Cool with more overcast and possibility of rain. Yesterday was cool, and had rain, but not much of it. Occasional misty drizzle barely counts as rain by Houston standards. It did get stuff wet…
Between the stuff I’ve got piled up, and the stuff that needs doing, I shouldn’t have a free moment or a clear space to put stuff, and yet… I moved stuff around, did the kid driving duties, and picked up a couple of things. I’m really buying less that I used to. I ‘ve got most of what I am looking for, and that helps, but also I’m being a bit more picky. In any case, my typical pickup now is just a few items from each auction house.
There are exceptions, of course.
Today I’ll be picking up locally from one house, doing my normal household stuff, and maybe working on the list of projects. In other words, just another day in paradise…
Find your own little paradise, and get to work building it up. And stack. Paradise has needs.
nick
You assume that ABC News will still be an going concern come January.
En Fuego!
Thought I heard a light rain before I got out of bed, but it looks fairly dry…
And it’s 72F. Damp though.
#coffeesogood
Rise and shine!
n
Pretty far down the page, must not have any dramatic pix…
Wrath of Francine: ‘Life threatening’ 100mph hurricane slams into Louisiana sparking flooding chaos in New Orleans
Any readers in NOLA with first hand, or even second hand ‘boots on the ground’ please share when you can, and stay safe.
n
I am no longer going to fund the scholarship at the local high school. After four years, I am done. Twice the little snot monsters messed up and did not get registered at the tech school they were going to attend. This caused problems with me and the tech school for the funds. I just told the school to apply the funds to another deserving student. In four years not one student has thanked me or sent a card. Even though the award is given anonymously, they know who I am because I contact them to get their school and student ID. The little sh*ts apparently don’t appreciate the scholarship, so I am done.
Everyone wants a “work” from home job these days.
The grace period for student loan payment enforcement ends this month. Starting next month, the wage garnishments and hits to credit resume. Things are going to start to get real for the generation who graduated high school in the last four years.
The iPhone 16 comes out tomorrow. Gotta get that new camera.
I’m sorry to hear this. I understand your frustration, and I’m not arguing with you.
But when you talked about this in the past, I felt inspired to start something like that myself.
I never acted on that inspiration, yet, but it’s been in the back of my mind.
I was hoping for better from the winners of the scholarships. I don’t know if it is the generation or the type of people the scholarship targeted. Those with less than stellar financial capabilities that would have benefited. Sometimes the best laid plans go wonky.
I still plan to get the money into the school. I get paid $1,500 a year by the year book staff for the sports pictures in the year book. The year book is not allowed to make a profit that can carry over to the next year. Some funky IRS rules and state rules dealing with school associated groups. The year book is in the same category as the individual class years that do fund raisers. No money is allowed to remain on the books at year-end.
What I may do now is perhaps give $1K to the band operation. Some of the instruments are not in great shape and that money will help them. I might also consider the sports programs.
One year the scholarship was voided because the student never registered for school. The funds were earmarked and budgeted. I went to the football coach and asked what he would like and he wanted a LED down marker. I told him it was his and gave the program a check for $850.00 to get the marker. We are the only school in the area with a LED down marker.
@Ray
I‘m sorry to hear the snot monsters are snot monsters. The fine art of Thank You notes is pretty much dead unfortunately. Gratitude is oppressive, apparently.
@CowboyStu
Headed your direction in a week. Sent an email with rough itinerary. Line Fire has it all jacked up.
Rise and shine!
I ain’t rising and I ain’t shining.
A requirement for my son’s engineering scholarship was to write a thank you letter. Forced gratitude, but a good policy.
You can’t force the gratitude but you can educate on the forms of polite society, and by actually DOING it, they get some ‘muscle memory’ … and eventually they might come to see the value.
———–
Working on cleaning and sorting…
Found stuff in my office that I forgot about, or lost.
———–
@ray, check if your district has a PTA or other sponsored “educational foundation” for the school. That’s how we get around those money issues in our district. The “XXXXX District Educational Foundation” does fundraising, donations, buys wanted items, and sometimes even funds a position, like library aide. They are a charity, and can carry over balances…
Your PTA might have funding needs too.
n
– so there is that…
n
They do. The sports booster club is one such organization. Outside the school control. There are also youth sports clubs that are not associated with the school. Those organizations are not tax deductible, the school is. Although with the current tax situation it is almost impossible to itemize so maybe a moot point.
