Cool to cold, supposed to have frozen overnight… but seems unlikely to me. It was 46F at 1130pm. I brought the potted lime tree in under the patio anyway. No idea what it will be like today but windy and cold seems most likely.
Yesterday was mostly a bust as far as my list went. It’s ok. I spent some good time talking with a friend. And I did get a number of pickups done, including errands for my wife. She needed a bottle picked up at Total Wine, a more upscale warehouse style store than Spec’s, where I usually shop. They had a really nice selection of non-alcohol beers, and dealcoholized wines and spirits. I picked up several of each to try. So far the Christmas Clausthaler was nice, and there was a chocolate stout that is far superior to Guiness’s own N/A version. It’s nice to have choices, and I’ve found that if I bring N/A beer to a party, it all gets drunk, while some of the guests do not… š There is a growing demand for N/A choices in the US and manufactures are stepping up. They had a nice medium sized humidor too, and prices were decent.
Today I’ll be doing stuff I should have done yesterday, followed by more stuff I put off, and maybe some unexpected stuff. The wind really kept me from doing stuff outdoors, so I’m far behind on Christmas lights. I did get some of the stuff for my hobby potluck ordered. I still have stuff to pickup, and a couple of white elephant gifts to come up with.
As I was out and about, I do seem to be finding a sense of optimism. It could just be people trying to make the holiday season as good as it can be, or it could be bigger. Lots of decorated houses this year. And while plain white in straight lines is the most common lighting scheme, the fact people are decorating, a purely discretionary activity, is heartening. It may be that they all have the big tvs they want, and there isn’t a must have console this year to suck up $500-1000, so they feel ok pulling back a bit on gifts. Or it may be them maxing cards they know they can’t pay and just saying “F#ck it” Go big or go home.
We’ll know better in January. Meanwhile, expect the world to move more chess pieces around. Lot’s of people positioning stuff before next year…
None of what I see makes me want to slow down the stacking. Make your own decision, but act on it. No waffling.
nick
39F and it looks like the breeze finally died down. Pretty chilly but not freezing.
Coffee ready soon. Kids ready soon.
I checked the temp at 2 am and it was 43F. Dunno about the BOL yet, or Austinā¦
n
It is 38Ā°F by me in SA.
Yeah, this is a good ideaā¦
Democrats Demand Biden Commute ALL Death Row Inmates’ Sentences Because of ‘Systemic Racism’
A corollary to the āforeverā pardon, the āAmishā pardon.
So, UHC was using AI to deny claims:
From Zerohedge.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2024-12-10/all-fair-love-and-war-notes-unitedhealth-ceo-slaying
Of course the other executives, and the Board, and the big stockholders were in on it as well, and as culpable as CEO Thompson.
There is a SF story which is set in a post AI world, where people tell horror stories of āthe days of cost/benefit ratio’sā.
We are almost there.
Down to 18F overnight here in the California High Desert, the NWS predicted 22F. I lit the pellet stove before midnight and ran it on low, a pleasant 65F inside.
The little electric heater kept the birdbath liquid, and the hummingbirds were waiting before sunrise for me to bring their feeder out.
I feel that it’s time to spool down for Christmas, but I have a big box to finish making for a gift and send out via UPS, I still need to
repairreplace the mailbox, and there are no lights up yetā¦The link to internal job postings disappeared from Workday this morning.
At least, it disappeared on my default view.
Maybe the monkey trick is running out of gas
United denied $400 in blood work I had done in July a few days before the shooting, half of which was routine annual numbers.
Iāll grant them that the T number was probably unnecessary. Iām not happy with the GP about that test being ordered.
AI is practicing medicine.
What we need is the worldās first AI terrorist. No actual physical violence, just running amok cracking databases and releasing information.
>>Iāll grant them that the T number was probably unnecessary. Iām not happy with the GP about that test being ordered.
@Greg, did you know that the GP was including the T test?
Maybe the monkey trick is running out of gas.
Al “Slop” Bug Reports Hurting Python, Curl, & Other Open Source Projects
My wife’s company had āflatā sales this year, and the profit sharing was about half of last year.
counting in inflation and it was about ā of last year.
This is despite being in a crazy hot building market. Lots of pressure on prices have reduced margins dramatically.
n
Yes. The rejection had itemized the blood work costs.
Plus, I have the results which includes the number. Normal.
School systems in Texas are facing a day of reckoning on taxes and spending when the 2026 trim notices go out. Most have been preparing since the Nov. 2023 special election implemented the tax āreformā package the politicians devised to hide the truth about what were, in many ISDs, sizeable tax increases:
I donāt think any open source project has received more scrutiny than libcurl. It is too critical. Even the boilerplate examples in the docs are important pieces of Internet infrastructure.
My last three jobs have essentially been Stupid Libcurl Tricks.
It is only an exhibition, not a competition so, once again, we ask ā no wagering.
Yesterday was 1st installment property tax day, BAH Humbug!
Florida too, but Old Sparky is now optional. Injection is the default.
Alabama is using pure nitrogen gas now. Breathe in deep or you will linger !
School systems in Texas are facing a day of reckoning on taxes and spending when the 2026 trim notices go out. Most have been preparing since the Nov. 2023 special election implemented the tax āreformā package the politicians devised to hide the truth about what were, in many ISDs, sizeable tax increases:
The Texas state legislature is going to throw that all open with the new school voucher system coming in early 2025. The school systems are getting their world rocked with competition.
Close. My property taxes are scheduled to be paid on the 20th. One year I used my bill pay service to pay the taxes. That was a really bad idea. The city stated my taxes had not been paid when they had. The check from the bill payer had cleared my bank. I asked for a copy of the check but was denied. I was told by the bill pay service that any images of a check to a government agency cannot be provided. Security reasons. Bill pay checks at that time did not have an image on my account. I asked for another method of proof the check had cleared, that clearly showed the payee. The bill pay agency said there was none.
