Sun. Oct. 27, 2024 – a day of rest [lessness]

Sorta cool, and damp, followed by warm and damp. Maybe a bit less damp than yesterday. Even sitting outside in 85F temps had sweat running down my back. It was reaaaalllly damp.

I rose late, puttered around with auction stuff, then finally got to work around the house late in the day. And it was sweaty miserable. So I did as little as possible. I’m slowly moving stuff to the shelves I cleared the rotten food from. I’m also taking breaks from more critical work to do a little job here and there. The little ones can at least be done and provide some sense of completion. Even when they’re not complete.

Today I’ll keep plugging away. I don’t think there will be any kid taxiing or serious domestic bliss. That alone will mean I’m more effective at my stuff. Having to drive someone somewhere every two hours really breaks up the workday. I’ll miss it when it’s gone, but it’s an unwelcome development until I get used to it.

We’ve gotten used to some crazy stuff as a culture and as individuals. We’ll see even more that will need to be tolerated and worked around. I guess I can call this practice for that…

And the stacking, fixing, learning, and relationship building is practice too. Train the way you want to perform, right??

nick

46 Comments and discussion on "Sun. Oct. 27, 2024 – a day of rest [lessness]"

  1. lynn says:

    It was crazy dark at 645 am and 62 F this morning. 

    And the septic system sprinklers are running as the wife is in the shower, making it even more foggier in the backyard.

  2. lynn says:

    There are two crows sitting on the powerline this morning yelling at me.  I know cuss words when I hear them.

    10
  3. Greg Norton says:

    There are two crows sitting on the powerline this morning yelling at me.  I know cuss words when I hear them.

    Do two crows qualify as a “murder”?

    For a while, in the local HEB, I frequently heard the Sting song featuring that term playing over the in-store Muzak system.

    Sting didn’t touch anything from “Soul Cages” the other night effectively opening for Billy Joel. At 73, he may be contemplating his own mortality.

    “Soul Cages” is my favorite “brooding” album. It has received a lot more play going to work in the morning over the past few weeks.

    I limit work details here as of late, but using one of the Hot Skillz languages has blown up in the face of one of the young’n’s, and I may be on mop duty.

  4. Greg Norton says:

    “Soul Cages” is my favorite “brooding” album. It has received a lot more play going to work in the morning over the past few weeks.

    Trans Siberian Orchestra’s “Beethoven’s Last Night” is a close second on the “brooding favorites” list.

    Billy Joel borrowed a few bars from that one. I wonder if I was the only one in attendance who caught it.

  5. lynn says:

    I limit work details here as of late, but using one of the Hot Skillz languages has blown up in the face of one of the young’n’s, and I may be on mop duty.

    You gotta tell us what the language is.

  6. Ray Thompson says:

    You gotta tell us what the language is.

    English?

  7. Greg Norton says:

    I limit work details here as of late, but using one of the Hot Skillz languages has blown up in the face of one of the young’n’s, and I may be on mop duty.

    You gotta tell us what the language is.

    If what I’ve heard is true, the problem is endemic to all of them. The Hot Skillz languages based on LLVM are an evolutionary cul-de-sac IMHO, but what do I know.

  8. Greg Norton says:

    The property tax renewal arrived in the mailbox on Friday. I just opened it up today.

    The increase is “only” 34%. I guess I should consider myself lucky that we weren’t dropped.

  9. Nick Flandrey says:

    When I want to wallow in melancholy I listen to Dire Straits’  “Brothers in Arms”  sometimes just the song, sometimes the whole album minus MTV song and the song with “the man’s too strong” which I cut because the dynamics wake me up if I play it to fall asleep.

    ————-

    Initial reviews of Brothers in Arms from the UK music press in 1985 were generally negative. In a scathing review for NME, Mat Snow criticised Knopfler’s “mawkish self-pity, his lugubriously mannered appropriation of rockin’ Americana, his thumpingly crass attempts at wit”. He also accused the album of the “tritest would-be melodies in history, the last word in tranquilising chord changes, the most cloying lonesome playing and ultimate in transparently fake troubador sentiment ever to ooze out of a million-dollar recording studio”

    Shows what critics know.

    Brothers in Arms was the first album to sell one million copies in the CD format and to outsell its LP version.

