Sun. Sept. 29, 2024 – even more still to do…

By on September 29th, 2024 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Another cool-ish Fall day is headed this way. I hope. Yesterday was actually pretty nice as long as I avoided the sun. In the shade, in the breeze, it was pleasant. Oh, it was sweaty, but much less so than recent days. I spent some time working in the garage, and it was ok.

I did sleep in and get a bit of a late start, and I was a bit overwhelmed when I finally got out and walked through some of the stuff that needs doing…

So I decided to just get started by removing a first layer, stuff for the scrap man. Unfortunately, that led me down a bit of a rabbit hole. I did break down a pile of stuff that was in the driveway, and actually blocking the gate, but it was a VERY small change overall. I’d have been better off moving some big stuff around, and making big visible changes.

So that’s what is on today’s agenda. Yes, things need to got to the scrapyard. But things also need big moves and rearranging. The plus is that it will actually complete some things that have been in process for a while, and should make a visual improvement too. IF I get them done.

Which is still kinda up in the air.

Stack some stuff. Do yourself a favor, and stack it neatly the first time…

nick

48 Comments and discussion on "Sun. Sept. 29, 2024 – even more still to do…"

  1. Greg Norton says:

    Jam all you want but the first person to be injured because they couldn’t call 911 or their stock broker, or the nanny, will own you.

    A jammer has to be louder on RF than the cell site, so it wouldn’t be hard to find.

    911 is the stated reason I had to experiment with OpenBTS in a shielded room in my first pass at grad school.

    I wouldn’t leave the jammer on all the time if I had one, just short bursts to resolve an annoyance in a restaurant or at a movie. Discreet.

    The big problem would have been my wife wanting to borrow and use the jammer all the time at her job in Florida. The incompetent office manager kept the clinic in terrible space with paper thin walls and an ever-present smell of garbage to anyone who wasn’t “nose blind”.

    Professional all the way.

  2. Ray Thompson says:

    Yikes, CNN is now calling the Humper “Potential President” rather than “Presidential Candidate”. I wonder how many pre-printed ballots CNN has stashed. The bias is showing.

  3. Greg Norton says:

    @Ray – MeTV has a new contract with Kabletown (NBC/Universal) for “Emergency!” reruns.

    In the past, the package has included the TV movies which wrapped the series, including the finale in which the guys surrender their paramedic licenses and reminisce (clip show).

    Don’t worry, Gage and DeSoto were promoted to Captain.

    The shame of it is that MeTV may have done a better job with the 50th anniversary than Cozi, Kabletown’s own ripoff of MeTV.

  4. lynn says:

    “Tampa region emerges as epicenter of Florida’s death toll from Helene”

        https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ar-AA1rlsjh

    “Throughout Treasure Island, a community of 6,500, nearly every house on the island appeared flooded on Friday.”

    Well that sucks.

  5. Greg Norton says:

    “Throughout Treasure Island, a community of 6,500, nearly every house on the island appeared flooded on Friday.”

    Well that sucks.

    The Pinellas barrier islands have been poster children for the downside of nationalized flood insurance for over 50 years.

    Crystal Beach too.

    Private carriers haven’t touched anyone west of “Alternate” US 19 in Pinellas since the March ‘93 “No Name” storm. It isn’t as if anyone in that story wasn’t clear on the risks.

    They all moved down there wanting that “Cheeseburger in Paradise”.

    Thank you *Mississippi native* Jimmy Buffett. You ruined a nice place.

    Between cr*p construction and insane zoning, most of the coastal communities of the Tampa Bay region have lived on borrowed time.

  6. brad says:

    Y’all were talking about health insurance yesterday. I have a neighbor who is demonstrating how health costs explode towards the end of your life. He has Parkinson’s, which makes him unstable on his feet. A few months ago, he fell and broke his hip and pelvis. After treatment and many weeks of therapy, he recovered…just in time to fall and shatter his femur. Surgery, with many more weeks of therapy to come. After that, well, he clearly cannot live independently any longer, so some sort of care is likely in his future.