I went to the credit union and told them the issue and the CU can apparently get to the check images and provided me with a copy of the cancelled check, front and back. I went back to the city and it was determined that my tax payment had been applied to someone else’s back property taxes. Someone with the same last name, a different first name. I had a significant discussion about the error in the city’s way of posting tax payments. I threatened to file theft charges against the clerk and the city. The taxes were marked as paid, I got a receipt, and the late fees removed. How the city transferred the money or payment was their problem.
Now I use a personally printed check, print the cancelled check, and ask for a receipt from the tax offices, city and county. Those are attached together, along with the printed tax bill showing no back taxes owed, and kept in my files. The tax offices will screw a person over through incompetence and the victim has to prove the victim is correct. In the workers’ minds they don’t make mistakes until you prove it to them.
Put in a little āass gasā to make it so the prisoner can smell their demise.
Luigi Mangione.
Another name from Central Casting.
The people running the simulation are getting lazy.
RIP The Amazing Kreskin.
You canāt hate the LSM enough:
Rachel Maddow sparks fury after linking UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect Luigi Mangione to Donald Trump
They pay he/she/it $25 million after a $5 millon pay cut. For once a week. tRump is President. Get over it.
LOL! Get the eye/body bleach out:
Whoopi Goldberg, 69, gets VERY racy about her sex life as she reveals why she remains single
I wonder if she likes anything other than white meat? What was Ted Danson thinking? She claims she is broke so I wonder who would hit that for free?
During my brief military career, I was sent on a HAI course (High Altitude Indoctrination), and one of the attractions was experiencing blackout due to anoxia. Sudden decompression to air pressure at 20,000 feet, which led to blackout in a few seconds. No panic, pain or anxiety, no sensation of āfalling asleepā, just out. I imagine nitrogen would be a similar experience if it’s done properly.
I feel your pain. Mine are due before the end of the year.
I go the office in person and pay. Personal check and I get a receipt. I keep a scanned copy of the bill, the receipt, a picture of the check I hand them, and an image of the cashed check when it posts. You can’t be too careful when dealing with bureaucracy.
Roll her in flower and look for the wet spot.
Indeed. One year my tax payment, personally printed check, long before bill pay existed, did not get recorded to my taxes. I found out when my water bill showed a credit balance. The city offices had posted my property tax check to my water bill rather than property taxes. Check had the payee correct, the address on the envelope was correct, some idiot was lazy.
I contacted the city offices and demanded the issue be fixed. The city said I had to go to the water department, get them to issue a check, and bring the check to the tax office. Yeh, right, both entities are located in the same small building. At that point I got the city manager involved and he said the city would do the proper transfer.
I then wrote a letter to the mayor blasting the incompetence at the city offices, and read that letter aloud at the city council meeting. That letter was not well received by the office workers involved. The mayor made them write an apology for their error.
Re: Property taxes.
I have been burned both ways, check & ePay.
You really can’t underestimate the ability of unaccountable union government employees in CA to get things wrong.
Overestimate?
Indeed. Many years ago I went to refinance my house. I had had the mortgage for about 5 years and rates had dropped. When I did the refinance it was discovered that $25 in county property tax had not been paid when I bought the house. The title company was supposed to have paid those fees. The tax due had ballooned to $78 with interest and penalties.
All five years the mortgage company had been paying the yearly taxes. Nowhere on the tax notice was there any indication of past due amounts. When I called the county they said they don’t put past taxes on current bills as it is the property owner’s responsibility to make certain taxes have been paid. Uh, no, it is a way for the county to rip people off with late fees.
I went to the title company and wanted to see their records. They were already archived and it would cost $50.00 to have the documents recovered from the archives. If the title company was incorrect and had not paid the taxes, there would be no charge for recovering the documents, but I would still be responsible for the late fees as the title company would only pay the $25.00 in missed taxes. Ain’t that sweet.
I suspect the county screwed up. If I proved the taxes had been paid the county would forego the late fees. But that would cost me $50.00 and a lot of time. So I just paid the taxes current. Either way I was going to lose $50.00.
That started me on the road to checking my taxes every year, even when paid by the mortgage company. Now that I self pay I am even more anal about documenting the taxes, payments, and balances.
I switched to Post Office Money Orders for the HOA dues in Florida after one too many games.
Any funny business with a money order from the Post Office results in a visit by an armed Postal Inspector with IRS level search powers not requiring a warrant.
I donāt know what the dollar limit is these days, but keep that option in mind when dealing with untrustworthy varmits.
Hahahahahah:
Bill Clinton may talk to Biden about preemptive pardon for Hillary so Trump can’t lock her up
Another corollary to the āforeverā parkon, the ājust in caseā pardon. Can you imagine if this happens? A preemptive pardon xx years back (why not to birth). This would have to be challenged to get SCOTUS to rule on this nonsense. tRump could just pardon every person dead or alive or not born and eliminate Federal crimes. Think of the $$ savings!
The PuppetMasters probably have the plugs auto-sign machine going 24/7 with pardons just to be sure.
The pardon would have to go as far back as the Watergate hearings at a minimum.
Hillary served as a staff lawyer to the Judiciary Committee and there are mixed stories about who fired her and when it happened.
Neal Boortz really got into the stories in the runup to the primaries in 2008. I’m sure he will have something to say about it on his podcast should a pardon happen.
Who says it won’t? Maybe even for future crimes. Why not pardon Cankles for life for and all crimes in the past and in the future? Make all the slime balls above the law. Shove it in the face of the rest of the peons who go to jail for two years, waiting for a trial, for cheering at the capital on January 6.