    Charts

    • In the Netherlands, the album broke the all-time record for most weeks on chart, with 269 non-consecutive weeks (since overtaken by Adele‘s 21 and the Buena Vista Social Club‘s eponymous debut album).[68]
    • In the UK, the album spent 14 weeks at number one on the UK Albums Chart,[69] and as of August 2018 has spent 271 weeks on the chart.[70]
    • In the United States, the album reached number one on the Billboard 200 and remained there for nine weeks.[71]

    Worldwide sold 30M albums….

    n

  10. Greg Norton says:

    Shows what critics know.

    Brothers in Arms was the first album to sell one million copies in the CD format and to outsell its LP version.

    1985 was the first big Summer for CDs, particularly “DDD” releases.

    “Brothers in Arms” had the misfortune of being released only two weeks before “Dream of the Blue Turtles”, but Sting made it up to them at Live Aid in July.

    Watch rock legends become rock gods.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcqhvPNiJzo

     IIRC, Queen’s miraculous comeback set went next.

  11. dkreck says:

    Well after too much delay I have a working solar system (mostly). I sent a somewhat snarky text to the salesman on Monday while looking at the $800+ electric bill due on Wed – which was paid of course. 

    Well surprise, surprise. Thursday they call and say they will be here by 9. Two days, four man crew. Lot of time on the roof installing the brackets. Cement tile requires lifting while on a hot dark surface. I have some sympathy, I’ve done hot dirty work before, just not in the last 40 years. One electrician, mostly inside the garage putting up controller, batteries, and wiring.

    Connected and breakers flipped by 3 pm Friday. Batteries still offline. Not the formal beginning. I guess that will be next week. I have no way yet to know what it’s generating but that should all come next week – I hope.

    So it’s overcast today.

  12. Nick Flandrey says:

    So it’s overcast today.  

    – ‘natch.

    n

  13. Nick Flandrey says:

    Good article at Rawles…

    https://survivalblog.com/2024/10/26/relationships-communities-and-resources-by-3ad-scout/ 

    I say “good” because it matches and reinforces my belief that community and network and PEOPLE are important, especially when times get tough.

    n

  14. dcp says:

    Do two crows qualify as a “murder”?

    Nah, that’s only an “attempted murder.”

    *****

    The property tax renewal … increase is “only” 34%. I guess I should consider myself lucky that we weren’t dropped.

    How does one get dropped from property tax in TX?

  15. paul says:

    “Dishy Shield”  for Starlink.  https://www.dishyshield.com/about  

    Might be worth it. 

  16. Nick Flandrey says:

    From the .gov

    HHS, Baxter updates on IV solution supply shortage and resources for EMS

    In late September 2024, Hurricane Helene caused extensive damage to the southeastern United States. Damages from the storm halted production at Baxter International’s North Cove facility in North Carolina.

    Baxter’s North Cove facility is the largest manufacturer of peritoneal dialysis (PD) and intravenous (IV) solutions in the United States.

    Baxter states that its goal is to begin restarting North Cove production as soon as possible and in phases, with the goal of restarting IV fluid production by the end of 2024. As of this week, Baxter’s more than 2,500 North Cove facility employees have returned to work, primarily focusing on restoring infrastructure.

    Baxter has created a resource mailbox to track and route inquiries, hurricanehelenesupport@baxter.com, but does not yet have a timeline for when production will be fully restored to pre-hurricane levels.

    The temporary closure of the North Cove facility is currently causing nationwide supply chain disruptions of PD and IV solution products. On Oct. 18, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provided an important update on its efforts so far to restore access to IV fluids, including working with the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to import international Baxter products. HHS is also supporting domestic supply through the Defense Production Act, which will facilitate Baxter’s ability to obtain materials needed to clean and rebuild the North Cove facility. Use of the Defense Production Act may also assist other manufacturers of IV solution products to help remediate supply chain shortages.

    HHS estimates that due to these efforts, hospitals have 50% more product available to them now compared to right after the hurricane. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still lists several IV solution products as “currently in shortage,” including sodium chloride, Lactated Ringers, sterile water, and dextrose injections. These shortages are all directly attributable to the effects of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

    This supply chain disruption may impact patient care and require adjustments to the clinical management of patients, particularly for institutions that operated a just-in-time supply for these products.

    n

  17. Greg Norton says:

    The property tax renewal … increase is “only” 34%. I guess I should consider myself lucky that we weren’t dropped.

    How does one get dropped from property tax in TX?

    Insurance. Multitasking again today.

    In theory, I had a day off for the concert on Friday.

