Sat. Aug. 17, 2024 – the weekend is just two more days to work…

By on August 17th, 2024 in culture, decline and fall

And they will be hot and humid days. Like Friday was. Hot AND humid. Weather? We’ve got both kinds… and today will be similar, if it doesn’t rain.

I did my stuff yesterday. Drove around picking up things. I scored a nice lappy for little money, so I’ve got to crack that and get it in shape. I also need to unload and sort the load from yesterday and Thursday. One of the lots I won is an adjustable stand for a refrigerator. I can wait a few more days and pick it up, or I can build a new platform for my new fridge to sit on in the garage. That, and moving stuff to clear a path are the reason my new fridge is still in the driveway. I think I’ll work on other stuff and wait, although it wouldn’t take long to make the platform (which raises the fridge a bit, making it easier to get to the bottom drawer and deep in the back of the shelves, and also matches the height of the freezer next to it, making it easier to store stuff like paper products on top of the freezers.)

It’s a minor tweak, but it made a big difference for the last couple of years, just in terms of convenience. I didn’t know they made something to do the job, but it showed up in the auctions just like magic.

There are millions of things I can work on, and some of them might even get done. First though, I’m getting a bit of extra sleep.

And I’ll be stacking stuff, since that’s what I do…

nick

42 Comments and discussion on "Sat. Aug. 17, 2024 – the weekend is just two more days to work…"

  1. Ray Thompson says:

    SCAM !  Do not reply to that email unless you are absolutely sure that it does go back to Fedex.

    It was NOT an email. The notice came from the FedEx app on my phone. I used the tracking number to check on the FedEx website and the tracking number is real. The address of the shipper is Apple from their SuperHub in Clayton Indiana. That matches with the location of the Apple SuperHub. A friend used the tracking number on his computer with the same result.

    I am getting something from Apple, it will be delivered on Wednesday. The mystery is what am I getting? Everything I have ever ordered from Apple arrives from Lebanon, TN. This is different. There is also special handling where the item must be delivered on Wednesday.

    There is also the question of returning the item. If I did not order the item, must I return the item? I know that I don’t have to if the delivery was USPS. But what about other shippers? What if FedEx is only the long distance shipper and delivers to the local post office for delivery? Is that technically a USPS delivery.

  2. Greg Norton says:

    Today’s Tyler Durden cowardice – Not meant for the civilian market? 

    Show Ya.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/defense-firm-unveils-cybertruck-special-forces-able-survive-ieds

  3. Greg Norton says:

    The older child wasn’t paying attention in heavy Austin traffic yesterday afternoon, and he ended up in a rear end collision with another kid who had just rear ended someone in front of his vehicle.

    We just got the Jetta to the point where all of the outstanding issues were settled and remaining quirks known. Now we’ll have body shop work to wonder about for the rest of the time we own the car.

    I don’t want to think about what it will cost. We dropped Collision thinking the kid was careful.

    Austin.

    While it isn’t priority, forget resale since everyone has one of those Hecho en China body paint thickness scanners from Amazon.

  4. Greg Norton says:

    Today’s Tyler Durden cowardice – Not meant for the civilian market? 

    Show Ya.

    Austin Show Ya types are really bad.

    One of the kids of a member of my wife’s carpool runs a dog boarding kennel in the Fancy Lad part of town where people like the the big boss at my current employer have houses. Since the school year restarted, parents dropping off and picking up at the private school next door to the business feel entitled to park in her lot.

    Towing hasn’t been a deterrent, and neither has a chain across the parking lot entrance. – the parents bought bolt cutters and use them.

    One Show Ya even told her, “We could just buy your building from the landlord and kick you out.”

    Austin PD? Yeah, right.

    Adding to the problem is that the offspring of the Show Ya parents will tease the dogs in the exercise yard. Sooner or later, something bad will happen.

  5. Geoff Powell says:

    @greg:

    Since the school year restarted, parents dropping off and picking up at the private school next door to the business feel entitled to park in her lot.