    I feel for him. He’s a great guy, and this has got to be frustrating and painful. At the same time, it really does demonstrate the crazy costs that one racks up towards the end of one’s life.

  7. Greg Norton says:

    What? I’m shocked. Shocked!

    Based on what I’ve seen in code reviews from younger members of my group who use the tools, they aren’t reading the output of the AI with understanding before comitting the changes to our source tree.

    The AI running on our internal repositories also seems really fond of regurgitating my code, and I don’t use the “assist” technology beyond the minimum.

    https://www.cio.com/article/3540579/devs-gaining-little-if-anything-from-ai-coding-assistants.html

    The article isn’t touching on what I believe the companies are really going to do with the metrics from the AI providing the “assist”.

    The tech is about firing people, and developers will not be spared.

    When the time comes, I don’t do severance.

    As with the jabs, we’ll see who rusts first.

  8. lynn says:

    “Starlink Hits 4 Million Users As Elon Musk Leads Space Race”

       https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/starlink-hits-4-million-users-elon-musk-leads-space-race

    “Merritt said, “SpaceX has announced that @Starlink now has ~4 million customers across 110 countries, up from 3 million in May, and 2.3 million in December 2023.’”

  9. lynn says:

    I drove my cousin’ new Tesla Y last night.  Really nice vehicle.  The hands free driving is awesome, it even stopped at a red light and took off when the light turned green.  He did say that the hands free driving had trouble in construction zones.

  10. lynn says:

    BTW, my cousin does not use Elon Mode in his Tesla.

  11. Ray Thompson says:

    t really does demonstrate the crazy costs that one racks up towards the end of one’s life.

    Yes, that is a very real concern. I am trying to get my VA rating to 70%, better,  as at 70% or greater the VA will pay for a nursing home if the time comes. That is several thousand a month.

    My wife’s heart attach was billed at over $120K. Insurance covered most of the cost at a reduced rate, still 10’s of thousands.

    I am to the point in my life that if I got one of the more difficult to treat cancers, I would skip Chemo and just ask for hospice when necessary. Give me the good drugs, make me an addict. I wouldn’t care. Prostate cancer, colon cancer I would get treated. Kidney, liver, lung, etc. I would just ask how long I had to live. I would use that time to get my wife up to speed on finances and make certain she will be OK.

    I would also use that time to piss off a lot of people and tell them what I think of their nonsense. I would take some amazing trips, buy new tennis shoes.

    Close to the end I might just get a gub, with no ammunition so no one else gets hurt, go into a bank and rob the place. Then sit outside the door and wait for the police. Let the prison system pay for the hospice. A nursing home is not much different than a prison.

    10
  12. Greg Norton says:

    I am to the point in my life that if I got one of the more difficult to treat cancers, I would skip Chemo and just ask for hospice when necessary. Give me the good drugs, make me an addict. I wouldn’t care. Prostate cancer, colon cancer I would get treated. Kidney, liver, lung, etc. I would just ask how long I had to live. I would use that time to get my wife up to speed on finances and make certain she will be OK.

    My wife has patients who opted not to get their prostate cancer treated. One has a PSA value of 2000+.

    I opted not to get the recommended genetic testing for colon cancer. A positive result would mean preemptive surgery removing a large chunk of my colon on the possibility I could get cancer later.

  13. drwilliams says:

    Mother Jones Editor Makes a Fool of Herself

    https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2024/09/28/mother-jones-editor-makes-a-fool-of-herself-n3795143

    … and doubles down.

    If you didn’t see this or didn’t read far enough, here’s the punch line:

    The silly skank took issue with someone else using a word that she regularly uses herself.

    The word? “Blessed”

  14. drwilliams says:

    “buy new tennis shoes”

    I need to seriously look for the leather Chuck Taylors that I wore in high school. I suspect they are a bit too small for my aged feet, so it’s probably time to find someone with deep pockets and a jones for retro.

