Cool and comfortable, then warmer. Humidity has been lower, which makes even 80F nice, but every now and then the afternoon will be a little more “close” and I know the humidity is back up to swamp levels. We still have several days of clear in the forecast, and that’s starting to be a problem. I noticed some trees were looking pretty stressed due to the long time since our last rain storm.
People are getting stressed too. There is a drought of opportunity and of money. Stuff is going in some of my auctions for half what it would have brought a year ago. Feels like everyone is pausing and kinda holding their breath…
———-
I did a few of my smaller tasks yesterday. Did a pickup that was several auctions worth of stuff. Mostly for the BOL, but a few things for home. Then there was a lot of driving kids around. And dinner and domestic bliss.
Today I’ll do several pickups. Unfortunately they are on the four corners of Houston metro. More driving than I’d like, with more space in between stops, but stuff didn’t work out.
Haven’t seen the possum or the rats in the attic in the last few days. Maybe I got them for a while. Still need to re-bait the outdoor boxes, and I need to spray for insects too. Tiny ants are plaguing us this month.
I’ve got stacking to do too. Several of my water storage jugs need to be replaced, fuel needs to be rotated, rehabilitated, and food needs to be re-stocked. I know I’ve got at least on water filter somewhere that needs a rebuild kit. I’ve got the gennie project to finish…
Lots to do, and the year is running out. All my meatspace and social things need doing too. Busy. No time for slacking.
But it is time for stacking!
nick
A number of wild dogs, and I think some coyotes, live in the forest behind our house. They were going nutso around 0300 for whatever reason and woke me. Since I don’t go back to sleep after being awakened, I figured I’d come here to say: First post!
Good Morning Steve!
65F this morning which is a bit warmer than it has been. Might be a warm day after all.
n
– they also are cutting menu in half, and closing stores in bad areas.
They noticed adults ordering from the kids menu to save money.
n
Sellers are putting more cr*p into Priority Mail boxes and crossing their fingers as of late. As a result, buyers are wary of things put up on EBay unless the deal is very good.
My wife said that our household’s charge is up to $11/item on the UPS Happy Returns service. Non-Amazon vendors are using that system to coordinate information on the customers, and I smell a class action suit brewing.
Denny’s customer base is mostly oldsters like my wife’s grandfather who ordered the $2.99 “senior starter” back in the day.
Good luck getting Grandpa to go anywhere else.
Service always sucked. Grandpa didn’t care as long as he got his cheap a** egg and bacon. He was a pain if he didn’t.
Every morning. People like him kept the chain going far longer than competitors.
A plate on the kids menu must be how the franchise operator are still sneaking out “senior starter” breakfasts.
DENN is getting close to the delisting number and 85% held by the usual institutional suspects. Bankruptcy or a private equity buyout is coming soon.
It’s the little victories that make it worthwhile.
Subbing again today for the juvenile cretins. And tomorrow, and Friday.
In local news a 15 year old boy has been arrested and charged with murder in the death of a 13 year old girl. I suspect they will try him as an adult. His life is over for dozens of years. The girl was killed on a path the students use as a shortcut.
I suspect the city will destroy the path, some parents will demand armed transportation, some will pull their kids from the school, a few will get on TV and explain how this event has scarred their children for life and demand state welfare forever. The city may even tear down the school.
We do that. The wife orders a kids meal and I order a regular meal. The lack of planning on the restaurant is not my problem. Fuddruckers charges more if an adult orders a kids meal. So the wife sits down and I order by myself and get the kids meal at the kids meal price. It’s the same amount of food and to charge an adult more is gouging.
Dennys is never worth going to. The only reason I ever go there is it’s someone else’s choice. You might think they would try decent food and service. Eat local, it’s always better.
Back when I was young, still drinking, and playing the game, Denny’s was where you went after the bars closed to make one last try at hooking up. I don’t think I’ve been in one in 30 years, even with all the traveling I used to do.