    Spike strips across the entrance? Wheel clamps? Would sueing for trespass fly? I suspect it would in UK, but I don’t know US law.

    G.

  6. drwilliams says:

    “Towing hasn’t been a deterrent, and neither has a chain across the parking lot entrance. – the parents bought bolt cutters and use them.”

    Forklift. Long forks. Right through the drivers side door and out the other side.  Stack them up in the back. 

    New sign says: Parking $10000 per hour. All vehicles not prepaid will be considered abandoned and scrapped. 

  7. Geoff Powell says:

    @greg:

    tease the dogs in the exercise yard.

    Display liability disclaimers. When (not if, when) something untoward happens to the little perishers, point to the signs. I suspect a judicial telling-off might have an effect.

    G.

  8. Greg Norton says:

    Spike strips across the entrance? Wheel clamps? Would sueing for trespass fly? I suspect it would in UK, but I don’t know US law.

    Towing is perfectly legal but doesn’t seem to serve as much of a deterrent. At least the tow truck guy is happy.

    I’ve lived in other areas where the Locust Class was ensconced but I haven’t seen anything like the sense of entitlement in Austin. 

  9. Nightraker says:

    The parking lot next to the self store building in Milwaukee was shared with the other business facility next door.  There were card / keypad controlled gates for that business, our gate was bright yellow 6″ welded triangular truss swinging on a similarly sized bollard and secured with a padlock and ¾ ” pin thru ¼” steel tabs on the gate/bollard.  Very urban street.  We stored the outgoing rental trucks against our building behind the gate.

  10. Nick Flandrey says:

    The zipcode cheaters who are getting their kids into one of the last “good” schools in the Houston ISD system park across the street in the Goodwill parking lot to pick up their kids.   Then they drive to whatever sh!tty neighborhood they actually live in.   The kids are “walkers” which means the ISD thinks they live within a couple of blocks of the school.   They don’t release “riders” to walk across the street, they have to be picked up by a pre-arranged car, in the pickup line.  

    ————-

    hot already and part sun.   I don’t know if I’ll be doing much outdoor work today.  

    ————

    hmmmmm, coffeeeeeeeee…….

    n

  11. Nick Flandrey says:

    Typical confused writing.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13752889/home-explosion-maine-household-product-cause.html 

    If they can’t legislate you into electric appliances, they’ll scare you…

    In this case, a “lit” propane tank INSIDE the house exploded…   I think they were cooking hash oil or some other equally stupid thing.

    n

  12. Greg Norton says:

    In this case, a “lit” propane tank INSIDE the house exploded…   I think they were cooking hash oil or some other equally stupid thing.

    Maine has recreational marijuana.

    Once weed is legalized to the level that it is sold in stores without a prescription, the hash oil explosions start.

    Florida has legalization on the ballot for the Fall. One of the big money donors behind the effort is John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan, one of the state’s premier ambulance chasing law firms.

    If you think the name sounds familiar, the firm was also behind national feed ads recruiting clients for the Mesothelioma lawsuits and, IIRC, the Camp Lajune contaminated water issue settlement.

  13. Nick Flandrey says:

    So what is Pop!OS?

    the sexy HP DEV One lappy I bought has PopOS installed, and it looks pretty nice.  Whole disk encryption by default, obvious *nix base…

    n

  14. Nick Flandrey says:

    Cops sound alarm as violent Colombian gangsters ransack homes in Florida using cunning disguises and security-busting tactics 

    By Greg Woodfield In Winter Haven, Florida, For Dailymail.Com

    Published: 11:15 EDT, 17 August 2024 | Updated: 11:15 EDT, 17 August 2024 

    An exasperated sheriff has ripped into the ‘non-existent’ immigration system after busting a highly-organized Colombian burglary gang that stole $1.7million in cash and jewels in several raids on ‘high end’ properties.

