happen out of spite, or if V turns out to be popular
——variation B – kill T and his whole family, go full bore takeover
Scenario B – TPTB martyr T, V can’t win because he’s essentially unknown, Kamel installed as Executive. Fundamental remaking of the Republic. Civil War, as a terrorist campaign. Hordes are revealed as footsoldiers. Thinking that if they are going to have a war, have it now.
Scenario C – T wins in a landslide. Civil war started with hordes as proxy army for left. Country torn apart. Right is too nice, wins but eventually loses because there isn’t a Sherman to suppress the left.
Scenario D – Kamel wins, but the cheat is so obvious that everyone sees it, war starts, T is leader of the resistance from Israel or Hungary, or maybe Poland. UK muslim majority seizes power, says they’ll not take sides in the US internal conflict.
note that I don’t see any way forward that doesn’t involve at least a hot terror campaign on US soil.
Kinda depressing.
n
“Toyota To Replace 102,000 Tundra & Lexus LX Engines”
https://www.carpro.com/blog/toyota-to-replace-102000-tundra-lexus-lx-engines
“Toyota says it will foot the bill to replace the engines in more than 100,000 Toyota and Lexus models. The action stems from the May 30, 2024, recall of approximately 102,000 vehicles due to the possibility of engine stalls. At the time, Toyota said it was working on a remedy, which it now has: a new engine. The recall involves certain model year 2022-2023 Toyota Tundra and Lexus LX vehicles in North America. The models are equipped with gas-only engines and are NOT hybrids.”
“Toyota says there is a possibility that certain machining debris may not have been cleared from the engine when it was produced. In the involved vehicles, this can lead to potential engine knocking, engine rough running, engine no start and/or a loss of motive power. A loss of motive power while driving at higher speeds can increase the risk of a crash.”
Oh my !
Union labor. Where performance is based on the lowest performer of the group. Where raises are based on how long someone has tried to do something rather than how well someone does something.
I think Scenario A is the plan.
“Diamond Fire: A Hidden Legacy Novella (4)” by Ilona Andrews
https://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Fire-Hidden-Legacy-Novella/dp/0062878433?tag=ttgnet-20/
Book number four of a six book and one novella (seven books total) paranormal romance fantasy series. I read the well printed and well bound novella MMPB published by Avon in 2018 that I just bought new from Amazon. I have the other three books in the series and will read those soon.
Totally cool series for me. This makes the fourth series that I have read from Ilona Andrews, a husband and wife writing team based here in Texas. The Innkeeper, Kate Daniels, and The Edge are the other series of books.
The Hidden Legacy Universe is a complex place. The Osiris serum that induced magical powers in humans was released to the general public in 1863 and the world was never the same. The serum was banned after a while but the world was irreparably changed. Families starting breeding children for strength in magical powers with breathtaking results. Magic users are segregated into five ranks: Minor, Average, Notable, Significant, and Prime. The Prime families operate mostly outside the law since they are so powerful and incredibly dangerous.
Nevada Baylor runs a very small detective agency in Houston, Texas ( ! ) that usually works on scammers and divorce cases. She is a 25 year old hidden Prime Truthseeker, she can unerringly tell lies from truths and can sometimes force people to emit truths. Her mother and father started the detective agency but there is a huge mortgage to a Prime Family that funded the effort to try to save her father from cancer. The effort failed and left them with a huge mortgage when Nevada was 17.
Connor “Mad” Rogan is a Prime Telekinetic and a noted combat veteran, famous and feared for leveling a village in the Mexican-Belize war. He is a billionaire with a private army and wants Nevada Baylor very badly. So badly that he bought all of the property around the Baylor household in a one mile radius so he can protect Nevada and her family.
Nevada and Connor’s first meeting was when he kidnapped her and chained her to the floor in his house basement. Things have gotten better since then. Mostly. Now they are getting married but Nevada does not know that Connor severely understated the size of his extended family and their general dysfunctionality, except for five year old Mia who is a Prime Telekinetic.
The authors have a very active website at:
https://ilona-andrews.com/
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars (I am starting to think 6 stars)
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (7,632 reviews)
Lynn
“SpaceX Tips Discounted Starlink Family Plan”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/spacex-tips-discounted-starlink-family-plan
“The Starlink Family Plan will roll out on an invite-only basis to select US subscribers.”
“We reached out to SpaceX for comment and will update the story if we hear back. However, the company already offers various discounts and deals on Starlink hardware to help drive sales. Recently, SpaceX began offering the V4 standard Starlink dish at $199, $249, and $299 for select customers in the US, down from $499.”
SpaceX has saturated the market already ?