————
John Wilder really nails it today.
https://wilderwealthywise.com/the-most-important-war-the-war-between-the-sexes/
it gives some good context to this
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-13983473/husband-body-count-high-DEAR-JANE.html
She spent 10 years sleeping around, with more than 50 guys, “so many she lost count”. Her husband has an issues with the 15 she admitted to, OH HELL YEAH he’s gonna have an issue if she “comes clean”.
The Agony Aunt is completely wrong about it too.
– it’s HIS problem that he doesn’t like the idea of coming in 60th. And she’s absolutely wrong about the bolded part, that is the number one indicator that a woman will leave a marriage. High body count = high likelihood of being restless/unsatisfied/still looking for better…
n
I only eat at Denny’s if we are on a road trip and want a fast lunch. Cracker Barrel is the first choice, but an omelet is easy an easy low carb choice.
As my generation pushes towards 60, a lot of the women are restless, regardless of “body count”, as friends are finding out in divorce court.
Again, as my one friend’s female lawyer told him, it starts with that ladies-only 50th birthday trip to Vegas.
Too much of the “Sex in the City” reboot is also a bad sign. Just ask the management at Peloton. 🙂
Wow. Fuddruckers is still around where you live?
Most of them are gone in Texas which is, ironically, where the chain originated.
Maybe the tourist traffic keeps them going in East Tennessee.
One of the best restaurant “hacks” used to be ordering the Kids Menu steak at Outback. It was almost always bigger than listed, and didn’t come with all the extra stuff. If you were just ordinary hungry or even not that hungry, it was a great option.
———
The flip side is my 13yo ordering a sampler platter for herself. Waiter never believes her.
n
There was still a Fuddruckers in Knoxville until 5? or so years ago. Maybe longer. That used to be our lunch stop on the way back from my parents house. After it closed, we would stop at Newks. Since Buc-ee’s opened, that is our stop.
Quoted for truth. One can argue about the reasons or the direction of causality, but the statistics don’t lie.
Side note: The use of “body count” as a measure of sluttishness annoys those of us with an actual body count.
Never change, SteveF.
Bloomin Brands chains made their money from liquor sales on credit cards, not the food. At least they did. The waitress probably didn’t care if you ordered booze:
They will be among the next to start circling the drain.
The Carabba‘s cofounder, Uncle Damien, is sticking it to Bloomin Brands with his new Italian concept, Mandola’s, developed here but quickly moved to Tampa and Orlando, home base of BLMN and Darden (Olive Garden), respectively.
About five years ago, some of the 20- and 30-somethings at work were bragging about their “body counts”. A couple pestered me for mine, obviously intending to mock me for how low it was because of course their generation invented sex and no man in his 50s had ever gotten laid. They were flabbergasted when I said I wasn’t sure but probably around 150.
… And then they were creeped out when they realized what I was talking about. They were quiet around me for a while.
Yep, in Pigeon Forge. About 50 miles away. There used to be one in west Knoxville but it closed several years. There used to be Schlotzki’s in the area but they all disappeared. Generally one of our first meals out is Schlotzki’s when we visit San Antonio.
When the wife was pregnant she was eating at Schlotzki’s for lunch 5 days a week. Then 4 days a week we were eating there for dinner. Something in the sandwiches she just had to have. We were in the mall one time when she was pregnant and smelled roasted coconut. It was like a dog trailing a rotting deer corpse. Once she found, ate a few ounces, the urge was over and never came back.
Looking at their website menu, it seems they’ve removed the dinner entrées entirely. Makes sense I guess. Who is going to Denny’s to order a steak or salmon? lol
We live within short driving distance of a truck stop that has a 24-hour Denny’s inside of it. We rarely go. However, if I can’t sleep and I’m bored I’ve gotten in the car to go get a Grand Slam at 1:00 AM on a random weeknight. It’s always a very chill experience at that time. Now, go to a truck stop Denny’s like that during a meal rush, especially on a heavily traveled holiday weekend, and it’s a nightmare. You just have to emotionally prepare yourself for a two hour dining experience.
