Cool but warming later. Clear. Another really nice day in other words. We are currently being spoiled by the cool weather and getting a really nice extended Spring. It’s awesome.
I didn’t get as much done yesterday as I hoped. Probably got as much done as I could have. Did my pickup on the south side. Stopped at the local Habitat ReStore just because I was in that part of town. It was nearly empty. They’ve been working on making it nicer and cleaner, but this was nuts. Large parts of the store were just empty. There is something larger going on, when it’s not full of donated materials, and we’ve got thousands of huge building projects going on around town. Either it’s too early in the build process to have excess, or the builders learned to be better at ordering and don’t have any excess. When the charity shops are looking threadbare, I get nervous.
After that I went by my secondary location and moved some stuff around. Then it was kid taxi for 2 hours. Never made my pickup on the north side, but they will ship my small hobby items. Once I had the kids sorted, I worked on getting stuff loaded for the BOL. Wife’s minivan got the light stuff or stuff that can’t get wet or sit in the sun. I’ve still got a full truck load of stuff, and I’m debating whether to bring the big solar panels. I decided to go up today, so I could finish loading in daylight, and not be so tired for the drive. Also, I don’t like driving at night, especially if I’m already tired.
So it’s sleep in a bit, then load up, and hit the road. My buddy up there sent a pic of the grass, so I know I need to mow before it turns into a need to bushwhack. There’s always plenty to do. Oh, and I’ll need to plant the two apple trees, rig some sort of irrigation, and do something to keep the deer from eating them.
Always be working, always be stacking…
nick
Selmon also drove the creation and wildly successful early days of the football program at my alma mater.
Then, Selmon and the coach, Jim Leavitt, made the mistake of taking a true freshman quarterback to Tallahassee and making Saint Bobby (Bowden) look old, leading to his forced retirement and the beginning of the Jimbo fiasco across two previously elite programs and, arguably, the Yucs prior to the arrival of Brady in Tampa.
A couple essays written while waiting for The Child to do a piano lesson or get through a doctor’s appointment.
Rethinking Memorials at Daily Pundit or Cold Fury.
Good Advice, Easy Advice at Daily Pundit or Cold Fury.
Morning, @SteveH
RE Mail:
Delivery every other day: Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Phase it in starting in the big cities so you have no layoffs, but also very new hires.
Stop closing Post Offices as that is how you get things into the Postal System.
I have a couple books of FS that will last the rest of my life. I occaisionally use Priority Mail or help someone with a passport, AND sort junk mail, my only use for the PO. Then there are goobermint agencies and HOAs, etc., that will only use mail delivery to update an account etc., so I have to use the mailbox. All my bills are online pay. We travel too much for work/fun (we’re both 70, yeesh) still to have to pay stuff by mail. I use PirateShip.com for shipping our products, almost alway UPS. PS gives you a good discount.
The Post Office is the lowest common denominator. As a .gov service it should be bare bones, last choice, and near free, but with strong disincentives for use, like a 2 week average delivery time.
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I’m awake, feeling pretty good, and about to drink some delicious coffee. I’ll find something to eat, then start the process of getting out of Dodge.
It’s sunny and clear, no real breeze, and looks warm.
n
The parcel drop at the main Round Rock US Post Office has been broken as long as we have lived here, more than 10 years.
During business hours, the staff leave a bin in the middle of the counter area, but leaving things there doesn’t exactly inspire confidence with regard to the security.
Until a few months ago, the contract Post Office around the corner at a 24 hour storage facility took packages and sold stamps, but DOGE did not renew the contract when it expired in January.
The US Congress does so much for which there is ZERO Constitutional authorization. So it’s a bit surprising that they have been so neglectful of one responsibility that is in fact one of the 18 “enumerated powers” listed in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution:
https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/article-1/#article-1-section-8-clause-7
If the Post Office wasn’t being run exclusively for the benefit of the junk mail companies, it could and should be a world-class mailing system that at least BREAKS EVEN where the cost of mailing letters isn’t subsidizing the junk mail.