VP Pick Leaked by Incompetent Philly City Staffer
https://redstate.com/bonchie/2024/08/02/breaking-kamala-harris-vp-pick-leaked-by-incompetent-staffer-n2177679
The world continues to get weirder, and march to war. Anyone got a good article about increased export controls? Heard someone mention it in passing as part of the difficulty for their business in this economy. Depending one what’s restricted, I’ll add it to my list of indicators that war is coming.
I am export controlled for my software for about a dozen countries now. If UPS cannot ship there, that is not a good sign. Losing Russia hurt me very badly. I doubt that I will ever get my Russian customers back.
Biden is now export blocking Israel, “BREAKING: All Senate Republicans send letter to Joe Biden on Israel”
https://therightscoop.com/breaking-all-senate-republicans-send-letter-to-joe-biden-on-israel/
“Every Republican in the US Senate just signed a letter to Joe Biden demanding he stop his partial arms embargo Israel. The letter highlights the attack on Israel by Iran and Hezbollah last weekend, which killed 12 children and injured dozens. In the letter, Republicans accuse Biden of deliberately delaying the delivery of crucial weapons and equipment Israel needs in their fight against terrorists and even list off multiple items that Biden is slow-walking.”
I think Scenario A is the plan.
Scenario D for me. Kamel wins but the cheating is incredibly obvious. Civil War 2.0 breaks out around the nation but is put down aggressively by US Army. Martial Law is declared, all rights are suspended, martial law is never dropped.
“West White Rose drilling platform coming together offshore Newfoundland”
https://www.offshore-mag.com/drilling-completion/article/55130374/cenovus-energy-west-white-rose-drilling-platform-coming-together-in-newfoundland
Now that is a base plate for a jack up rig. Looks like a million tons of concrete.
The Tundra is Hecho en San Antonio. The plant isn’t unionized.
The engines may actually come from Japan. Lexus vehicles are all assembled in Japan.
Well, the storm has rolled through, it was nice to have a mid day temperatures in the high 80s for a change. Four or five minutes of hard rain.
I can probably plug stuff in safely again.
The cat has re-appeared.
I think the storm is heading for Inyokern now.
The engines are made here in North Alabama.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revoked a proposed plea deal for the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks that triggered nationwide outrage.
Austin also relieved Brigadier General Susan K Escallier, the Biden official overseeing the case, from her duties.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraharnold/2024/08/02/austin-lloyd-revokes-911-plea-deal-n2642914
Yikes, sounds like the Generals are picking sides.
n
Picked up my posts. Took two trips so as to not overload the Ranger. Treated lumber is heavy.
Have the closet for the water heater and water and gas manifolds almost done. I got the framing done, moved and added an outlet, and sheathed one wall. It’s in a corner of the garage, so it needs the wall above the doors, and a little piece at the bottom of the other wall and it will be ready for paint and doors. I’m going with 4 ft of louvered bi-fold doors. I hate having to fight for access. I was going to leave it all open, but I think it will be better as a closet. Visually it closes off a corner of the garage, making the space look smaller, but it helps with a couple of other things and makes it look more like a finished room.
If it is too imposing, I can unscrew the framing and do something else.
TIme for dinner and a beer michelada style.
n
The entire military was paid off in the last spending bill, starting with the off-base housing allowance, but the Generals have been on the other side since 2009.
My wife’s nephew leverages $360k worth of house up in Georgetown on what I estimate to be $4000 /month take home.
Austin had cancer and was MIA a lot earlier, whether he is actually performing his job now or just doing a Biden is unknown.
TWO beers michelada style, ie, with a lot of extra salt and lime, and the red stuff, and I just peed… so another 16 oz of fluid is called for.
I thought I was staying on top of my fluid intake today, but it caught me by surprise that I haven’t.
It was really hot and humid, but I didn’t soak my shirt thru. My shorts are still damp though so I sweated more than I realized.
Time to sit on the patio and look at the lake with a tiny fire and more fluid.
n
“W-RITTEN OFF – Kyle Rittenhouse’s dramatic U-turn after saying he won’t vote for Donald Trump as he calls his comments ‘ill-informed’”
https://www.the-sun.com/news/12092536/kyle-rittenhouse-ron-paul-donald-trump-election/
“The 21-year-old, known for shooting two men in Kenosha, Wisconsin, changed his tune on the former president in a post on X Friday afternoon.”
“”Over the past 12 hours, I’ve had a series of productive conversations with members of the Trump’s team and I am confident he will be the strong ally gun owners need to defend our Second Amendment rights.”
“”My comments made last night were ill-informed and unproductive. I’m 100% behind Donald Trump and encourage every gun owner to join me in helping send him back to the White House.””