I downloaded a CSV file from my electrical provider. I thought I could do some things with the numbers. The data includes the date, daily cost, low temperature and high temperature. Yes, the electrical company is charging daily for the electricity, the joy of a smart meter. They can charge me more when TVA charges them more.
My daily average for electricity is $5.50 a day since July 27 through yesterday. I guess I should no complain about that level of cost for keeping cool, cooking, hot water and lights.
What did surprise me about the daily cost is the level that is used. As in the number of decimal places. This number “6.3242005824” is an example of the daily cost. The utility is keeping track to 10 decimal places. That seems a little excessive. Some of the numbers are presented as this “3.4454426112000000”. Why the extra zeros? Is this something for the future to calculate down to individual electrons?
The average low is 63F, the average high is 83F for the period. The average low in August was 67F with the average high of 88F. The highest temperature was 91F, the lowest temperature was 60F.
Can you say dining experience and Denny’s in the same sentence?
I occasionally go to Waffle House to get eggs, bacon, toast and hash browns. We get the meal with the pecan waffle. The wife eats the waffle, one piece of toast and one strip of bacon. I get the eggs, two strips of bacon, three slices of toast and the hash browns.
Actually fairly good food, well prepared, and served quickly. Waffle House found a formula that works. Sometimes there is a wait on Saturday morning that may be 30 minutes. At least at the closest location to me.
I would stop at a Denny’s occasionally, if on the road. A Grand Slam for breakfast if the hotel had nothing, maybe a coffee (& pie) and a clean bathroom as a break on a long trip. Occasionally a burger for lunch or dinner (I prefer drive-thru and eating in peace & quiet usually).
Like McDonalds you always know what you are getting in terms of food: not memorable cuisine but fuel for the day.
I don’t believe I’ve ever gone there as a destination.
“3.4454426112000000”
In FORTRAN keeping trailing zero’s was, I think, the default for years. Which might date the s/w your utility company is using.
Lynn would know.
Not all the values have trailing zeros, perhaps about half of them.
Ok, more research. Opening the CSV file in a text editor I get values like 3.4454426111999994 and 4.2078712320000005. The Apple spreadsheet program, Numbers, was apparently truncating the longer values with many numbers past the displayed amount.
Why does a utility need to maintain usage to 16 digits of precision? Four digits should be more than enough. Unless I am paying for a trillionth of a watt each day. I guess a trillionth here and a trillionth there and in 84,000 years you may have accounted for the missing watt.
The excessive precision may be so that no one can sue them for overcharging by rounding up to the next .0001 watt-hour.
Innumerate programmers–or perhaps they never got around to reading the parts of the (bleep) manual detailing display options?
The old IBM 360 and 370 mainframes had a maximum precision of 16 digits for the entire number if I remember correctly. Well, in their COBOL compiler. Hardware limitation or compiler limitation? I don’t know. That is why banks went with Burroughs in many cases because banks could get 100 digits of precision with Burroughs. For some calculations, with daily compounding on large deposits, getting accuracy beyond 16 digits, sometimes up to 24 digits, was considered good. Those fractional pennies, which the bank kept, added up over time.
My personal opinion is that the 16 digits are just the result of stupid programmers who don’t really understand numbers, or computers.
Would it be too much to expect the news sources to report on the family situation of the boy, in particular whether the biological mother was married to the biological father?
Would it be too much to expect the news sources to report on the race, ethnicity, citizenship status, or religion of the boy?
Would it be too much to expect the news sources to report on the intelligence level and known emotional, mental, or developmental issues of the boy?
That would probably identify the boy to the public. Since he is a juvenile that is not allowed. No family situations, name of the trailer park, number of teeth total of the mother and biological father (not necessarily the husband).
When the news media doesn’t, we already know. If it was white on black that would have been part of the headlines. If it is black on white that information is suppressed as it would be considered racist.
That would be putting the boy at a disadvantage and he could not get a fair trial. Of course the mental ability ability will be challenged and used as a defense so to bring that up early is not fair to the little cretin. I mean, his mother will paint him as a good boy who would give the shirt off his back to anyone that asked and was always helping others. The mother will explain the system the system failed him and her family as she huffs another line of meth and complains the state don’t pay enough to get out of the ghetto.