Junk/bulk mail and Priority Mail subsidize the First Class letter service.
The most significant immediate problem that the Post Office faces is retriement plan costs.
Mandating the Post Office in the Constitution and keeping the First Class service exclusive to the organization prevents companies like Fedex from cherry picking desirable urban areas and leaving rural addresses unserved.
Anyone who experiences the Internet in rural parts of Texas after the state sold its soul to the phone companies for fiber will understand where that will lead.
Hurry! The monkey trick is running out of time!
Take it from Squirrel Boy!
(Look at that first picture carefully. Thank you Fake Steve Jobs.)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ai-industry-to-congress-we-need-energy/ar-AA1CFGQj
When I paid the March bill before laving for California, I failed to notice that Amex assessed my wife’s account a late fee plus interest when the February bill payment arrived at their offices almost two weeks after mailing.
Mailed on the 22nd of February. Arrived/cashed March 5. Due March 1.
We live in Austin, three hours from Dallas with traffic.
Unfortunately, my wife has to call, and she is naive enough to admit to paying the bill late depending on how the question gets asked.
“Acceptable Identification at the TSA Checkpoint”
https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification
“Adult passengers 18 and older must show valid identification at the airport checkpoint in order to travel.
Lovely.
But not to vote. That’s rayssssssist.
I have a Passport Card which I use as ID to fly and vote.
When flying I’m not so much concerned about privacy as I am about leaving the drivers license at a security checkpoint. I’m usually the one driving wherever we visit.
As for voting, I keep my voter ID with the Passport Card in my dresser. Just grab both and go.
Plus, it is an interesting social experiment to watch the reaction of the poll workers to presenting the Passport Card as ID.
The problems with RealID were discussed and debated when it was proposed. It still happened anyway.
We are bugs to them.
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Finally loaded. Big solar panels are BIG. I wrapped up the branches and leaves of the apple trees. I hope they don’t get too beat up on the trip.
n
Been there, done that. Even more interesting is the use of a VA ID. Which can also be used for travel on domestic flights. But really confuses TSA agents generally requiring a supervisor.
Pearls Before Swine: The Gap
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2025/04/12
Oh no.
Arlo And Janis: Pink Moon tonight
https://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2025/04/12
It is a micro moon too.
“President Trump Exempts Smartphones, Computers, and Key Electronics from Reciprocal Tariffs”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/president-trump-exempts-smartphones-computers-key-electronics-reciprocal/
I disagree with this.
A couple essays written while waiting for The Child to do a piano lesson or get through a doctor’s appointment.
Show her Elton John’s MTV Unplugged session from 1990 for inspiration. Just Elton John and his piano and a very appreciative audience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUXaCxvLoU4
I still have to try my Global Entry card for domestic travel. Going to WA State on Wed on a gig. Maybe I’ll try it then.
Good Advice, Easy Advice at Daily Pundit or Cold Fury.
My son’s best friend is Director of Background Art for one of the game software companies. He is 41 or 42 now. He has worked at a half dozen game software companies including Id. He has bachelors and masters degrees in Art from SMU (Southern Methodist University) in Dallas. Scholarships all the way. He keeps a cot in his office and rarely leaves the building, maybe once a week. They have a chef on site and he eats all of meals there. My son told me that he is back up to 400 lbs, he had dropped down to 250 lbs.
Texas drivers’ licenses are accepted as “Real ID”. Cacafornia licenses generally were NOT, because CA issued drivers licenses to illegal aliens.
Yes, a California Real ID is on my todo list. Can’t say I am thrilled by the idea.
“CA issued drivers licenses to illegal aliens. ”
The recent revelations about FJB issuing SSN’s to illegals to allow them to work, register to vote, and drawn fast-tracked government benefits makes a mockery of Real ID and any voting requirements.
Everyone involved in that conspiracy that did not blow the whistle should be prosecuted under federal felony voting laws, fined, and stripped of their own ability to vote, with supervisors and above getting jail time.