  15. drwilliams says:

    @Nick

    “Probably shouldn’t have finished the Dr Pepper after 6pm.  Not really tired.”

    I seem to have a minimum daily requirement of caffeine. If I don’t finish a pot the remainder becomes cold coffee and usually gets consumed by the evening.

    At my last hotel stay the coffee was a cold brew system with a touch screen. I found I could get a triple shot of expresso in one cup, get an Americano with “extra” in a second cup, pour half the letter in the first cup, then top off the second cup with another triple expresso. Seemed to get the job done.

  16. Nick Flandrey says:

    I start the day with 16-18 oz water, and  very dark roasted coffee, with ½ cup grounds  in the machine.  I usually have one can of Dr Pepper, or 20oz of half and half lemonade/iced tea spread over the afternoon.   I know better than to have any after 6pm, but I was thirsty when I came in from the garage.

    ———-

    sunny and warm today.  I’ll try to get some big stuff moved this afternoon before doing kid stuff.

    ———-

    @ray, timing is everything.   If you wait too long, you’ll be incapable, if you go to early, you lose precious time.

    ———-

    n

  17. Nick Flandrey says:

    Just spoke with an auctioneer about shipping some stuff I won.   He says he has over 1000 magazines coming up, and over 1000 gubs, as well as many auctions worth of ammo.   Says “guy was a hoarder”.    My kind of hoarder!

    Most of the mags aren’t marked with a model, only  a caliber, and will be a crepshoot for what they fit.  Still, if the price is right….

    n

  18. CowboyStu says:

    I might do a Cowboy Stu and head up to Kennedy Meadows for a day, and bring the telescope.

    We have always liked it up there.

  19. EdH says:

    I was up at Chuchupate (Frasier Park)   overnight for an astronomy star party last night, and it was pretty brisk, low 40s overnight.

    Kennedy Meadows might be too cold already.

  20. drwilliams says:

    Stopped by Sam’s Club today for another legless chicken. 

    Bought my second 24-oz bag of WildRoots Omega Powerhouse Trail Mix.

    https://www.samsclub.com/p/wildroots-omega-powerhouse-trail-mix-24oz/prod22420414?xid=plp_product_9

    I bought the first for road trip food, and didn’t open it on the trip. Tried it a couple weeks later and found it was a pretty good between meals snack. Recommended. 

    The best by date is March 2025, so I’m going to put two bags in my bug out supplies and rotate them. I’m also going to experiment a bit to see if the practical shelf life is longer.

  21. paul says:

    While rummaging in the upright freezer the other day I rediscovered three boxes of Chex cereal.  I was going to make a batch Chex Party Mix but getting Mom into the nursing home derailed a few plans.

    It looks easy to make.  I just don’t have much in the way of newspapers to use as a grease blotter.  I’m not sure newspaper with colored pictures is very good for you.

    What about a doggie pee pad?  A fresh from the package pad?  Covered with a layer of paper towels.  Yeah, I know, “don’t tell anyone” because “ewww!”.

    I have some shelled pecans in the freezer and some shelled walnuts in the beerrator.  I stumbled across the garlic rye bread chips at the grocery store the other day.

    I have the makings for a good batch.  Just need to find a few quart mason jars and use the Foodsaver’s canning jar attachment. 
     

  22. drwilliams says:

    Musk playfully joked with Swift after her endorsement of Harris. Swift took a dig at J.D. Vance in her endorsement, signing it“Childless Cat Lady” referencing Vance’s remarks about some women in power. Musk shot back, “Fine Taylor…you win…I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life.”