Some of us, the more-or-less law-abiding majority in the United States, are getting a teensy bit tired of certain demographics being responsible for the majority of the violent and property crime in the United States. 13%/54% is just one of the numbers, and just one of the demographics, causing this societal fatigue. Race is the most visually obvious issue but the single largest predictor of criminality and other social pathologies is growing up with the father not present in the family. Others include religion (so far as violent sex crimes and certain categories of other violent crimes go), intelligence, a number of mental impairments which for the most part can be diagnosed in early childhood, ethnicity (Hispanics are by far the most prevalent perpetrators of sexual abuse of preteens), and so on.
Recall a few years ago when every individual’s “vaccination” status was considered to be a matter of public interest for the purpose of protecting us all. Violent criminal behavior is a greater threat to “us all” than the Chinese bioweapon ever was, so on that basis alone everyone’s family status, intelligence, and mental problems must be viewed as a matter of public interest and should be easily looked up so that the law-abiding majority may protect ourselves from those most likely to be a danger.
“Christians Not Wanted”
https://areaocho.com/christians-not-wanted/
“So it seems that Christians are not to be included in the ‘big tent’ that is the Democratic party, but Muslims are. So are trannies, fags, atheists,
child molesting pedophiles‘minor attracted persons’, and all other sorts, but not Christians.”All of my church friends are voting this year.
DENN is getting close to the delisting number and 85% held by the usual institutional suspects. Bankruptcy or a private equity buyout is coming soon.
I got a MOD pizza to go for lunch yesterday. I asked how things were going and the two guys working the restaurant told me that MOD pizza was a week away from filing bankruptcy a few months ago and somebody came in and bought them.
https://modpizza.com/
“Don’t let US become Detroit”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/3197249/dont-let-us-become-detroit/
“Pop star Lizzo handed the Trump campaign a gift last week while speaking at a rally supporting Vice President Kamala Harris in Detroit, Michigan.”
““I’m so proud to be from Detroit,” the singer said. “They say if Kamala Harris wins, the whole country will be like Detroit. Proud, like Detroit. Resilient like Detroit. The same Detroit that innovated the auto industry and the music industry. Put some respect on Detroit’s name.””
Oh my.
Lizzo is tone-deaf in more ways than one.
“Microsoft Windows Deadline—10 Days To Update Or Stop Using Your PC”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2024/10/21/microsoft-warning-for-14-billion-windows-10-windows-11-users-get-free-upgrade/
“Here we go again. What was described as a “previously unknown” threat just three months ago has now prompted a third warning from the US government to update or stop using PCs. By exploiting old code buried under the covers of today’s Windows systems, it has quickly become clear that “a significant percentage of Windows devices are fully exposed and at risk of being taken over by attackers.””
“The latest vulnerability is CVE-2024-43573, which the US cyber agency warns is “an unspecified spoofing vulnerability which can lead to a loss of confidentiality.” It has mandated all federal employees to “apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable” by October 29. In other words, update your PC within the next ten days, or stop using it until you can.”
Welfare for “families with dependent children” ought to be dependent on mommy (F) and daddy (M) showing up once a month, in person, and passing a detailed drug test on the spot. Miss an appointment without a letter from your doctor? Tough luck. Try again next month.
$ 500 for a vasectomy
$ 1000 to get your tubes tied.
Coffee, donuts, and contraceptives freely available.
“McWeaponized: CDC Unveils E.coli Outbreak In Quarter-Pounders, Day After Trump Photo-Op”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/mcweaponized-cdc-unveils-ecoli-outbreak-quarter-pounders-day-after-trump-photo-op
“There’s no such thing as coincidence in Washington…”
“A day after former President Trump ventured into a McDonalds during a campaign stop, cooked some fries, and handed out some food to more-than-happy customers in a photo-op that went very viral (in a good way), the CDC issued a statement announcing an E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders has left one person dead and caused 10 hospitalizations.”
