Fri. April 25, 2025 – Stuff to do, then more stuff to do…

By on April 25th, 2025 in culture, decline and fall, lakehouse

Well, it rained last night, and the temp dropped, so I really don’t know what to expect today. Map showed our part of the world as clear of rain and storms. I’m hoping that is true, as I’ve got stuff to do that will be a lot easier if it’s dry. And the weekend will be a lot more fun for the kids if it’s not raining. If it’s not dry, I’ll deal.

Got my buddy loaded up, and on the road before noon. He’s got a long trip ahead of him in a very heavy vehicle. At least it was a new truck. That should be more comfortable than some old clunker. Then I rushed to meet my wife at the boat place, and we bought the boat I’d looked at last week. Yeah, I know the joke, but if I can get a couple of years between the two happy days, it will have been worth it. Remind me if I b!tch.

Hit a couple of pickups after that,then came home to kid stuff. Oh, and snuck in a Costco stop for meat and treats for the birthday girl and my wife.

Today I’ve got to install the hitch receiver from the parts truck onto my Ranger. I’ve been putting it off, but I’ll feel better pulling the boat with a better hitch. Then it’s take a load of stuff to storage, do some pickups, and head toward the BOL. Pickup the boat on the way…

I can only hope it will be that straight forward. I expect that it will not. Rain complicates all of that and will cause some rearranging…and swearing on my part.

I’ll let you all know how it goes.

In the mean time, keep working to improve your situation. And stack.

nick

68 Comments and discussion on "Fri. April 25, 2025 – Stuff to do, then more stuff to do…"

  1. Greg Norton says:

    Yeah, I have been thinking about buying a few rolls of silver dollars.

    Silver bullion rounds are available from trusted mints.

    The price on a case of Charmin Blue pretty closely tracks the cost of a silver one ounce round from a private mint.

  2. Nick Flandrey says:

    Not raining at the moment, might be clear…

    Morning stuff done, waiting for the kinder and spouse to arise with the sun…

    n

  3. Nick Flandrey says:

    Still, the family sleeps.

    The sky lightens from grey.

    Soon, the busy day begins.

     -n

  4. Greg Norton says:

    Dear Intel employees:

    The rats miss you out at the Jones Farm offices in Oregon.

    https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2025/04/intel-says-employees-must-return-to-the-office-4-days-a-week.html

    I’m not kidding. Before I stopped taking interviews out there, the rat traps seemed to get more numerous every time I visited.

    I only knew one permanent Intel employee in the Portland/Vantucky metro during our sentence there. By her own admission, she was a raging alcoholic at the time, an outright fraud engineered by the faculty that our CS department in Vantucky ran up the flagpole as the Suma Cum Laude undergraduate, complete with a coveted job.

    Someone else probably got a job out of that deal. Know what I mean?

    Coin of the realm in business and academia.

  5. Denis says:

    Nick, here’s the Chit show for your boating pleasure…

    http://www.youtube.com/@AlfredMontaner

  6. Denis says:

    Good news! W1’s Verso passed its roadworthiness test.

    Bad news. The blessed tyre pressure warning light went back on when I was about 5km from the test centre this a.m.

    Manual resetting didn’t work. There was nothing for it but to fess up to the tester when I arrived.

    He passed the vehicle as presented, and just annotated the test report that the warning light should be seen to, but that it was not a safety issue that would cause the car to fail the test.

    He thought that, if the OBD was reset yesterday, and the tyre pressure tested correct (it did), one of the sensors in the rims has likely gone bad and needs attention.

    I will have the garage look into that when I bring the vehicle in soon to have them switch over the winter to summer tyres.

    All’s well that ends well. I treated myself to some traditional German lunch food while I was over the border; Döner! 🙂 Mmmm.

  7. ITGuy1998 says:

    @Denis: How old are the sensors? They do have a limited lifespan. When I put new tires on my wife’s 2013 Lexus last year, I went ahead and replaced the TPMS sensors as well. They weren’t giving any problems, but one of those “while you are there” items. I also did it since we plan on keeping that car forever.

  8. Nick Flandrey says:

    71F with  grey sky to the east but blue sky to the west.

