Cool and damp. Yesterday was cold, but so clear, and a beautiful sunrise with pinks and oranges… at least I get a light show while waiting for the school bus. Still dang cold at 42F though. And there were puddles on the ground so despite the clear air, there must have been quite a lot of humidity. Of course at 42F that’s relative.
I’m expecting pretty much the same today. I am hoping things dry out a bit more so I can put them away. That was one of the things that didn’t happen yesterday. I got several auction pickups done though, and because D1 came home sick, I didn’t have to be home at 3pm to get her from school. That helped me get more done. Did a dump run, with some debris from the BOL that was in the driveway.
Spent some time talking with the auctioneer I use most often to sell, and they’ll be ready for some of my stuff next month. I’m calling the other auction house today to try and move some stuff this week. I need to get it out of the house, and I’d like to have some selling options. One of the houses I used to use left the business, and the first one has been focused on their own inventory, while my industrial guy hasn’t been taking consignments and when he did, I lost money. It’s a mess. Time to start cleaning it up.
I need to do some ebay selling on my own too. And maybe some Craigslist. I’m trying mightily to avoid fakebook marketplace.
Today I’ll be working on all those things and MOAR! I sometimes wish I was in mom’s basement cranking out dank memes and getting on watchlists… and playing video games until I got motion sick. Then I remember how much I like my life.
Stack some things to like. So that you can remember.
nick
My wife called me a little while ago and the chicken wire on our double back gate fell off today. Of course, the dog found the hole and went adventuring. The wife found the dog before she adventured on the road so no harm done. I will be rechicken wiring the double back gate in the morning.
We have a four foot tall horse fence (mandated by our POA – property owners association) around the back yard with chicken wire on the inside. I double chicken wired the fence in the past because of my escape artist. I am going to have to replace this 26 year old fence some day. Maybe next year. Lots of things needing time and money all of a sudden. Just realized that the water heaters turn ten this year and I have resolved to replace them at ten years since I have had two water heaters split in the past and make a real mess since we put our water heaters in the attic space. Our water around here is terrible with lots of iron and calcium carbonate.
And I need to have our master bath rebuilt. I am thinking about ripping out the 6 foot wide spa tub that we do not use and moving the 32 inch by 32 inch shower to its place. It is only money ! I will make the new shower a roll in shower of course. We are old and getting older.
“Rechicken wiring”
heh
Put that on a test for DIE hires.
Even if the name at the top of the statement reads “Fidelity”, most company 401(k) plans are heavily involved with some combination of Vanguard, State Street, and Blackrock, hence the institutions’ size and power.
The Death Star’s plans were handed over to State Street ~ 20 years ago, but Fidelity prints the statements so everyone has a warm and fuzzy.
What? That didn’t happen to your plan? Really? You probably haven’t been reading your prospectus mailings — the only paper they still send on a regular basis anymore.
Fidelity prints the statements and includes the account access on the Fidelity Benefits web page.
Don’t worry – the money is safe. It is with Fidelity.
We haven’t discussed it in detail with him, but I think my wife’s nephew is learning the limits of the value of his J school degree. His plan had been to transfer to the area and get in with the Army Futures Command boondoggle in Downtown Austin, but that doesn’t seem to be working out like he planned.
Fidelity at one time held the retirement money from National Bancshares Corporation (NBC) where I worked in ’80’s. I get my measly $118 deposit each month. I guess I shouldn’t complain after only working at the holding company for six years.
The money has bounced around, a lot. Whomever absorbed NBC had the plan for a while and I was not yet receiving money. Then another big bank got the money. When I started drawing the money about 24 years ago, Bank of America held the money and plan. Since that time there have been three different companies that have acquired the plan. Now the money is with Metropolitan Life Insurance and has been for the last five years.
The last statement I got showed the plan having almost $20B in the plan. I know that amount of money did not come from NBC. It is obvious that NBC’s plan got combined with others. I suspect the retirement plan was combined with BofA, and probably others. It is amazing how that money bounces around. It is also amazing that the law firm that administers the plan gets paid $20M a year.
40F this morning, with a gorgeous sunrise. Lots of pink and orange… pretty while waiting for the bus. Pretty chilly too.
———
I guess I let today’s post go earlier than normal? Not used to seeing Lynn as an early commenter.
n
Get the moisture detector alarm boxes for the water heater drain pans. Cheap insurance, and I speak from experience when I say that they prevent problems.
The tanks develop minor cracks and leak small amounts well before they split.
Just check the batteries once a year.
I moved my home server up to 16 GB from 8 GB previously. That s the new minimum for current Linux kernel versions with a GUI doing useful work IMHO.
I purposely run that machine as tight as possible. I’ve had the new memory for more than a year.
It’s like a monday in here…
n
@greg, will popOS or any linux variant run well on one of the little atom machines that were designed for winXP? low power, low ram, I’ve got a couple lappys sitting here that run, just run very slowly.
n
new weapons systems. Just one of the indicators that it’s coming.