    Sheriff Grady Judd said the three men and one woman slipped over the Southern border and made their way to the Polk County area of Florida to ‘attack’ wealthy and middle class homes and businesses.

    “they’re not sending their best…”

    “RACISSSS”

    n

  15. drwilliams says:

    “the firm was also behind national feed ads recruiting clients for the Mesothelioma lawsuits and, IIRC, the Camp Lajune contaminated water issue settlement. ”

    They still run the asbestos ads. 

    The Camp L ad that I remember claimed the water was “infected”. 

  16. Greg Norton says:

    “they’re not sending their best…”

    I strongly suspect the defendant in the case on Monday was “undocumented”, most likely from Venezuela, but the ADA didn’t have anything beyond the victim statement.

    I also suspect another issue was No Habla because another one of the ADA’s inquiries during Voir Dire was whether we would acquit without the defendant testifying.

  17. paul says:
    Towing is perfectly legal but doesn’t seem to serve as much of a deterrent. At least the tow truck guy is happy.

    Tow the cars down to the Manchaca area.  That use to be far south Austin.   You collect your car, no deliveries.  Cash only.   No checks or credit cards. that can be disputed. 

    Word would get around. 

  18. Greg Norton says:

    Sheriff Grady Judd said the three men and one woman slipped over the Southern border and made their way to the Polk County area of Florida to ‘attack’ wealthy and middle class homes and businesses.

    The link with the Sheriff’s name connects to a story about the department busting a human smuggling ring involving three Disney workers.

    I’m shocked. Shocked!

    Davenport, outside the Western Way area of the Disney property, is where Sheriff Judd likes to set up his child predator stings, usually in a stucco cr*p shack at the end of a culdesac.

    BTW, once again, that is lazy reporting on the Mail’s part. Grady Judd has at least one press conference a week, sometimes two.

  19. Greg Norton says:

    Tow the cars down to the Manchaca area.  That use to be far south Austin.   You collect your car, no deliveries.  Cash only.   No checks or credit cards. that can be disputed. 

    Word would get around. 

    I think the cars actually get towed to that part of town.

    The school and kennel are near Barton Creek Mall.

  20. MrAtoz says:

    Your Federal goobermint at work:

    Furious ranchers across America unite behind terrified South Dakota couple facing jail after armed feds stormed their land

    The money shot:

    Charles and Heather Maude, both 39, of Caputa, were separately served grand jury indictments of alleged theft of government property on June 24 by Forest Service Special Agent Travis Lunders, who showed up at their door unannounced, armed, and full tactical gear, according to Cowboy State Daily.

    “Forest Service Special Agent…” was “armed, and full tactical gear…” yet another armed Federal agency terrorizing the sheeple. There may be more to the story, but, c’mon, man.  They couldn’t settle this, but had to serve warrants while armed, over a fukcing fence. The Special Agent need to be canned, and all the way up the line. They didn’t steal Federal land. What a joke The FUSA has become.

  21. paul says:
    They couldn’t settle this, but had to serve warrants while armed, over a fukcing fence. 

    Over a fence that, if I read correctly, hadn’t moved in 75 years. 

  22. Greg Norton says:

    So what is Pop!OS?

    A flavor of Ubuntu developed by System76. They’re arguably the leading vendor in terms of trying to make Linux more user friendly.

    My 2007 MacBook Pro is my ongoing experiment system with Pop!OS installed.

    The 24.04 version of Pop!OS will introduce a Rust-based desktop which has a lot of people excited.

    Unfortunately, when I tried to boot the beta release, the desktop did not activate.

  23. Ken Mitchell says:

    “Forest Service Special Agent…” was “armed, and full tactical gear…” 

    Government agencies like the Forest Service often receive military vehicles and equipment, and they seem to think that it’s REQUIRED to use them in paramilitary encounters. Even though the Constitution does not contain ANY authorization for any federal police agencies. 