    Time to get busy with my busy day, that will  be keeping me busy…

    n

  9. drwilliams says:

    If considering buying “junk silver” aka circulated coins with melt value only, do not rely on face value. Reeded edges were introduced to prevent coins being shaved on the edge to remove a fraction of their value. Badly worn coins are likewise “light”. Silver coins that are grade VG are not collectible in common dates, but have minimal wear. Anything that looks worn should be weighed. A bag of $500 “face value” silver US coins is almost certain to be underweight. 

  10. nick flandrey says:

    almost certain to be underweight.    

    – but also almost certain to be genuine.

    n

    and the expression “one thin dime”… comes to mind

  11. lynn says:

    >>Yeah, I have been thinking about buying a few rolls of silver dollars.

    @lynn, consider sticking with US ‘junk silver’ coins as they have no numismatic value to account for.

    https://www.jmbullion.com/silver/junk-silver/

    I have some of those.

    How does the general populace know that they are real silver and not the newer fake coinage ?

  12. nick flandrey says:

    How does the general population know that they can get stuff for their paper money??

    They all act as if they can, and so they do.

    If it comes to common usage, people will accept anything but the most obvious fakes.   If it looks good, they’ll treat it as good. 

    That’s what I think anyway.

    n

  13. lynn says:

    The price on a case of Charmin Blue pretty closely tracks the cost of a silver one ounce round from a private mint.

    I have noticed that.  But Bounty has not kept up.  And Bounty feels lighter lately.

  14. Greg Norton says:

    More attacks on gas stoves.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14647631/increased-cancer-risk-popular-home-appliance-Americans.html
     

    It wouldn’t be Friday without Schadenfreude from The Daily Mail,

    Gas is hard to disconnect at the individual home level without rolling a truck, hence the media campaigns in the US against gas everything.

    During the Feb. 2021 freeze, Atmos cut the flows to Fancy Lad neighborhoods in Leander due to “unusual demand curves” from just a handful of customers. 

    The company still hasn’t adequately explained the outages, but, given the demographics, my guess would be generators.

  15. EdH says:

    Another day ending in “y”, another windstorm in the high desert.

    From the astronomy club secretary:

    • The dark sky star party for Saturday April 26th has been canceled.  This 
      was scheduled for Chuchupate.

      The weather is not cooperating: the latest weather shows 60% chance of 
      light snow, gusty winds Saturday night, and cloudy with a low of 30*.
       

    Maybe I should have taken up stamp collecting?

  16. Denis says:

    @Denis: How old are the sensors? They do have a limited lifespan.

    Good question. We have had the car four years, but I don’t recall if these particular rims came with it or were the new ones we bought for the second set of tyres.

    I suspect the steel rims with the winter tyres (currently mounted) are the old ones, and the alloy rims with the summer tyres are the newer ones.

    I will let the garage figure it out. I have to say that I don’t regard the tyre pressure sensors as particularly useful. They give more false alarms than anything else.

    Unfortunately, since they are part of the original equipment of the vehicle, they are also part of what is checked during the roadworthiness test. Otherwise, I would do away with them entirely.

  17. Greg Norton says:

    I will let the garage figure it out. I have to say that I don’t regard the tyre pressure sensors as particularly useful. They give more false alarms than anything else.

    Unfortunately, since they are part of the original equipment of the vehicle, they are also part of what is checked during the roadworthiness test. Otherwise, I would do away with them entirely.
     

    Blame Firestone, Ford, and the ditzy housefraus who drove 90s Explorer grocery getters around corners like they were Mustangs.

    The TPM systems were mandated in response to the fiasco.

    Ford got the press, but all of the manufacturers had the housefrau problem. I witnessed first hand a Mercedes ML350 flip over avoiding an accident in Orlando one Thanksgiving, the driver going way too fast in heavy traffic.

  18. drwilliams says:

    Chinese quality manufacturing.

    MTBF constant to decreasing.

    Complexity increasing.

    Trend concerning. 

  19. drwilliams says:

    Sam Antar 2, Lawyerweezul none

    https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2025/04/25/abbe-lowells-excuses-for-tish-james-get-all-blowed-up-n3802143

    Note that Lawyerweezul has mysteriously chosen to represent James as a private citizen, not a partner of his law firm. Almost as if he wanted to limit the damage if the cherry bomb went off in the bag of doggy doodoo.