‘Today is not the day to start World War III’: America’s chilling warning to China as US Air Force unveils its next generation bomber
n
Just check the batteries once a year.
Just one more thing for me to forget to do each year.
Just wait until you get in your middle 60s. I am forgetting some much stuff that I should be doing, I will be 65 in a couple of months. The wife is forgetting more stuff, she will be 67 next month.
I guess I let today’s post go earlier than normal? Not used to seeing Lynn as an early commenter.
You drop it, I mark it.
It’s like a monday in here…
It was like Monday yesterday, all day long. I had to get Junior Senior Programmer to look over my shoulder to help me fix some very obvious stuff.
I moved my home server up to 16 GB from 8 GB previously. That s the new minimum for current Linux kernel versions with a GUI doing useful work IMHO.
I purposely run that machine as tight as possible. I’ve had the new memory for more than a year.
Why so tight ?
And I thought that Linux x64 was a lot smaller than Windows x64. I guess that 64 bit is taking a lot more room than I realized.
Bring on 128 bit programming ! I hear that the test versions are performing well other than blowing the cpu ram caches early and causing extra wait states.
I am doing well on my weight loss. I have lost 9 lbs since Nov 1. No visiting Shipleys Donuts anymore. I am so sad. But I can wear my 17.5 inch neck oxford dress shirts again.
RISC-V has a 128 bit extension in the standard.
And I need to have our master bath rebuilt. I am thinking about ripping out the 6 foot wide spa tub that we do not use and moving the 32 inch by 32 inch shower to its place. It is only money ! I will make the new shower a roll in shower of course. We are old and getting older.
BTW, the master bath total gut and rebuild is $49K. The wife and I are very hesitant to drop that on our $650K, 3300 ft2 house in the sticks. The contractor is anxious to get started.
I have dropped the idea of building the $200K house in the backyard for the daughter. Just too much money.
The 15,000 ft2 house being built behind my house is proceeding with the foundation work. It is going to be HUGE. I now suspect that were I to sell my house, somebody would bulldoze it and build a monstrosity. So any additions are worthless to most buyers.
The memory clock speed on the older AM4 motherboards slows down as more and larger DIMMs get added. I may step back to 8 GB and get a new motherboard later, but RAM is cheap at these speeds.
Java is the big issue on my server. I use abuse for torrents on that machine.
Once the Java JIT finishes, I don’t have any issues, but loading the program takes forever.
“Chaos Erupts at Hegseth’s Senate Hearing as Confirmation is Hijacked by Protestors”
https://resistthemainstream.com/chaos-erupts-at-hegseths-senate-hearing-as-confirmation-is-hijacked/
“The Senate confirmation hearing for President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth, was thrown into chaos Tuesday as protestors disrupted the proceedings multiple times. The drama unfolded as Hegseth began his opening remarks, which were immediately interrupted by loud voices from the audience.”
“As Hegseth began outlining Trump’s vision for the Department of Defense, a protester at the back of the room shouted, “You are a misogynist!” according to Trending Politics.”
Unreal. The dumbrocrats probably let them in.
The memory clock speed on the older AM4 motherboards slows down as more and larger DIMMs get added. I may step back to 8 GB and get a new motherboard later, but RAM is cheap at these speeds.
Java is the big issue on my server. I use abuse for torrents on that machine.
Once the Java JIT finishes, I don’t have any issues, but loading the program takes forever.
The fastest thing that you can do for any PC nowadays is upgrade to a M.2 drive such as a WD Black 1 TB. But you have to have M.2 support on the motherboard. They are incredibly cheap at $95 each for 7,000 MB/s. The 2 TB is only $160.
https://www.amazon.com/WD_BLACK-SN770-Internal-Gaming-Solid/dp/B0DN7CYYSD?tag=ttgnet-20
“Rep. Dustin Burrows voted Texas House speaker, in blow to insurgent GOP movement”
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/14/dustin-burrows-david-cook-texas-house-speaker-vote/
“Burrows defeated Rep. David Cook with a coalition of Republican and Democratic votes.”
Just great. The RINO took the Speaker seat in the Texas House.
“Burrows, a school voucher supporter, told the Tribune last month that he believes “the political winds have shifted, and the votes are there” for vouchers. He made clear he would not stand in the way of voucher legislation supported by “the will of the House.””
We will see about the school vouchers. We desperately need to privatize the public school system in Texas.
The CPU cache limitation is a huge deal to certain three letter government agencies.
Anytime Linux kernel people start talking about elimination of the x32 ABI, debate is quickly squashed.
The ARM 32 bit ABI equivalent may be deprecated soon, however.
Damn AI.
new weapons systems. Just one of the indicators that it’s coming.
‘Today is not the day to start World War III’: America’s chilling warning to China as US Air Force unveils its next generation bomber
I heard on the radio yesterday that China is building landing craft for tanks and soldiers for the Taiwan beaches. So not good.