NC Supreme Court Makes Way for Election to Be Overturned, Democrats Scream It’s Being ‘Stolen’
https://redstate.com/bonchie/2025/04/12/nc-supreme-court-makes-way-for-election-to-be-overturned-democrat-runs-to-federal-court-n2187794
Guilford was winning handily until 65,000 plus defective ballots were counted.
It will be interesting to see how much investigation gets done. Specifically, how many voters who are contacted to “cure” their ballots by adding missing information deny voting at all.
I disagree. It looks like treason and smells like treason. Hang ’em.
Well, the USPS just delivered something, as in probably tossed it over the pony wall in front, as I didn’t hear the truck stop.
Panic in the Greenhouse: Guardian Shrieks as Climate Gravy Train Derails
Real NOAA data—stripped of manipulative region-stacking—shows no significant temperature anomaly increase in the U.S. since the 1930s.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/04/12/panic-in-the-greenhouse-guardian-shrieks-as-climate-gravy-train-derails/
Here’s hoping all the climate grifters get checked into the afterlife for some real “unprecedented warming”.
@SteveF
“I disagree. It looks like treason and smells like treason. Hang ’em.”
Do both. Any order.
Serious work-life balance issues. Of course, I’m on three hypertension meds, working with a cardiologist to lose one right now.
I live the long shadow of Elon.
When the time comes, I suggest staying out of the transplant program at Southwestern. That’s where my father-in-law met his demise 20 years ago. I doubt things have changed.
The nurses in the transplant program at Southwestern have a racket, and I mean that in the full legal sense of the word.
Nintendo and Apple dropped a dime.
Stanford Activists Charged with Felonies for Building Takeover
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2025/04/12/stanford-activists-charged-with-felonies-for-building-takeover-n3801731
Well-planned (which they tried to hide), came to the party with burglary tools, did hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, etc. etc.
The DA is a mushhead. Perhaps he’d like his budget cut by 10% to fund cleaning up the damages? Flippin’ idiot. His job is to prosecute the crime and part of that is considering the effect on any future such activities, which argues that there should be restitution and significant jail time. Conviction should be followed by immediate (same day) deportation of any aliens.
“URGENT: People who received a flu shot this winter were MORE likely to get the flu, a major new study shows”
https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/urgent-people-who-received-a-flu
“Flu shots don’t work. We need to stop pretending they do. They should be pulled from the market unless and until large, long-term placebo-controlled studies prove they’re safe and effective.”
“A big new study has offered yet more evidence that flu shots do not work – and may sometimes even increase the chances people will get influenza.”
“With flu deaths in the United States soaring in 2025 despite aggressive vaccination efforts, when will public health bureaucrats admit the truth of their failure?”
U.S. Military Opposition to the Trump Administration A Matter of Concern
Obama started the rot and it’s had 15 years to corrupt the military.
Hegseth needs to recall Gneral Milley to duty, put him under oath, and give the arrogant s.o.b. multiple opportunities to perjure himself.
Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice is entitled “Contempt Towards Officials” and states the following:
Any active duty officer violating Article 88 should be court-marilaed, stripped of rank and pension, and serve not less than 12 months in Leavenworth, followed by a Big Chicken Dinner.
“’Leno’s Law’ Aims to Relax Smog Rules for California Classic Cars”
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a64231171/lenos-law-relax-smog-rules-california-classic-cars/
“Jay Leno is backing a proposed California bill to expand emissions exemptions to collector cars at least 35 years old.”
Sounds good to me.
Yes, a California Real ID is on my todo list. Can’t say I am thrilled by the idea.
In TN it was relatively painless. Show up at the county clerk’s office, show a property bill, and a utility bill, tell them my SSN, give them a check, they take my picture, surrender my old license, given a temporary, two weeks later the new license shows up.
Well, sort of. The clerk demanded a social security card. I said I don’t have one and don’t need one as I know my SSN. Clerk was adamant I provide the card. I showed her where the TN requirements site said I must provide my SSN or if I don’t know the number provide a SS card. I asked her what part of “OR” she did not understand.