“There are 49 cases across 10 states, with most illneses in Colorado and Nebraska (not where president Trump was)…”
Yup, there are no coincidences. McDonalds is being punished.
At many steakhouses you used to be able to just order the 12 or 16 ounce steak and cut it in half and share it with your spouse, but a lot of steakhouses now have a "plate fee" when you do that. Though, the wait staff is very inconsistent on charging the fee.
There was a "hack" at either Chili’s or Applebee’s way back in the day. The Chicken Fingers/Tenders/Strips/Whatever appetizer was a few dollars cheaper than the entrée and you got one more chicken strip than you did on the entrée. Of course, you didn’t get the sides with the appetizer like you did with the entrée, but the side was usually crap fries anyway.
I’ve always been a fan of Taco Bell since I was a little kid (I know, I know). Anyway, there are several "hacks" there for saving money or for easily recreating discontinued menu items. One of the best in their app is building your own Luxe Cravings Box instead of ordering à la carte.
“Watch: Angry Screeching Karen Confronts Homeowner For Voting For Trump”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-angry-screeching-karen-confronts-homeowner-voting-trump
“The clip, which was posted on X, shows that Trump Derangement Syndrome is still running rampant.”
“According to the time stamp on the camera, the incident took place yesterday evening.”
“The homeowner placed a political sign in her front yard, prompting the Karen, arms folded and seething with righteous indignation, to walk up to her doorstep and offer her shrill opinion (which nobody asked for).”
““Why are you voting for him?” the Karen demands to know, as if it’s any of her business.”
““Erm, because I believe he is the moral candidate,” the homeowner responds.”
WOW !
“Republican Voters Shattering Early Ballot Records In Key States”
https://conservativebrief.com/republicans-in-2-86578/
“With former President Donald Trump’s encouragement, Republicans are voting early once again, heading to the polls for in-person voting ahead of Election Day and contributing to a national total of nearly 19 million early ballots.”
“The early turnout is setting records in swing states like Georgia and North Carolina, the Associated Press reported on Monday.”
Our early voting site out here in the sticks is still swarmed. There was two parking spaces open out of fifty when I drove by at 145pm. Since we typically have 8 to 10 voting stations, that means a long line inside.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
I plan on watching election night coverage at the American Legion/VFW bar by myself. Mostly to overhear the commentary from the regulars. lol
I early voted today. Not bad. A lot of folks there but the line moved quickly. They had no interest in seeing my voter registration card. The new machines have a card sized depression that read the mag stripe on my d/l. You sign the screen, she gives you a receipt. At the end of the row of tables you present your receipt and are given another receipt with a four digit number. Then you wait for a machine.
The lighting in the place use to be 2 ft by 4 ft recessed fluorescent fixtures. You’ve seen them, in dropped ceilings. Usually cool white with plenty of glare. New light fixtures today. Same 2 by 4 size. The light is a frame around a ceiling tile. About a one inch frame. They look nice. The light is about 3300. Nice with an even spread, too.
Stopped by and paid the property taxes. She thinks all I need is a copy of his will and our marriage license to put the house and land in my name. I’ll try that on Friday.
Elite Group. They own a bunch of semi-failed chains.
MOD was big in Seattle when I lived up there, but the Porltand Metro was dominated by Papa Murphy’s because Papa took EBT aka Food Stamps.
The Papa Murphy’s near our house closed a few months ago. In 10 years of living here, I never saw anyone in that place anytime I drove by, even during evening rush hour.
I’m down another chicken. Hawk. The birds were running around the yard while I was taking care of things but for a while they were in the yard in front of the house while I was in the shed out back and it was long enough for the hawk to stoop, pull off a bunch of feathers, and start eating. I’m peeved, as is my daughter. It took a while to get the rest out of the bushes. I’m not sure that they remembered what had happened for more than a minute – chickens are not known for being intellectual powerhouses – or if they were just comfortable where they sat in the mulch or scratching for grubs, but either way it took hours of trying every few minutes to get them into their run.
