Cool to start, then hot. No rain for us either, at least not in the forecast. I might have to water the grass… It went from low 70s to low 90s yesterday, but at dusk, it was a very comfortable 80F. I’ve been driving around with the A/C on but the windows down, and it’s nice.
Speaking of driving around, I did one local pickup but it was lots from 6 auctions. Ball jars, solar panels, stuff for the kids, everything comes through the auctions eventually. I am buying less though, just usually one or two items per auction now. I guess I’ve got most of what I need, and I have better self control regarding buying stuff just ‘cuz it’s cheap. Or not.
Today I’ve got a pickup to do, some grocery shopping to do, kid stuff, and all the other normal domestic bliss. Like laundry. I cut my hair yesterday so that’s done. Good value for money spent on that clipper set, and it saves me time too.
Staying home this weekend, to do some work around here. I really am hoping for some cooler weather, as that’s what I need to be productive. Can’t really count on it though, so plans might change.
I’m hoping everyone in the path of Helene is safe and well prepped. If you have any stories to share, please do so. If something worked or didn’t work, let us know.
And if you aren’t prepped, why not?
Stack something useful.
nick
(food and water are always useful)
It started as a gift for my wife and then led to a serious legal situation including some bizarre brushes with a law firm out of New Orleans.
The irony is that Hef stole the concept from the Gaslight Club in Chicago. He only added the ears.
Funk and Wagnel’s front porch.
You forgot “in a mayonnaise jar”.
And it was under the porch.
This made the national Fox wire last night. The early reports out of Tampa regarding flooding are grim.
https://www.fox7austin.com/news/florida-police-give-morbid-advice-those-who-didnt-evacuate-helenes-historic-storm-surge
Hey, subtitles are infinitely better than dubbing. I really dislike films where you lose the original actors’ voices. It is especially jarring when (over different films) the same voice actor dubs different actors.
Back in teenage years, I rebuilt a Triumph engine. Haven’t ever worked at that level since – and I don’t think modern engines are anything I want to mess with. The poor thing still had an oil leak I could never fix, even with new gaskets and such. Eventually sold it to someone who took it to be professionally fixed.
Nice little car.
I’ve made my way through most of Lynn’s 6-star list. Now I’m turning back to some classic military SciFi. Currently reading The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell.
Thanks Ken.
Yes Lynn it soitenly is a real woid, you schmeliel.
You need more Jewish friends. 😀
It’s no accident that my search and youtube suggestions are full of the keywords “skinwalker” and “yellowrock” but IDK if it’s from talking about it with my wife, or spying as I read the books on my phone, or online spying.
It’s pretty obvious that it’s one or more…
—————
moderate weather here on this side of the Gulf, but it was a big storm that hit Florida and is moving inland.
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Time to get the kids and wife moving… smells like my coffee is ready.
n
We are planning a trip to the Boston area for the Fall, and, over dinner the other night, I talked about visiting “Car Talk Plaza” (Harvard Square) to see the Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe sign along with the plaque dedicated to the Magliozzi brother who died.
Later that evening, my phone notified me that the Apple podcast app had two new episodes of “The Best of Car Talk”. Granted, I am a subscriber, but I hadn’t seen a notification about new episodes in months.
Nope. The number of pre-printed ballots stashed would not fit in a Mayonnaise jar or under the porch.
Any furry costumes?
No. I don’t go for that scene, and, even if I did, I don’t have that kind of money.
I was admonished once for making a Furry joke in the open in Texas. Apparently, the scene in this state consists of very elite, wealthy, and powerful individuals, mostly TAMU alumni for some strange reason, who don’t like being mocked for “channeling their spirit animal”.
There is a real German term roughly equivalent to Sergeant Shultz’s “Jolly Joker” which came up on “Car Talk” once which is an insult for someone who is rarely serious. I figure that it originates in the genetics and culture of Germany/Poland because I’ve met people with that heritage who did not appreciate “Skippy” and were openly critical.
Whatever that term is, I’m it.
I’m drawing a blank. Doh!
Of course, the “Car Talk” guys were delighted with the word, much to the Poland-based caller’s dismay.
“No, you don’t want someone calling you that name. You don’t understand.”
“What? That’s us!”
It was 65F while we waited for the bus this morning. That actually felt chilly.
W is home with stomach upset.
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D1’s homework last night had us debating the correct choice of word, amiable, or amicable for her essay. I’m a proud papa.
n
What can’t continue, won’t.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/consumer/article-13896479/target-store-returns-policy-change-customer-abuse.html
I’ve commented about the prevalence of returns fraud in the secondary market, and how it’s cost is currently borne mostly by the suppliers, not the original sellers like amazon or walmart or other online retailers.