Stupid people. I watermark all the images I put on FB that I take at the sporting events. Mostly because once an image is placed on the web all control is lost. There are generally people each year that copy the images off FB, thinking they are clever, then sending the images to Walmart or Walgreens. Both locations ask for a print release which I applaud. Then these people complain to me that Walgreens (or Walmart) will not print the images.
“API: Recent federal court decisions could imperil US GoM oil, gas operations”
https://www.ogj.com/general-interest/government/article/55139439/api-recent-federal-court-decisions-could-imperil-us-gom-oil-gas-operations
“The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Sept. 9 said a recent federal court decision could imperil new and existing oil and natural gas exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico.”
““Without a solution in place, this decision will create a significant bureaucratic bottleneck for the federal government and potentially halt all oil and natural gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico,” API president Mike Sommers wrote to US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.”
“The US District Court for the District of Maryland Aug. 19 found that the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) biological opinion for oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico fails to protect the endangered Rice’s whale. The court said it would allow the biological opinion on Gulf of Mexico leasing to lapse on Dec. 20, 2024, if NMFS fails to complete a new one (OGJ Online, Aug. 21, 2024). NMFS told the court that it probably will not complete the new biological opinion until early spring 2025.”
“US Gulf of Mexico production accounts for 15% of total US crude oil production, or nearly 2 million b/d, and 2% of total US natural gas production, according to the US Energy Information Administration.”
The USA was once a great nation.
“So much for free markets – automotive edition”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2024/09/so-much-for-free-markets-automotive.html
“It seems that in formerly Great Britain, if you want to order a specific model of vehicle, you may have to wait for your place in the quota to be filled.”
“Car makers are rationing sales of petrol and hybrid vehicles in Britain to avoid hefty net zero fines, according to one of the country’s biggest dealership chains.”
There will not always be a Great Britain. It’s end is coming soon.
Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear. Honorifics and formal politeness provide lubrication where people rub together. Often the very young, the untraveled, the naive, the unsophisticated deplore these formalities as “empty,” “meaningless,” or “dishonest,” and scorn to use them. No matter how “pure” their motives, they thereby throw sand into machinery that does not work too well at best.
Lazarus Long as written by R.A.H.
“Egypt makes a strategic switch”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2024/09/egypt-makes-strategic-switch.html
“Egypt received its first F-16 fighter in 1982, and continued buying them until 2013. Today, it has just over 200 of them, equipping nine squadrons in its Air Force. However, they aren’t the latest version and have limited upgrade capability, because the USA refuses to sell the most modern gear to Middle Eastern powers that might use it against Israel. Therefore, when it came time to decide on an F-16 replacement, Egypt decided to look elsewhere. It’s just announced that it will buy Chinese Chengdu J-10c fighter aircraft, equivalent to the latest-model F-16, with equally modern weapons systems available.”
“What, if any, significance this deal may have for Israel’s actions in Gaza remains to be seen. There are other ramifications for Israel that will doubtless become visible over the next few months and years.”
I just don’t know if Israel is going to survive without extreme help from the USA and Germany. The resupply of Israel by the USA in the 1973 Yom Kippur War was critical. Would we do it now ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Nickel_Grass
And Germany is building several more highly modified Dolphin submarines for Israel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakar-class_submarine
“SpaceX Polaris Dawn astronauts perform historic 1st private spacewalk in orbit (video)”
https://www.space.com/spacex-polaris-dawn-first-private-spacewalk
“Polaris Dawn just made history again.”
“SpaceX’s private crew of four astronauts performed the world’s first commercial spacewalk while soaring high above Earth on Thursday (Sept. 12) during the third day of a five-day trip to Earth orbit.”
Neat ! Some good things are happening in the USA.
“EPA fines SpaceX over environmental violations in South Texas”
https://www.chron.com/culture/article/epa-fine-spacex-texas-water-19760415.php
“Elon Musk’s spacecraft company says they “fundamentally disagree with the allegations.””
“The Environmental Protection Agency fined Elon Musk’s spacecraft company $148,378 for a 2022 liquid oxygen spill and for discharging gallons of deluge water to wetlands near its launch pad in recent months. The wetlands affected have a continuous surface connection to the Rio Grande and are considered protected navigable waters. As the EPA noted, those discharges require a specific permit that SpaceX lacked. ”
Um, liquid oxygen is native to the Earth’s atmosphere. We humans desperately need it.