  24. Lynn says:

    “Pets: It’s what’s for dinner”

        https://areaocho.com/pets-its-whats-for-dinner/

    “Two thoughts-”

    • “This dumb bitch doesn’t know the difference between gouging and gauging.”
    • “Price controls are coming. We are following Venezuela’s path. If you’ve been reading here, you know I already predicted that was coming.”

    He ain’t wrong.

  25. Nick Flandrey says:

    Trial run?

    Security Officers Exchange Gunfire with Multiple Active Shooters at Air Force Base in San Antonio

    by Cristina Laila Aug. 17, 2024 12:20 pm335 Comments 

    Security officers exchanged gunfire with multiple active shooters at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

    Multiple active shooters tried to breach the main gate at the Chapman Training Annex around 4:30 am on Saturday, according to KSAT.

    No injuries were reported. It is unclear how many shooters were at the main gate.

    The shooters had no affiliation with the military, KSAT reported.

    According to Fox News, the security officers were fired upon by suspects in a sedan.

    Fox News reported:

    Security forces at the Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland (JBSA) returned fire early Saturday on at least one drive-by suspect who is accused of firing upon the main gate at the JBSA-Chapman Training Annex, a JBSA spokesperson tells Fox News Digital.

    The officers were fired upon at around 4:30 a.m. by at least one suspect in a sedan and immediately returned fire. There were no injuries reported, and the gate was shut for a number of hours.

    It is unclear how many shooters were involved and how many times they fired upon the base.

    “There was no active threat to the installation … and our security forces responded to mitigate the threat,” spokesperson Stefanie Antosh said, noting that the suspect or suspects did not try to breach the gates.

    The motive for the shooting is not known. No details about the suspects were released.

  26. Nick Flandrey says:

    Fears as Air Force base is targeted by multiple gunmen in drive-by shooting, as security guards return fire

     

    U.S. Air Force security guards exchanged gunfire with multiple shooters at an entrance to Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland on Saturday morning. 

  27. Lynn says:

    I don’t want to think about what it will cost. We dropped Collision thinking the kid was careful.

    We just dropped our federal flood insurance on our house because they just jumped the price to $1,000 per year.  We were informed that if we get it back that the price will be $1,250 per year since we were “grandfathered” in.

    The annual cost was $560 ??? just five years ago.

  28. Nick Flandrey says:

    Crap sneakers, but they were “green” and trendy.     Money flowed and leases were obtained, and stores were stocked… but … fame is fleeting, and interest payments are forever….

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/consumer/article-13739515/store-closures-footwear-brand-allbirds-nike-rival-ben-affleck.html 

    “nike rival” my left cheek.   Never heard of  them.  OTOH, I’ve got a drawer full of Nike shirts, and even Nike golf equipment…

    ‘We have closed 14 underperforming US locations to bias toward a smaller physical footprint that better serves our footwear product strategy and advances our goal to build a profitable retail fleet,’ CEO Joe Vernachio told analysts on the company’s second quarter earnings call. 

    The quarter’s revenue was down 26.8 percent year-over-year to $51.6 million but Vernachio was optimistic about the brand moving forward. 

    It will now attempt to move away from underperforming brick and mortar stores to online sales. 

    CFO Annie Mitchell told analysts the company will save around $25-30 million after closing 14 stores.  

    ‘The impact on retail is higher than anticipated due to the speed at which we’ve been able to exit these,’ she told analysts. 

    The brand faced issues after producing too many shoes and was unable to sell them quickly enough. 

    The Nasdaq  stock market index has also given the brand until September 30 to get its stock price above $1 for at least 10 business days in a row. 

    Its stock was trading at around 60 cents on Tuesday, losing 95 percent of their value since it IPO’s in November 2021. 

  29. EdH says:

    Crap sneakers, but they were “green” and trendy.

    Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.

    – Warren Buffett

    It is unfortunate that it is turning out to be a huge chunk of the businesses and populace.