    The former editor of Time Magazine, Susanna Schrobsdorff, wrote in an op-ed for the Washington Post, saying “It’s creepy to talk about impregnating people you don’t really know.” It would be “creepy” if Musk was serious. What’s truly “creepy” is the author being the only person on the planet who would actually take that jest seriously.

    https://pjmedia.com/rick-moran/2024/09/29/endorsing-kamala-harris-might-have-been-the-worst-career-move-taylor-swift-has-ever-made-n4932923

    Obvious jest–Musk has a much higher intelligence requirement for concubines.

  23. Ken Mitchell says:

    I was going to make a batch Chex Party Mix 

    The recipe for Chex Mix calls for Worcestershire sauce, but it’s great with teriyaki sauce as well. 

    And would probably be good with any similar “fish sauce”.

  24. MrAtoz says:

    Watching the SpaceX docking on Tubi.

  25. Lynn says:

    Bought my second 24-oz bag of WildRoots Omega Powerhouse Trail Mix.

    https://www.samsclub.com/p/wildroots-omega-powerhouse-trail-mix-24oz/prod22420414?xid=plp_product_9

    I bought the first for road trip food, and didn’t open it on the trip. Tried it a couple weeks later and found it was a pretty good between meals snack. Recommended. 

    The best by date is March 2025, so I’m going to put two bags in my bug out supplies and rotate them. I’m also going to experiment a bit to see if the practical shelf life is longer.

    Poison for me.  I am allergic to almonds.

  26. drwilliams says:

    I was briefly involved in 3D printing about 40 years ago. The system used a photopolymer.

    I watched a video last week that tweaked my interest:

    Portable MFT Workbench with a DIY Fence & Rail Hinge

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59RAkriXEh0

    3X3Custom author Tamar Hannah  is a recent new user of the $500 Bambu Lab A1 printer, and used it to print the hinge for the project. If you watch the video from 24:45 she talks about having them on her website. There is a brief flash of the commercial shop that produces them, and I count 22 of the larger $1100-1500 Bambu XLC machines. She also shows the much inferior result of trying to use a friends cheap printer.

  27. drwilliams says:

    @Lynn

    “I am allergic to almonds.”

    Never mind, then.

    Is that your only tree nut allergy?

  28. MrAtoz says:

    So, is/did Boeing drop their shitty capsule to burn up?

  29. drwilliams says:

    @paul

    Just use paper towels for the Chex mix.

    I’ve found that if you dump the pans in a large bowl when the recipe calls for stirring, then spread the mix out on the pans for more heating, the butter is absorbed into the cereal with very little left on the surface.

    If you’re going to store some using clarified butter works better. 

    My preference is to use more Worcestershire sauce than called out in the recipe.  

  30. Ken Mitchell says:

    So, is/did Boeing drop their shitty capsule to burn up?

    No, the Starliner capsule did make a successful uncrewed landing. The problem was that the suspect thruster hardware on the “trunk” is jettisoned during the landing, so the engineers didn’t get that part back to be examined. I suspect that Boeing and NASA are, and will be for some time, bickering over the need to do a second test flight, or to call this one “good enough” that the Starliner hardware can be used again.  Because Boeing is losing a LOT of money on this fiasco.

  31. Ken Mitchell says:

    My preference is to use more Worcestershire sauce than called out in the recipe.  

    I agree, and more butter as well.  And we’ve never had a problem storing the Chex Mix; it never lasts long enough to cause any issues. 

  32. Lynn says:

    @Lynn

    “I am allergic to almonds.”

    Never mind, then.

    Is that your only tree nut allergy?

    Yup.

  33. Nick Flandrey says:

    It’s like when someone offered a storage solution to “left over wine.”   

    Who had leftover wine??

    —-

    I prefer the japanese version of chex mix bar food.   The occasional wasabi chickpea is a nice surprise…  this one is nice and the can is very useful size.

    n

  34. EdH says:

    No, the Starliner capsule did make a successful uncrewed landing. The problem was that the suspect thruster hardware on the “trunk” is jettisoned during the landing, so the engineers didn’t get that part back to be examined. I suspect that Boeing and NASA are, and will be for some time, bickering over the need to do a second test flight, or to call this one “good enough” that the Starliner hardware can be used again.  Because Boeing is losing a LOT of money on this fiasco.

