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…
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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.
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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.