    The day off ended up starting at noon, and that was only because I needed to leave my house to be in San Antonio by 4PM, before the gates opened at the concert venue and parking disappeared..

    We stayed overnight. I did not take my work laptop, just my personal tablet.

  18. Nick Flandrey says:

    This isn’t at all third world, or banana republic, right??  Because other than traffic control, what would law enforcement need to do for an election?

    Election Security: SLTT and Campus Law Enforcement Discussion Based Exercise Starter Kit

    For the 2024 election cycle, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office for State and Local Law Enforcement has announced the availability of its Election Security: SLTT and Campus Law Enforcement Discussion Based Exercise Starter Kit (ESK).

    This modular and scalable toolkit is intended to assist your jurisdiction in preparing to provide law enforcement support to your local elections. The ESK includes a Situation Manual, Facilitator/Evaluator Guide, Exercise Placemat, and Exercise Presentation.

    n

    The ESK is not intended to provide answers or guidance on how individual jurisdictions and law enforcement agencies should provide support to their local elections, but instead present potential scenario(s) that law enforcement might be presented with

  19. Nick Flandrey says:

    More .gov election stuff…

    FBI and CISA issue public service announcement warning of tactics foreign threat actors are using to spread disinformation in the 2024 U.S. General Election

    On Oct. 18, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and CISA issued their final four-part joint public service announcement (PSA) today titled Just So You Know: Foreign Threat Actors Likely to Use a Variety of Tactics to Develop and Spread Disinformation During the 2024 U.S. General Election Cycle.

    This PSA highlights efforts by foreign actors to spread disinformation in the lead-up to the 2024 U.S. general election with the goal of casting doubt on the integrity of the democratic process and sowing partisan discord.

    The PSA highlights specific examples of tactics we have seen used by Russia and Iran during the 2024 election cycle to target all Americans. These include things from mimicking national level media outlets like the Washington Post and Fox News and creating inauthentic news sites posing as legitimate media organizations to using paid influencers to hide their hand.

    It is important for voters to critically evaluate information sources, particularly as disinformation campaigns evolve to use AI-generated content. For more information on how to protect yourself from disinformation, visit the official websites of the FBI and CISA’s dedicated election security webpage, cisa.gov/Protect2024

    n

  20. Greg Norton says:

    HHS is also supporting domestic supply through the Defense Production Act, which will facilitate Baxter’s ability to obtain materials needed to clean and rebuild the North Cove facility. Use of the Defense Production Act may also assist other manufacturers of IV solution products to help remediate supply chain shortages.

    “Facilitate” means at gunpoint if necessary.

    Baxter is 93% institution held, with Blackrock and Vanguard owning nearly a quarter of the stock.

  21. Nick Flandrey says:

    I’m eating lunch and bidding on auctions, does that count as multi-tasking?

    n

  22. Nick Flandrey says:

    “Facilitate” means at gunpoint if necessary. 

    – yeah, the engineers at bigcorp were happy to land a project with National Defense Priority.   I told them how stupid they were.

    You absolutely don’t want that invoked.   

    n

  23. Lynn says:

    The property tax renewal arrived in the mailbox on Friday. I just opened it up today.

    The increase is “only” 34%. I guess I should consider myself lucky that we weren’t dropped.

    Wait, the max increase is 10% for homesteaded residential homes ???

    Weren’t dropped ??? Are you talking about property insurance ?

  24. Lynn says:

    When I want to wallow in melancholy I listen to Dire Straits’  “Brothers in Arms”  sometimes just the song, sometimes the whole album minus MTV song and the song with “the man’s too strong” which I cut because the dynamics wake me up if I play it to fall asleep.

    Dad took me to see Mark Knopfler 5 or 7 years ago here in Sugar Land.  Totally awesome.  He sang a song about going home on Christmas Eve from Londontown to north of Mancester by hitching a ride with a large truck. Very haunting.  He did not tell us how the reception was.

    He did not sing “Money For Nothing” but he did sing “Sultans Of Swing”.

  25. Ken Mitchell says:

    HAHA!   Fifty states. 

    It’s entirely possible that Trump could win every state EXCEPT for election fraud. Cacafornia, for example, will never again elect a Republican in a state-wide election, because Cacafornia literally legalized election fraud. Trump might get more VOTES, but the Newsom/Pelosi Machine will cast way more BALLOTS. I’d suspect that New York, Michigan. and Illinois are similarly corrupt. But there’s certainly a chance that the swing states are still clean ENOUGH that Trump has a chance.