All that the deluge water was probably, water. I doubt that anything was in the water.
Sigh.
Reportedly Coming Forward With Deets Proving Kamala Had Questions BEFORE Debate
https://twitchy.com/samj/2024/09/12/whoa-abc-questions-n2400877
I look forward to ABC producers and moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis being called by a House Committee to give sworn testimony.
“Ohio: Governor Sending Troops, $2.5M To Springfield, Where Haitian Migrants Have Relocated To”
https://www.oann.com/newsroom/ohio-governor-sending-troops-2-5m-to-springfield-where-haitian-migrants-have-relocated-to/
“Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine stated on Tuesday that while the “Temporary Protected Status” program has been implemented, which has allowed over 15,000 Haitians to enter the 59,000-person city since 2020, he believes more needs to be done by the federal government to assist affected towns.”
“The city of Springfield is at the center of one of the most controversial topics in this election. GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance stated that “Haitian illegal immigrants” are “draining social services and generally causing chaos.””
Yeah, there is not a problem there. Why not just throw the Haitians out of the country ?
15,000, many of whom are, no doubt, children.
Plus Press Secretary Kewpie Jean-Pierre hails from that part of the world.
In a city that small, where do 15,000 people live?
In a city that small, where do 15,000 people live?
– wherever it is, it’ll be a slum.
———
Isn’t everything SpaceX does a historic first now? They dominate like no other…
n
“The Innocent Sleep” by Seanan McGuire
https://www.amazon.com/Innocent-Sleep-Seanan-McGuire/dp/0756416817?tag=ttgnet-20/
Book number eighteen of an eighteen book dark fantasy “October Daye” series. I read the well printed and well bound MMPB published by DAW in 2024. I will buy future October Daye stories when the MMPBs are released.
Many hundreds of years ago, the many of the fae left a far off land and landed on what would become the west coast of the United States. There they built their realms and fought their wars, both on the land and the sea. The humans do not know of their realms and their travels but, humans do not see everything. This is the fae’s story.
In the beginning there was the Three of the fae. Oberon, the King of the fae and his two Queen sister wives: Maeve and Titania. All of the fae are descended from them, both together and singly. They are the most powerful, way more powerful than their children, the Firstborn. All three of the first are missing and have not been seen in hundreds of years. But Luidaeg, the Firstborn sea witch, has been dragging an old man around everywhere she goes.
Before Oberon disappeared, he put a gaes on Titania to stop killing their descendants. Titania had grown jealous and heartless, and was encouraging her children and their children to kill Maeve’s children and their children. Titania had succeeded in genociding entire races like the Luidaeg’s Roane.
October and her older sister August are being raised by their pureblood father Simon Torquille and mother Amandine in a large stone tower in the Faerie. October’s real father is a human so she is a changeling, looked down upon and often killed without reason by the purebloods. But October is protected by other purebloods by August and Simon. October is looking forward to August leaving so she can go with her, still protected.
But everything is a lie.
Book number seventeen is this story written from October Daye’s perspective. Book number eighteen is this story from Tybalt’s perspective. They both end the same way.
Please note that although the author and I share the same middle and
last names, I do not know if we are related. We are McGuire’s, there
are many of us. I paid for my book and all of the books that I own
written by her.
There is a wiki for the October Daye books at:
https://october-daye.fandom.com/wiki/October_Daye_Wiki
The author has a website at:
https://www.seananmcguire.com/
My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (909 reviews)
Lynn
Remember the MS deal a few months ago for a lot of movies cheap? That don’t play with VLC? You have to use the Movies & TV program. Yeah, those movies. I copied the files to several external drives and to Moa.
Win11 has been pestering me “to complete setup, log into your Microsoft account”. Yeah, no. So I deleted the MS account on this PC.
I wondered if the movies still play? Yes, they do. But I have something odd going on.
I copied that folder of movies to Moa’s original M.2 SATA ssd and to Kiwi’s M.2 SATA ssd. They are in cases. I plug them into my powered USB hub and Explorer opens.
I tried the 1TB WD ssd drives and I get a semaphore timeout with both. Plugged into the hub or the PC. They worked a few months ago. Looking online and all of the sites need to fail high school for sharing the same term paper. I did try different cables.
What do network drivers have to do with USB? Or Windows Firewall? Just silly click bait sites.