  30. Lynn says:

    It is unfortunate that it is turning out to be a huge chunk of the businesses and populace.

    I am wondering how many of the businesses in the USA are close to bankruptcy.  I am having to negotiate with many of my customers to get even partial payments on my contracts.  Many of them are laying off bunches of high dollar employees.  I see a wage and price crash coming that may not even make to 2029.

    This is going to be very tough on the middle class.

  31. Lynn says:

    “Biden Admin Cements Gas Stove Rule After Insisting It Isn’t Going After Gas Stoves”

       https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/08/16/biden-admin-cements-gas-stove-rule-after-insisting-it-isnt-going-after-gas-stoves/

    “The Biden administration locked in a gas stove rule on Monday after insisting that it is not trying to ban gas stoves, rejecting efforts by opposed organizations to nix the rule.”

    “The Department of Energy’s (DOE) efficiency rule for gas stoves, announced in January, will come into effect as expected in January 2028, according to a Monday entry in the Federal Register. The finalized rule is less stringent than a 2023 proposal that was subsequently abandoned, and nuance in the rulemaking process allowed for the agency to walk back parts of the regulation if it received a significant volume of negative public comments on the docket, according to E&E News, but the DOE has gone ahead with its rule over the objections of several Republican state attorneys general and advocacy groups, including the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI).”

    I am shocked that they would do this after the public outcry. Not. These people are evil.

  32. Nick Flandrey says:

    Someone observed that most businesses they could see didn’t make sense.   Until he realized that they were primarily money laundering operations.

    I’ve been looking around since I heard or read that, and I think it’s probably true, whether the business operator knows or not.

    Stock that loses 95% of it’s value…  yet a lot of people put food on the table with the money.   The money didn’t disappear into thin air, the company spent it.  The angels got their money back, plus some… their real estate funds got the rent money, their social network placed the enablers where they could suck the money out, and   of course retail suckers got fleeced, but that’s what they are there for.

    What’s the saying?  If you sit down at a poker table and you can’t spot the sucker, the sucker is you?

    The smart money jumped in, and then jumped out.   The enablers get their golden parachutes and move to the next victim.  Every once in a while, they strike gold and start printing money and that’s ok too.  Sometimes someone like Zuck or Bezos ascends to the next level.   

    Sometimes, like the industrial age robber barons, and the internet gold rush, a whole bunch of someone’s ascend.     Someone has to provide the pool of wealth that the angels draw from.

    The AI monkey trick might be the next wave, but I think it will more likely enable the next wave, whatever that is.

    n

  33. Lynn says:

    “It’s Coming”

       https://areaocho.com/its-coming-5/

    With a tip of the hat to Joe. Democrats nationwide are planning a major gun control push. Here is what is on the current top of their slippery slope:”

    “Safe Storage law.”

    “It’s something that many gun owners, myself included, think is a good idea on a personal level: Storing your firearms where those who are unauthorized can’t get to them. The issue here is that the law will of course be used in ways that the people who own guns simply can’t imagine. Perhaps the cops will want to inspect your storage facility. Who knows how it will be abused, but it will be, take that to the bank.”

    I ain’t letting nobody in my house, truck, or office to inspect my guns.  Nobody.

  34. Nick Flandrey says:

    I have seen several billboards in different parts of town about ‘safe storage’ and locking up your guns.   Not a bad idea, but the billboards are paid for by the Brady bunch and they ALWAYS have an ulterior motive.

    n

  35. Ray Thompson says:

    The mainstream media is all googley-woogley eyed over the Humper, finding everything they can, no matter how trivial, to legitimize the Humper. She has zero economic skills, she has zero military skills, she has zero diplomacy skills, she has zero domestic issue skills. She is a clueless dolt.

    Remember, she is in the position she is without receiving a single vote from the people. She has never been in a political race where she got votes. She rode in on the tails of Spongey.