I have a medium-power laser, for an etcher/engraver/cutter. I have rifle scopes. I might be able to kludge up something, get it sighted in, and bzorp the hawks’ heads. Other than being too busy to put time into such things*, I’m having a hard time thinking of reasons that I should not do just that.
\* Yes, I realize that I’ve commented half a dozen times today, more than I usually do in a month. Much of today has been spent in waiting for computers to get back to me. My individual jobs don’t take more than a minute to run but the servers have been busy and I frequently have ten minutes to take care of a chore or to goof around on the internet.
$ 1000 to get your tubes tied.
– many years ago, someone suggested that tubal ligation be offered free to welfare recipients, or maybe it was the implant, Norplant? The shrieking outrage about ‘genocide” took months to subside.
I’m not sure how preventing a pregnancy counts as genocide, when actually killing 23Million babies, mostly black iirc, thru abortion does not… but that is the bizarro world we live in.
n
E. coli in ground beef is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS caused by undercooking the burgers. Burgers should be cooked to “well done”. Burgers cooked to “medium” or worse yet, “rare” are asking for trouble.
>>My wife said that our household’s charge is up to $11/item on the UPS Happy Returns service.
@Greg, can you please elaborate? Where does the $11 charge apply?
“E. coli in ground beef is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS caused by undercooking the burgers. Burgers should be cooked to “well done”. Burgers cooked to “medium” or worse yet, “rare” are asking for trouble. “
E. Coli is contamination from an unclean slaughtering, butchering, and packaging process. If you feel you have to ruin your hamburger by cooking the flavor and texture out of it, you are buying beef at the wrong place.
If you must overcook beef, get a thermopen and learn how the temperature increases as the heat redistributes after the meat is pulled from the grill or pan.
My wife got charged $10.99, $11, to return a $27 shirt to an online site using Happy Returns at the UPS Store. Labor involved was scanning a bar code on the tag and checking the item to make sure it really was a shirt.
If I had to guess, Happy Returns slowly escalates the return fee based on a formula which calculates our “risk” to the companies who subscribe to their service, and the items just go to a warehouse in Louisville where they get sold off in bulk.
The specific culprit was the Big Mac.
The “secret” sauce is mayonnaise based, and the mixing line was probably the source of the conamination.
The lettuce is another possibility.
“3.4454426112000000”
In FORTRAN keeping trailing zero’s was, I think, the default for years. Which might date the s/w your utility company is using.
Lynn would know.
Just printing everything F20.16 or something like that. I modified the runtime library code in my compiler to only print 0.0 instead of 0.00000E00 when using scientific notation.
Norplant is a much less invasive procedure.
A GP can do that outpatient in the office, but the reimbursement to a non-OB/Gyn is pathetic so most don’t bother.
“The specific culprit was the Big Mac.”
as of last night they were looking at beef patties and diced onion
>> We do that. The wife orders a kids meal and I order a regular meal. The lack of planning on the restaurant is not my problem. Fuddruckers charges more if an adult orders a kids meal. So the wife sits down and I order by myself and get the kids meal at the kids meal price. It’s the same amount of food and to charge an adult more is gouging.
Calling The Kamel: price “gauging” at Fuddruckers! Tell Plugs to warm up the ‘Vette…
That number of significant digits makes sense for calculations involving kWh and kMWh, when needing to know cost on a per second basis.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13994037/Employees-stabbed-knifeman-shot-police-Illinois-Dekalb.html
n
Lizzo’s guest appearance was when the Baby Yoda show “jumped the shark” to many fans.
Couldn’t watch more than a couple of the baby yoda episodes.
Didn’t know Lizzo was on it, but that would have made me stop.
n
And with that mental image, I’m headed to bed.
n
>>My wife got charged $10.99, $11, to return a $27 shirt to an online site using Happy Returns at the UPS Store. Labor involved was scanning a bar code on the tag and checking the item to make sure it really was a shirt.
Wait, what? There’s someplace besides Amazon, Wal-Mart and Target to buy things online?? Wow, always learning something new here. 🙂
Seriously though, was the return fee made aware at the time of the original purchase?