The Dumbocrat Party continues to go off the rails:
206 Democrats Vote Against ‘Cruel’ House Bill Banning Men from Competing in Girls’ Sports
I got a great laugh reading Jerry “Pedo” Nadler crying about how the bill is cruel to transgirls. Let’s see if the Redumblican Party has enough of a spine to get this to tRump’s desk.
Get the moisture detector alarm boxes for the water heater drain pans. Cheap insurance, and I speak from experience when I say that they prevent problems.
The tanks develop minor cracks and leak small amounts well before they split.
Just check the batteries once a year.
BTW, the new natural gas water heaters have electric plugins. I saw the box for one in my neighbors yard. Not good.
I just ordered one from Amazon, $12, wow.
My water heater is almost 15yo. I started researching a pre-emptive replacement a couple years ago and discovered that new units have only a one year warranty. Some models will allow you to purchase a second year for about $100.
So, since I have to relight the unit every six weeks when I change propane bottles I am just looking at the drip pan for leaks, so decided to punt on the expense until needed.
In addition California had to decide (not really, they just like to rule) between efficiency and low NOX, and choose low NOX (for everywhere, not just the LA basin). So if I want a new water heater that doesn’t burn 30% of my propane with a pilot light I now have to drive out of state and buy it somewhere else.
Yesterday, Friday the thirteenth fell on a Monday.
One of my customers in Israel just emailed me that they are shutting down the company due to long effects from the Hamas war. And of course they are not able to pay their outstanding invoice.
The world is getting crazier and crazier. And more wars on the horizon as people fight over resources.
Just wait until Oscar season starts rolling.
The fix is in for Best Actress.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/trans-star-of-emilia-p%C3%A9rez-delivers-powerful-speech-at-golden-globes-i-am-who-i-am/ar-AA1x1fbj
In addition California had to decide (not really, they just like to rule) between efficiency and low NOX, and choose low NOX (for everywhere, not just the LA basin). So if I want a new water heater that doesn’t burn 30% of my propane with a pilot light I now have to drive out of state and buy it somewhere else.
I am confused. How does a low NOX burner affect the pilot light efficiency ?
I would not run a water heater past 15 years. But, that is me.
I told the wife last night that I am going to replace both water heaters at the house due to their ten year age and she was unhappy. $3,000 with labor.
Just wait until Oscar season starts rolling.
The fix is in for Best Actress.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/trans-star-of-emilia-p%C3%A9rez-delivers-powerful-speech-at-golden-globes-i-am-who-i-am/ar-AA1x1fbj
So, how many of Hollyweird still have a house ?
I saw that over 90% of movies are made outside of California now due to their bureaucratic laws and strong unions. I know that the industry can get to 100% if they really try.
I have no idea what OCN means but I do know that we are predicted to be 25 F Tuesday morning with snow flurries.
xkcd: Radon
https://www.xkcd.com/3037/
You should wait 100 billion years to build a house if Radon is detected in the ground.
Explained at:
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/3037:_Radon
The motherobard doesn’t have an M2 slot.
Even if it did, I run the server on spinning metal and replace the drive when the warranty expires.
At this point, I’m primarily CPU bound with what I’m doing on the system.
I don’t know.
Since having experienced the LA basin in the early 80s I don’t really have a beef against getting rid of pollutants, but they keep lowering and lowering the allowable emissions numbers (think CAFE standards) and somehow that affects the overall efficiency.
If I am going to spend $1000+ on a water heater with a miniscule warranty I want it to be the best possible.
If you have 4 GB on the machines, try Fedora running from an SSD 2.5″ drive.
My “road” laptop is an i3 with 4 GB running Fedora on a Crucial SSD.
The big problem with Atom CPUs and Linux is that Chipzilla crippled them with a 2 GB memory limit.
That … actress … lives in Mexico IIRC. She was a fixture on telenovelas for years before the movie role.
I often say that my ex-brother-in-law acts like a character out of a telenovela, and he’s the whitest person I know.
Well, crippled most of them. You might get lucky and have one of the few which is not limited.
If you really want to try Linux on 2 GB, use a 32 bit distribution.
ERCOT HQ in Taylor will be deserted after noon on Thursday with the holiday weekend.
Anyone working Monday? Oh Cr*p No!
You might find a few employees out at the Taylor Icehouse around 5PM on Thursday.
That’s where my follow up interview was conducted. By that point, I no longer wanted the job, but what happened at the tolling company was inevitable so I accepted the invitation to lunch.
Easier fix; don’t have a basement. Radon is a HEAVY gas, and settles in the lowest part of any structure. Make sure that the lowest point of your structure has a door to the outside, and every week or so, open the door and let the radon flow out the door and downhill.
If that’s not possible, then a ventilation fan drawing air from the lowest level of the building to be vented outside will mitigate most of the risk. In the Rocky Mountains, many of the aggregate sources used in making cement contain trace concentrations of uranium, so it’s possible that the basement walls are slightly radioactive themselves.
ERCOT Operating Condition Notices (OCN)