    I really think this has been the DNC plan all along. The DNC knew Spongey was mentally unfit back in 2020. Sliding in the Humper, without public input, was the plan. Spongey stepping down was known months ago and the announcement was delayed to heighten the suspense and keep the DNC in the eye of the public.

    The DNC will do whatever is necessary to get the Humper to win. That includes pandering to the public with promises that can never be kept. Free money, free food, free housing, free transportation, free college. Basically buying votes. The votes that cannot be bought are in the process of being printed and stored in secret locations. Such ballots suddenly being found if the DNC finds the election going south.

    I have zero confidence this will be a fair election and will be rife with questionable activity by the DNC.

    When the Humper wins, basic freedoms will be under assault. She will set herself and her minions as dictators, lords over the serfs (us). Her and her friends will flourish, economically and in control of others while others will suffer. The Humper does not have the good of the American people in mind, only her own ego and her benefit.

    8
    1
  36. Greg Norton says:

    The AI monkey trick might be the next wave, but I think it will more likely enable the next wave, whatever that is.
     

    The AI monkey trick is about the C suites firing the people who manipulate symbols for a living while still getting the work done … kinda.

    i just spent two days running down a core dump caused by someone relying on the AI to write their code. The crazy part is that the lead won’t admit there is a bug and correct the problem. Politics.

  37. Nick Flandrey says:

    I have been piddlefarting around the house, moving, sorting, cleaning…   and reading in between.   It was just too hot and humid, thick oppressive hard to breath humid, to do physical labor outdoors.   For me anyway.  When a book was calling me from the air conditioned house…

    n

  38. Nick Flandrey says:

    Won another flexible solar panel, 250w this time.  

    My very cheap auction is trying a new strategy.   This last auction they didn’t start everything at $1.   They set opening prices.  Buyers HATE high opening prices.   Even if it’s a fair price vs retail, if you are the only bidder you are sure you paid too much.   There were a LOT of unsold lots.    We’ll see how that works for them as stock piles up.    They are doing a couple thousand lots a week, can’t really afford to have them take up warehouse space.

    n

  39. Nick Flandrey says:

    Sat out next to the “water feature” in the front yard, had a tiny little fire, and read for over an hour.   Baked my brain in the still hot and humid air.   It’s not as nice as being on the dock, and there isn’t any cool breeze off the lake, but it was some outdoor time.

    Now it’s time for a refreshing shower and bed.

    n

  40. Alan says:

    Isn’t the first step to throttle the sellers? 

    Or are there competing ‘cheap’ auction houses? 

  41. brad says:

    The mainstream media is all googley-woogley eyed over the Humper, finding everything they can, no matter how trivial, to legitimize the Humper. She has zero economic skills, she has zero military skills, she has zero diplomacy skills, she has zero domestic issue skills. She is a clueless dolt.

    All true, but the media are pushing hard, and pretty much in lockstep. If she can just manage to remain “invisible” – no public speeches without teleprompters, no interviews with non-friendly media – she may well be elected.

    My most reliable indicator are the UK betting odds, because the betting houses are in this to make money, not to play politics. At the moment, Harris is in the lead.

    Trump, meanwhile, seems to be flailing. He’s making his usual bombastic speeches, but we’ve all heard the bombast before, it’s not new anymore. Mostly he seems defensive, hitting out at Harris and bemoaning the fact that he’s not running against Biden.

    Long-term, whatever happens, I really do wish the US would get serious about cleaning up voter lists. Apparently, there are quite a few districts with more registered voters than adult citizens. When my mother died, I made a point of deregistering her. The people at the voter registration office made it clear that this was unusual: most people never bothered. When I asked, they said that, no, there was no automatic process to deregister dead people.

    In European countries, when you move to a town, there is a process where you register yourself in your new town, which deregisters you from where you used to live. This fixes any and all government-related stuff, from taxes to voter registration. Looking back at the US, I don’t recall any similar process: If you move, you don’t have to tell any government office about it.

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