She got a supervisor who said the same thing as the clerk. I showed the supervisor the paper that was on the counter that I just needed to know my SSN or provide the SSN card. Supervisor said I had to have the SSN. I said no, read the document. The supervisor huffed and puffed and said she would have to call Nashville.
Five minutes later the supervisor got off the phone and said they would submit the documents but the application would most likely be returned. Translation “the state told her I was correct” and the supervisor did not want to admit she was incorrect.
Got to the lake. Got the mower going and did my lot and the HOA lot. Well, most of it. The light in the sky went out, and I couldn’t see to cut…
Dinner was D1 grilling pork chops, D2 sauteing brusselsprouts, some roasted baby potatoes, and a fake beer. Delicious and I didn’t have to cook it.
It was very nice weather here. It’s a bit chilly now, so I’ll want a fire on the dock, but this afternoon was gorgeous.
Lots of pollen though, my nose is running.
The dog is snorting and wheezing too.
n
>>“I disagree. It looks like treason and smells like treason. Hang ’em.”
Don’t forget about the wood chipper…
>>Dinner was D1 grilling pork chops, D2 sauteing brusselsprouts, some roasted baby potatoes, and a fake beer. Delicious and I didn’t have to cook it.
Hmm, interesting question, can the D’s have fake beer?
@alan, they have tried it but don’t like it.
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Had a nice fire. Moon is up and full, and very bright. Light haze means no stars in the sky with all the light from the moon.
Radio was nice. 40M was open and Florida was booming in. Someone’s QSO party was getting calls from all over the eastern US.
WRMI was playing good music.
Time for bed though. I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow and shouldn’t really sleep in too late.
n
Postal systems: Our experience here is that we get few letters anymore. The banks, insurance companies, and the government still send out some official stuff by post. Private letters? Nearly zero. Packages, of course, companies that deliver them to the postal sorting centers. If you want to mail a special kind of letter (for example, requiring signature), there are “postal centers” at selected stores that will do that for you.
What need is their for an actual post office? Nearly the only thing I can see is as a place for people to rent post office boxes. For example, for families who aren’t home during the day, and don’t want their packages sitting around.
FWIW, we massively prefer postal delivery of packages. The drivers know their routes, and their vehicles are maintained. UPS, DHL, and such ilk tend to get lost, often don’t speak the local language, and their vehicles are often manifestly unsafe (bald tires on snow, etc.). Plus, for international packages, they often want to charge processing fees, even though they have already charged the sender for international delivery.
Apple and a couple of other big tech companies complained. Trump caved. Stupid, but there it is.
Of course they work. The thing is: to produce the vaccinations in time, they have to predict months in advance which strains to protect against. The flu mutates rapidly, so sometimes they get it completely wrong. Controlled studies?
I now see advertisements saying it’s better to let your kids be sick with the measles than to risk a known-effective vaccination. What’s next? Are anti-vaxxers going to start campaigning against polio vaccinations?
1030 and it’s 72F, bright sun, and gusty. Beautiful day.
Coffee is in hand, although I forgot my cream at home, and bacon is cooked. Eggs are in the pan.
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WRT flu vax, I’ve had the shot once. I took one of the kids in because she was sick, they swabbed her and me. I popped for flu so they gave me the shot right then. Dunno if it helped or not, but I don’t remember getting symptoms.
As far as “works” or “doesn’t work” if the stated goal it to prevent people getting flu, and they guessed wrong on which strains to include, people will get sick and then it “didn’t work”. The problem lies with expectation management and their hubris and need to be right led them to overstate the power of the shot, and over prescribe it to everyone.
Since I don’t get it as I think it’s superfluous and of limited value to me, I understand not getting it.
I don’t encourage getting it, but I don’t discourage it either. As a medical treatment with possible side effects, it should be considered on a patient by patient basis with full disclosure and informed consent– but it isn’t.
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Time for some breakfast…
n