  26. Greg Norton says:

    Weren’t dropped ??? Are you talking about property insurance ?
     

    Yes. My weekend ended already.  The business day starts in India in a few hours.

  27. Greg Norton says:

    He did not sing “Money For Nothing” but he did sing “Sultans Of Swing”.
     

    ”Money for Nothing” has a very non-PC line which would have been touchy 5-7 years ago.

    Plus, they probably got bored with it after 35 years.

  28. Lynn says:

    ”Money for Nothing” has a very non-PC line which would have been touchy 5-7 years ago.

    Plus, they probably got bored with it after 35 years.

    He had a new band with him, about 14 or 15 people.

    He said something about each song that he sung. He also switched guitars for each song, said that was a musicians trick for writing a new song. He also said that he was not singing “Money For Nothing” anymore for reasons he did not divulge.

  29. Lynn says:

    “Delta Air Lines Sues CrowdStrike for $500 Million, Says It ‘Cut Corners’”

       https://www.pcmag.com/news/delta-airlines-claims-crowdstrike-cut-corners-in-500-million-lawsuit

    “The lawsuit claims that the cybersecurity firm failed to do basic testing on an update that caused IT failures all over the world.”

    I’ll bet that they are late to the party.  Gonna be a big party in front of some unlucky judge.

  30. Lynn says:

    National Average:  Trump +0.1 

    Battleground States:  Trump +0.9

    https://www.realclearpolitics.com/

  31. Lynn says:

    “Two Refineries That Produce 14% Of California’s Gasoline Set To Close Due To “Regulatory Pressure””

       https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/two-refineries-produce-14-californias-gasoline-set-close-due-regulatory-pressure

    “Today in how not to get gas prices down on the West Coast news, it was announced that California is on the precipice of losing two more major refineries that produce 14% of the state’s gasoline due to suffocating regulation.”

    “Valero may shut down its two California refineries, according to Just The News.”

    “With existing closures already requiring California to import 8% of its supply, the state could soon face a greater dependence on refined imports, adding to its reliance on Middle Eastern and South American crude.”

    “Valero CEO Lane Riggs explained last week that profit margins are already low from its refinery business and says the company has already “minimized strategic [capital expenditures]”.”

    You know, you can regulate businesses out of existence to your own detriment.

    Oh wait, everyone and all of the trucks are going to move to electric vehicles.

    Oh wait two, California is short of electricity and has asked people not to charge their electric vehicles.

  32. Greg Norton says:

    You know, you can regulate businesses out of existence to your own detriment.

    Oh wait, everyone and all of the trucks are going to move to electric vehicles.

    Oh wait two, California is short of electricity and has asked people not to charge their electric vehicles.

    Cars are going away for most people unless things change soon.

    WA State and Oregon were dependent on CA and Canadian refineries IIRC.

    Oregon is very dependent on importing coal-fired power from Canada and Idaho. The state used to maintain a real-time web site tracking where the power used in the state came from, but that went away in the last couple of years after the out-of-state percentages got embarrassing.

  33. Nick Flandrey says:

    Very close to figuring out if my mom is caught in a kafka trap.

    For some reason she started the process of changing her AOL mail password.  Still not clear on that… but I suspect an email attack.  She says  that it was AOL with a message after  she logged in that told her to change it.   Anyway, she can’t get her email.

    I’m going thru the recovery process with her and AOL sends a verification code to her phone.  Ok so far, we put that in and now AOL wants her to fill out the missing characters on her recovery email.   OK, figure out that that is a temp account she had set up by an association she was involved with  mom123 @ gmail.com  .   Now AOL sends a verification code to the GMAIL addy, one my mom never actually used, and has no idea why it’s listed with AOL as a recovery email, but it’s probably because they insisted and it’s the only other email she’s ever had.

    So, try to log into that gmail account.   The 4 passwords mom guessed at didn’t work.   Her girlfriend set up the account, and mom wasn’t paying attention because “she had no intention of ever using it”…  There is a “reset password” option on the gmail account but if it’s an email thing, it probably uses the aol account that mom can’t get into…  which is where the kafka trap is.   She can’t recover the passwords for either account because she can’t log into those accounts until she recovers the passwords.

    She’s checking with the girlfriend to see if she has any notes or memory about the gmail account.  

    This is why I used MY account as dad’s recovery email, btw, just never thought to do it for mom, because she’s always had someone else to do her tech, as it’s mostly apple stuff.