No one can afford to lose money like that and stay in business in this economy.
n
Speaking of losing money, looks like MSM is catching on…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/banking/article-13324063/commercial-real-estate-foreclosure-banking-crisis.html
It won’t surprise anyone here, but it’s probably been under Joe Sixpack’s radar. When his local or regional bank fails, it’s going to be a big shocker…
n
The banks were nationalized after the Silicon Valley Bank scare.
The Fed will print the money to cover the shortfall from the commercial real estate failures, and they will resume buying the mortgage paper with the wooden nickels after the election.
Joe Sixpack still believes he will cruise to work two days a week at Ludicrous Speed.
That may be true in tech in Austin and surrounds, but in rural Texas people seem to be a lot more in touch with reality. The distortion caused by living in a state with a strong economy, and a net increase in residents is strong. The rest of flyover country is a bit more ‘grounded’ .
n
If you want an education about how far people will go with return merchandise, I suggest a trip to the Lands End store outside Madison WI, which has a sizeable closeout section I assume is because of the proximity of the location to their HQ/warehouse complex in Dodgeville.
Lands End will still honor their old school guarantee provided that the customers have proof of purchase, and you will see some crazy things.
The company will try to sell the merchandise if it is in any way salvageable.
A new Colin Zachary (Allred) commercial modification aired during local Faux News last night.
At the end of the ads, the picture of a face diaper-ed Rafael Edward (Cruz) in Houston airport from the Daily Mail story about the Senator’s 2020 Spring Break adventure in Mexico now appears with a voiceover which I presume is from Allred.
“Ted, running to Cancun was bad, but you do more damage when you’re here.”
Hopefully, Rafael Edward has learned to stop flying commercial and use his wife’s access to the Goldman Sachs jets.
Wearing a Lands End shirt as I type. I bought them by mail and wore them to work for years when I would also wear ties. They were the best combination of price and quality.
I can’t wait for the Kamel Humper’s speech in AZ on how she “is the best candidate to secure the border.” Really, bizatch, you an plugs did exactly Jack and Shite to secure the border for 3.5 years. I’ve read she is even using pics of tRump’s border wall “look what I did…”. Geez.
The LSM drooling and fawing over the K-H is embarrassing. Almost as bad as rolling out a screaming, incoherent plugs. Please, for God’s sake, put the man to rest on the beach. I actually feel sorry for plugs. Elder abuse to the max and no one cares.
Based on what I saw in the store, if you still have the packing slips from the orders, you can return the shirts. About 40 years worth of Lands End was in the closeout section.
I saw a full length ladies down parka with circa early-90s tags on the outerwear rack which looked as if the coat had been buried waist high in mud all this time, dragged out, washed, and returned.
I will admit that I still have the packing slip from buying my LE parka a dozen years ago and that I would turn it in for the cash if things ever got as tight at our house again as they did the first few months in Vantucky.
Yes, Lands End has changed the return policy, but the quality is off to varying degrees depending on the item.
Lands End also has a big warehouse cleanout sale in October in Dodgeville in the city park according to the clerk at the hotel we stayed at in nearby Spring Green last November.
Now that has to be interesting both for the people watching and the merchandise.
Lands End, we used to order a lot from them. Still do, some, but their prices have gone up while the quality has become spotty. I don’t buy my shirts there anymore, for example.
The media and other weirdos are now blaming the hurricane on fossil fuels and global warming. With no scientific data to back up any up their claims.
The weather nerds always hedge talk about Eastern Gulf hurricanes with the caveat “in recorded history”, which means beginning about 1822, when Florida became a US territory.
In reality, however, record keeping was spotty until Florida became a state in 1845.
Behind closed doors, the weather nerds talk about the Gulf being in a historic lull for hurricanes for about 80 years and a uptick in frequency and severity of storms is long overdue.
Come on, at least TRY to keep up with the news.
“Climate experts noted today that hurricane Helene, which is currently forming in hurricane alley during the peak of hurricane season, is undeniable proof of climate change.”
https://babylonbee.com/news/experts-warn-hurricane-forming-in-hurricane-alley-during-hurricane-season-is-clear-sign-of-climate-change
Remember, the Babylon Bee is no longer satire or humor; it is tomorrow’s news, today!
>> https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/schpiel
Also “spiel,” from the above.
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2024/09/27/did-israel-get-nasrallah-n3795096
The Israelis have that address.
It’s past time.
There’s a lot of room in hell.
Kamala can’t hit a curve ball
“She can’t hit the curve ball period, no matter how many times they throw questions at her. She is in a different league and it ain’t the majors.”
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/09/kamala_can_t_hit_a_curve_ball.html
She couldn’t swing and hit a tee-ball.
She might be able to hit a ball if Walz put on a ball- suit, stood very close and still, and she took a swing at him, but it wouldn’t be certain.