    Yes, though many of the problems seem to stem from subcontractor failings in designing seals & valves.  

    Which goes back to inadequate supervision and oversight by Boeing, but as far as I know the capsule as a whole is OK. 

    Not that Boeing & NASA have a record of being upfront about these things.

  35. MrAtoz says:

    RIP Kris Kristofferson

  36. Nick Flandrey says:

    Terrifying footage shows burning BIOLAB as inferno sparks mass evacuation

    Thousands of people are under a shelter-in-place order after a major fire broke out at a chemical lab in Georgia. Massive clouds of smoke are saturating the sky in Conyers, Georgia, after a fire ignited at BioLab on Old Covington Highway on Sunday, the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office said.

    Why you need a BOB and a plan, even if you intend to stay in place during a disaster or collapse… there are more of these and places like them scattered around than you might expect.

    n

  37. Nick Flandrey says:

    The despairing sights have left many wondering where the federal government is to help.

    ‘Many people are stranded with little to nothing.. WHERE IS FEMA?’ one social media user asked.

    ‘What are government officials doing? There is no WATER!’ 

    don’t be this woman.

    n

  38. Nick Flandrey says:

    ‘It’s not that we (were) not prepared, but this is going to another level,’ Sheriff Quentin Miller said. ‘To say this caught us off guard would be an understatement.’

    – Sorry Sheriff, but it is EXACTLY that you were not prepared.

    n

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13904785/hurricane-helene-south-millions-without-power-gas-stations-generators.html

  39. drwilliams says:

    @Nick

    “I prefer the japanese version of chex mix bar food.   The occasional wasabi chickpea is a nice surprise…  this one is nice and the can is very useful size.”

    Clik the manufacturer’s link and you see their Hot Wasabi Peas and Spicy Sriracha Peas.  The former have a pretty good flaming gasoline taste. The latter did not impress me. I found them both at a local international market for much less the the river price.

  40. drwilliams says:

    RIP Kris Kristofferson

    Military veteran. Rhodes scholar. Songwriter, actor, and singer. 

    He starred in a minor film “The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea” with Sarah Miles. Playboy shot some smokin’ naked publicity photos of the pair that had nothing to do with the film. July 1976. Wife Rita Coolidge was not amused.

  41. Ken Mitchell says:

    Granted that Hurricane Helene moved inland quite quickly, but most intelligent people should have known that a hurricane, or even a topical storm, will drop a LOT of rain in a hurry.  The Sheriff should have known, and perhaps the Weather Service should have warned him, to get people to higher ground AWAY from the rivers and creeks. And frankly, the people themselves should have known to seek higher ground. 

    And “Where was FEMA??” FEMA expects that people will be able to fend for themselves for the first 3 days after a big storm.

  42. Greg Norton says:

    And “Where was FEMA??” FEMA expects that people will be able to fend for themselves for the first 3 days after a big storm.

    What are the anti-gouging laws like in Georgia?

  43. Nick Flandrey says:

    Anyone want to bet that the failed dams were identified as ‘at risk’ years ago, but no work was done?

    ——–

    I am trying to go to bed early tonight.   Maybe it’ll work this time.

    n

  44. drwilliams says:

    “Anyone want to bet that the failed dams were identified as ‘at risk’ years ago, but no work was done?”

    And that spending billions on illegal immigrant invaders is a higher priority that improving the safety and security of U.S. citizens who can legally vote?

    No bet.

  45. Alan says:

    >>“Merritt said, “SpaceX has announced that @Starlink now has ~4 million customers across 110 countries, up from 3 million in May, and 2.3 million in December 2023.’”

    Man, that’s a lot of pizza. 

    Oh, and remind me again, how many paying customers does Jeff have for “RiverLink?” 

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