    The codes will probably time out if we don’t get an answer from the friend soon.   

    There is a “signin another way” option on AOL that I’ll try if we can’t get into the gmail account.

    Lordy lordy…

    n

  34. Nick Flandrey says:

    Cars are going away for most people unless things change soon. 

    – so is meat on the menu at every meal.

    n

  35. Greg Norton says:

    I’ll bet that they are late to the party.  Gonna be a big party in front of some unlucky judge.

    Another Austin-based company marketing the product to C-suite nimrods over shots of Pappy Van Winkle Reserve at SxSW.

    The crash will be ugly here.

    Which reminds me – I did manage to sneak out to make our weekly run to Sam’s, and I was nearly rear ended by a Soy Boy in a Tonymobile.

    He was mad. Apparently, he wanted to “launch” from the stop turning right on a red, and I hesitated to go at the last minute.

    I was driving the Solara so it wouldn’t have been a big loss.

    The Model 3, however, would have been toast even if the damage was minor.

    And, of course, my neck would have started hurting …

  36. Nick Flandrey says:

    Well, got my mom sorted out.

    Did the recovery for gmail, which involved texting her phone number, and then changing the password.  That got me the code AOL needed, which unfortunately didn’t work.

    AOL’s password reset and alternative log on are broken.    Tried every way that was offered, and after the code was entered, just got a ‘we can’t help you right now, call paid support or look at some free online help that will just tell you to do what you did…’  paraphrasing…

    Mom found her password on a yellow note in the drawer, and I was able to log on with it.  Then W and D1 figured out how to change the pw on her ipad app so it would pop the mail… and bob’s your uncle.

    what a chore.  Mom has no idea when she changed the password.  That ain’t good.

    n

  37. Ray Thompson says:

    Something happened to a friend with her Gmail account. Specifically the spam filters. Today she was presented with 700+ spam emails in her inbox.

  38. drwilliams says:

    “creating inauthentic news sites posing as legitimate media organizations”

    But that is exactly what MSNBC, CNN, the NYT, WaPo, CBS, etc. have done. 

  39. Nick Flandrey says:

    @drwilliams

    I found most of that link to be more than a little orwellian.

    n

  40. Lynn says:

    You gotta tell us what the language is.

    English?

    Dude, you are a riot.

  41. nick flandrey says:

    I’d bet that 90% of the world’s working “programmers” think of english like a programming language, learned, to be used to do things.  And they aren’t very good at it.

    n

  42. nick flandrey says:

    Had a tiny little fire out by the water feature.   Sat still for about an hour reading and was chilled to the bone in 72F temps.   It’s damp out.

    ————

    Just finished Jane Yellowrock #13.   Will NOT start 14 tonight.  Have to sleep…

    n

  43. Alan says:

    “Nothing Comes to Mind”

    Towards the bottom…

    Vance spoke about how Harris had trouble even with softball interviews. He doubted if she could even hit a tee ball, based on what we’ve seen. He spoke about how when she was asked by “The View” what she would do differently from Joe Biden, she said, “Nothing comes to mind.”  

    “She’s running on how she’s going to be different, but she couldn’t name a single thing she would do differently than Joe Biden,” he said. 

    “That could be the Kamala Harris, official campaign slogan,” he finished. 

    “Kamala Harris. Nothing comes to mind.” 

    Now that’s a nuke, right on target. What a perfect description of Kamala, and it’s sinking her big time as more and more people realize it. 

    https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2024/10/27/hulk-hogan-body-slams-the-dem-narrative-while-jd-vance-finishes-kamala-with-just-one-sentence-n2181162

  44. Nick Flandrey says:

    It’ll only work if people hear about it.

    I glanced at the sort of junk mail my mom had in her inbox, and it was mostly very odd.   Lots of political stuff from sender orgs that are probably just a couple of agitators in a storefront office somewhere.  I’d like to take the time to read thru it, and see what the overall slant and semantics are, but I don’t want to troll thru her inbox, and I don’t have the time.

    It’s different from what we see in our news sources, that was clear from just two that I skimmed.

    n

    added– or substitute “operatives” for agitators.

  45. Nick Flandrey says:

    Mom sent me a text thanking me and said she “hates having to rely on these new fangled gadgets”.    I replied that the pc is 40 years old, and has been here half her life…   but I get it when I look at my kids and how they use the tech.

    n

Comments are closed.