The stories on the wires today about my current employer mandating a return to the office five days a week applies to sales, not engineering.
For now.
The VP level management hit us with something ugly this week I’m not allowed to talk about because the meeting content was designated Confidential. Maybe they figured we had enough and will save the five days mandate for next week.
Witzbold?
Does Walz even have balls?
Yiddish is written using Hebrew letters, so the beginning sound of many Yiddish words are somewhere between the “s” and “sch”. When transliterated into English, both spellings are correct. To further complicate matters, there are two slightly different dialects of Hebrew, Ashkenazic spoken in eastern Europe, and Sephardic, spoken in Spain, North Africa, and the middle east. The spelling is the same; only the pronunciation varies.
So the Hebrew word meaning “sabbath” is pronounced “shabbat” in Ashkenazi, and “shabbos” in Sephardic.
I come here and I learn stuff.
I did not fiddle with the side by side today. Not in the mood. Plus I went to the grocery store and perhaps spent too much money. That would be too much if the power goes out for a few days. Otherwise, the way prices are going, I’m making money.
I bought a couple of packages of ground beef. A bit over 2# each. Divided and vac sealed in ~ 1# packages. I bought a couple of packages of boneless chicken thighs. That made five bags of at least two meals per. I found the plain, not seasoned, little pork loins. Grabbed three. Each is enough for at least three meals plus snacking.
The pork is in the refrigerator’s freezer. The rest is in the fridge for now. The pork goes into the little deep freezer tomorrow. To make room in the fridge freezer for the ground beef and the chicken.
I picked up a few blocks of cheese. A few bags of beef jerky. A couple of boxes of Milk Bones. Some tomato sauce, EconoMax for the win! I forgot to get a couple of summer sausages. They keep for a long time and make for nice snacking with cubed cheese.
Anyway. Discover is giving 5% cashback at Walmart and grocery stores through the end of September. Instead of the usual 1%. I have room in the deep freezer. Why not?
I ordered the magnets recommended to southern engineer a way to hold the freezer lid up.
They arrived yesterday. They seem very strong. My brand new driver’s license arrived today. The four magnets are currently, two on each side, clamped to the mag stripe on my new driver license. Might work to ruin the mag stripe.
Why would I want to do so? I don’t know what is on the stripe. Walmart, a few years back, would swipe your d/l for things like buying a can of spray paint or freon. All they need is a DOB. They can type that in on their keyboard. They don’t need my full name and address and d/l number or anything else encoded in the mag stripe.
So I scrubbed about a third of the mag stripe off of that d/l. On the edge of a cinder block. Then I get “your mag stripe is damaged”. Oh, really?!!! Walmart stopped the reading of d/l mag stripes after a couple of years.
And 5% at Amazon and Target from October 1 to the end of the year. 🙂 Since we do a substantial part of our shopping at Amazon, this may be significant for us.
I ordered a magnetic stud finder from Big River. I waved it around my crotch and no joy.
On the wall above the range, it finds studs where I expect. So I’m going to order that range hood and hope it’s a nice machine. Once it is here, I’ll figure out the venting through the wall parts.
Easy.
Then I’ll wait a week before ordering the range hood. 🙂
Consequences Finally Arrive for ‘Just Stop Oil’ Lunatics, and the Response Is Priceless
https://redstate.com/bonchie/2024/09/27/consequences-finally-arrive-for-just-top-oil-lunatics-and-the-response-is-priceless-n2179865
Too lenient. The judge should have added that their time would be served in a facility without fossil-fueled light or heat, and since no solar panels or even copper wire exists that is not processed by fossil fuels, no pseudo-green energy either. Just a small, very efficient little stove designed to burn one dried turd at a time–and a diet full of roughage.
I come here and I learn stuff.
And hang out with normal people.
My new AMEX cards both brag about contactless payment. I had previously specifically ordered cards without the RFID chip. A short smack with a ball pein hammer used to work, I’ll try it on my Visa first, which does work in a tap and go reader- again contrary to my expressed desires.
I can stick my card in the reader. Saves a half second but exposes you to contactless theft? No thanks.
n
Used to just microwave the card, but the crypto chip probably wouldn”t like that, and you need the chip almost everywhere now.
n
Dinner tonight was baked pork loin, frozen in 2020. Instant mashed potatoes, and canned baked beans.
I put the roasts in a shallow pan with some pork fat in the bottom, coat with garlic salt, and a bit of pepper. Lay strips of bacon on the roast, fat side up. Cook as little as possible, generally about 20 minutes then an additional 20 minutes per pound at 325F. Preheat to 450F but turn down when putting the roast in. Cook to internal temp >150F. I usually pull the roast and let it “settle” under foil at about 145F, for about 10 minutes.