  20. drwilliams says:

    In a compelling study published in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology (April 2025), Roger Pielke Jr., previously a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder and now a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and professor emeritus, exposes critical flaws in a widely used dataset of U.S. hurricane losses, known as the ICAT dataset. This dataset, originally derived from Pielke’s own peer-reviewed work, was modified without documentation by an insurance company, leading to biased results in peer-reviewed studies and major climate assessments.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/04/25/the-flawed-icat-hurricane-loss-dataset-a-call-for-scientific-integrity-in-climate-research/

    I’m sure this has had no uber-inflationary effect on insurance rates.

  21. Lynn says:

    “The Boeing Crisis Demonstrates Why It’s So Important for President Trump to Change How the U.S. Trades With China”

        https://thelibertydaily.com/boeing-crisis-demonstrates-why-its-so-important-president/

    • “China halted aircraft deliveries due to U.S.-China trade tariffs, disrupting $200B in backlogged orders. President Trump also canceled a $4B Air Force One contract over alleged overcharging, compounding financial pressures.”
    • “Boeing announced 17,000 layoffs (10% of its workforce) amid financial strain, while facing FAA and SEC investigations into safety protocols and governance issues, eroding trust.”
    • “Boeing seeks to “remarket” jets (e.g., diverting 737 Max planes to Air India), but global tariff impacts and supply chain instability threaten production ramp-ups for the 737 Max and 787 Dreamliner.”
    • “Potential Boeing operations in China raise alarms about technology leaks and subsidizing a strategic rival, as geopolitical tensions clash with commercial survival.”
    • “Boeing’s crisis reflects tensions between economic pragmatism (reliance on China’s market) and national security, forcing hard choices about trade, manufacturing and defense priorities.”

    This may not be a good time for Boeing to go through a reorganization bankruptcy with a World War on the horizon.

  22. Lynn says:

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/04/25/the-flawed-icat-hurricane-loss-dataset-a-call-for-scientific-integrity-in-climate-research/

    I’m sure this has had no uber-inflationary effect on insurance rates.

    It does in my neighborhood, just 35 miles north of the Gulf Of America.

  23. MrAtoz says:

    Maybe I should have taken up stamp collecting?

    Or buy a boat.

  24. Lynn says:

    “FBI Arrests Woke Wisconsin Judge Who Helped Illegal Aliens Hide From ICE”

        https://thelibertydaily.com/fbi-arrests-woke-wisconsin-judge-who-helped-illegal/

    Yes, it is time !

  25. Lynn says:

    “Recruits For Arkon (Perry Rhodan #76)” by Clark Darlton
       https://www.amazon.com/Perry-Rhodan-Recruits-Arkon-Darlton/dp/B005T19XXU?tag=ttgnet-20/

    Book number seventy-six of a series of one hundred and thirty-six space opera books in English. The original German books, actually pamphlets, number in the thousands with several spinoffs. The English books started with two translated German stories per book translated by Wendayne Ackerman and transitioned to one story per book with the sixth book. And then they transition back to two stories in book #109/110. The Ace publisher dropped out at #118, so Forrest and Wendayne Ackerman published books #119 to #136 in pamphlets before stopping in 1978. The German books were written from 1961 to present time, having sold two billion copies and even recently been rebooted again. I read the well printed and well bound book published by Ace in 1975 that I had to be very careful with due to age. I bought an almost complete box of Perry Rhodans a decade or two ago on ebay that I am finally getting to since I lost my original Perry Rhodans in The Great Flood of 1989. In fact, I now own book #1 to book #106, plus the Atlan books, and some of the Lemuria books.
       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Rhodan

    BTW, this is actually book number 84 of the German pamphlets written in 1963. There is a very good explanation of the plot in German on the Perrypedia German website of all of the PR books. There is automatic Google translation available for English, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, French, and Portuguese.
       https://www.perrypedia.de/wiki/Rekruten_f%C3%BCr_Arkon
    There is alternate synopsis site at:
       https://www.perryrhodan.us/summaries/84#

    In this alternate universe, USSF Major Perry Rhodan and his three fellow astronauts blasted off in a three stage rocket to the Moon in their 1971. The first stage of the rocket was chemical, the second and third stages were nuclear. After crashing on the Moon due to a strange radio interference, they discover a massive crashed alien spaceship with an aged male scientist (Khrest), a female commander (Thora), and a crew of 500. It has been over seventy years since then and the Solar Empire has flourished with tens of millions of people and many spaceships headquartered in the Gobi desert, the city of Terrania. Perry Rhodan has been elected by the people of Earth to be the World Administrator and keep them from being taken over by the robot administrator of Arkon.