I have a couple of Seagate portable spinning drives and they work fine plugged into the same port on the USB hub.
I have a couple of 500GB WD ssd drives and they work fine.
This is weird. I could play with swapping ssds between cases but I doubt it will matter. All of the cases are the same age and same brand.
When I changed to ssd drives I bought a thing that connects to a SATA drive and then to your PC via USB. It has its own power supply. And worked very well with Acronis to image the spinning drives to ssd drives.
I’m running out of fingers to count with over here.
The new PC is a mini. Just a little fanless box. I almost bought a USB DVD drive. About $30. Then I thought I have this SATA to USB gizmo that was $25. I might as well use it instead of having more clutter. I pulled the DVD drive out of my old tower case, stuck some plastic feet on the bottom because lawdy knows I don’t want to scratch the nice looking genuine oak vinyl veneer on my 20+ year old desk… that came in a box from Wally World and cost all of $70. The drive works as fine burning and reading as it ever has.
So back to the 1TB drives. I pulled the connector off of the DVD drive. Pulled a1TB ssd from its case, etc and turned the port on. A few blinks of the light on the drive and Explorer opens. Both 1TB drives.
My thinking is 1TB drives take more power to boot than 500GB ssd or M.2 SATA drives or the Seagate spinning rust drives and Win11 times out.
It seems to me the power supply transformer for my USB hub is going south. And perhaps the power supply transformer for my PC.
I tried the 1TB WD ssd drives and I get a semaphore timeout with both. Plugged into the hub or the PC. They worked a few months ago. Looking online and all of the sites need to fail high school for sharing the same term paper. I did try different cables.
Are you talking about one of these ? “ELUTENG NVME to USB Adapter USB 3.1 Gen 2 to M.2 NVMe SSD Converter Adapter 10Gbps PCIe Based M Key Hard Drive Reader Max 4TB Support UASP for 2280 2260 2242 2230 SSD (Only for M.2 NVME)”
https://www.amazon.com/ELUTENG-NVME-Adapter-M-2-Converter/dp/B0CB45PRMF?tag=ttgnet-20/
My experience is that there are two types of SSD drives and one type of M.2 drives.
And the USB spec has multiple power levels which can be easily over used.
In my somewhat limited experience grabbing up used drives in cases, some cases do more of the translation work than others. Some will look like a drive even if no drive is installed, some won’t open a big drive but are fine with a small one…
I think the firmware on them sux. There is probably more going on than just passing power and SATA data to the drive, and that’s where it’s falling down.
n
Isn’t everything SpaceX does a historic first now? They dominate like no other…
Yup. The current jerk at the head of the FCC wants to break them up. “FCC Chair Encourages Satellite Internet Competition, Hints Starlink Is a Monopoly”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/fcc-chair-encourages-satellite-internet-competition-hints-starlink-is-a
In my somewhat limited experience grabbing up used drives in cases, some cases do more of the translation work than others. Some will look like a drive even if no drive is installed, some won’t open a big drive but are fine with a small one…
I think the firmware on them sux. There is probably more going on than just passing power and SATA data to the drive, and that’s where it’s falling down.
I took an SSD out of my daughter’s last laptop. I had to buy two of the SSD to USB before I could get the drive to work.
NASA has one job…er…HAD one job.
I wonder if that includes the offspring from the man-children of fighting age that lounge here. It could be a lot more.
“Trump Cat Memes Are Blowing Up in Democrats’ Faces, Forcing the Media to Cover Comrade Kamala’s Role in Border Crisis”
https://thelibertydaily.com/trump-cat-memes-are-blowing-up-democrats-faces/
ROTFLMAO !!! ! ! ! ! !
There were a couple of certainties in my youth. Winter was cold. Summer was hot. And Serbians ate cats.
No, I have no idea why I was absolutely sure Serbians ate cats. Not sure if dad might have shared that prejudice or not, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t know a Serbian from a Sasquatch… there was one house on my paper route that I knew had Serbians living there. HOW? no idea.
But I was sure that Serbians ate cats.
n
And now…
The video comes out… from last month.
– however, not a Haitian invader.
n
Swalwell. Bang Bang!
“The 8 funniest memes about Haitian immigrants eating animals in Springfield, Ohio”
https://www.theblaze.com/return/the-8-funniest-memes-about-haitian-immigrants-eating-animals-in-springfield-ohio
“Where is Gary Larson when we need him !”