Slice roast and serve, pour juice and fat over slices.
I also added about half a sweet onion, chopped very fine and sauteed in pig fat to the beans, along with a couple tablespoons of bacon crumbles.
Potatoes just get a half stick of butter and some salt.
Warmed up a naan bread and served that buttered. I like the prepackaged naan as it freezes and heats well, and tastes good. Plus then I’m not tempted to eat too much bread.
Ice cream for dessert
n
What used to be a half-gallon is now 1.5 quarts for most brands.
Shrinkflation, inefficient use of packaging, and perilously close to single-serving size.
https://investor.cabot-corp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/cabot-corporation-launches-cab-o-silr-m-5f-and-eh-5f-fumed
Note that 2013 is roughly when the step-down to 48-ounces from the intermediate 56-ounce really took hold. These new products were meeting the demand for improvements to existing products–they did the same thing better.
I’m going to try doing a daily update again as a motivation crutch.
I have several major projects, and I haven’t made much process on any for many months.
Yesterday I added another. I got back from South Carolina with ’68 Ranchero that my son and I are hoping to get on the drag strip in the spring as well as restore. It was a GT 390 with a C6 automatic. It has a 302 with a C4 automatic. I have most of the parts to make it a 390 with a 4 speed.
Today I worked on the shop laying out the installation of some overhead cabinets in the wood shop. The next time my son visits we will mount them.
I also worked in the ’70 Maverick, supposedly a former A/FX drag car. The more I get into it the less I believe that. I was going to pack the parachute to get it out of my way and discovered that it was not mounted to the frame. The was bracket for it was just bolted to the body below the trunk -WTF- that should have torn out the first time it was used. Remove the bracket for now, will have to create a better mount. I removed the headers and exhaust pipes. I’m going to build a true 180 header system. The drive shaft (inside a torque tube) was for a slipper clutch system. All of that was removed also. Measured the existing mounting plate for the rear of the former engine – 1/4 inch. I’ve got to create my own mounts and want to use aluminum plate like they did. I’ll have to learn to weld aluminum and buy a TIG welder. Got to do some research no this.
@bob, we’ll hold your beak to the grindstone and your seat to the fire!
Sounds like a pretty ambitious project. Should be a good use of the new shop.
n
https://redstate.com/wardclark/2024/09/27/burn-notice-leaker-of-jd-vance-communications-revealed-n2179870
They’ll be sitting at the “Special Access” table with ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC and the rest of the Democrat advocacy organizations.
No sign of my possum in the attic, but the cam did catch sight of a rat. Time to refill the poison bait boxes, and move them around.
I’m hoping for a cool day tomorrow to get some of my outdoor list done.
n
Jeez. Looks like I won three of these telescopes in tonight’s auction. ~4USD each. Plus $3 fee and tax.
https://www.amazon.com/Gskyer-Telescope-AZ-Astronomical-Refracting/dp/B081RJ8DW1?th=1&tag=ttgnet-20
If they are all in the box, I will have enough for a whole GS troop… or a viewing party. Or I’ll just steal the eyepieces.
They are probably crep but hey, they were super cheap.
n
Yes, Lands End has changed the return policy, but the quality is off to varying degrees depending on the item.
My latest LE shirts arrived with no spare buttons back in May. Sad but I will still buy more while I am working.
Eight months until my monthly pension check of $289 arrives. We are in the money baby. I won’t be using it to pay the $4,000 Discover bill I just got.
I used to buy the lands end polo shirts. I’ve got a lifetime supply and I rarely wear them anymore.
n
>> This stuff is important because if they can do it to the rich and famous, they can do it to us too.
And “we” have much less access to defend ourselves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawfare
>> W is home with stomach upset.
Just a coincidence…
If at first you don’t succeed…
Aaargh. I had a big long comment, but I fumbled my email address before hitting “submit”, and the system rejected it, thereby deleting the text. Reminder to self: select all-copy.
Anyhow. Short version.
Paul, my hunger spree shopping at Aldi. DrW’s revolting ingredients in industrial “ice-cream”, pork marinade thoughts. Bob S’s cool project, Nick’s longtails and telescopes, Slazenger polo shirts. Wolves in my hunting patch.
I’m picking up an old hobby, for fun and savings. After I had to duct-tape the belt carrier for my Leatherman again, I decided to make a new one, and redevelop the leatherworking skills that got me a C (I think) in Grade 9. I’ve acquired some nice leather from a 2nd hand store purse/handbag, and ordered some basic tools online. I’ve also had decades to internalize my art teacher’s instructions to plan my piece rather than just cutting out whatever I thought would look good at the time, but without the skills to finish it properly, so I’m on version 3 of a pattern. At the rate I’m going through templates, I might be on V10 by the time the tools arrive. Makes the time go, though.