    Perry Rhodan has been informed by Atlan and Khrest that the Robot Regent of the Arkonide Empire probably has a secret deactivation circuit. And the Robot Regent is recruiting sentients to replace the robot commanders of the vast Arkonide spaceship fleets. So Perry Rhodan, Bell, and 200 scientists change themselves to look like Zalites and transport themselves to the Zalit home world, just three light years away from Arkon.

    Two observations:
    1. Forrest Ackerman should have put two or three of the translated stories in each book. Having two stories in the first five books worked out well. Just having one story in the book is too short and would never allow the translated books to catch up to the German originals.
    2. Anyone liking Perry Rhodan and wanting a more up to date story should read the totally awesome “Mutineer’s Moon” Dahak series of three books by David Weber.
       https://www.amazon.com/Mutineers-Moon-Dahak-David-Weber/dp/0671720856?tag=ttgnet-20/

    My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    Amazon rating: 5 out of 5 stars (0 reviews)

    Lynn

  26. Lynn says:

    “Useless College Degrees”

       https://areaocho.com/useless-college-degrees/

    “A useless degree is one that will likely result in its recipient not ever earning enough money to repay the costs associated with earning it. Here is a helpful guide of majors for four year degrees that are offered at University of Florida that are likely useless:”

    That is a lot of useless degrees.

    I will stick with my Mechanical Engineering degree from TAMU in 1982.  It has served me well and allowed me to earn a LOT of money over the years.

  27. drwilliams says:

    “They were sitting in the courtroom with the state prosecutor. The judge learns that ICE was outside to get the guy because he had been deported in 2013, came back in our country, commits these crimes, charged with committing these crimes, victims in court. Judge finds out, she goes out in the hallway, screams at the immigration officer. She’s furious, visibly shaken, upset, sends them off to talk to the chief judge. She comes back in the courtroom, you’re not going to believe this, takes the defendant and the defense attorney back in her chambers, takes them out of a private exit and tells them to leave. While a state prosecutor and victims of domestic violence are sitting in the courtroom.”

    https://townhall.com/tipsheet/jeff-charles/2025/04/25/pam-bondi-spills-the-beans-on-judges-arrested-for-shielding-illegal-immigrants-n2656105

    Prison. Now.

  28. Lynn says:

    “There are too many people like this on our streets”

       https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2025/04/there-are-too-many-people-like-this-on.html

    “I’m obliged to Divemedic for linking to this post on X.  I can’t embed the video here, but it’s only one and a half minutes long, so please click over there and watch it for yourself.  It’s a very important look at the radicalized, dangerously violent views prevalent in certain sections of our national community.”

    “In far too many of our larger cities, this sort of attitude is a direct, immediate threat to the safety of all citizens – including you and I.  You can’t reason with this sort of bigoted hatred.  You can try to avoid it, but that may not work.  If those who have such an attitude insist on confronting you, there’s likely to be only one end to it – a violent one.”

    That is a lot of hate in just one person there.  He will have to learn to moderate his hate or someone will moderate it for him.

  29. drwilliams says:

    https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2025/04/25/so-about-that-sig-manual-thing-n1228429

    Tom Knighton backs up on his asinine post earlier this week.

    Total loss of the little credibility that he had, and I’m not too thrilled with Bearing Arms, either.

  30. Lynn says:

    Did you know that Walmart has almost 400 retail stores in China ?  I did not.  “Walmart Is Taking Advantage of Cheap, Chinese Exporters Reeling From Trump’s Tariffs”

        https://thelibertydaily.com/walmart-is-taking-advantage-cheap-chinese-exporters-reeling/

    “(ZeroHedge)—Walmart in China rolled out a new program this week to support Chinese exporters reeling from President Trump’s 145% tariffs on U.S.-bound goods. The initiative offers exporters a chance to pivot their strategy by selling domestically through Walmart’s hundreds of stores across the world’s second-largest economy.”

    I knew that Walmart had stores in Mexico but not in China.  I wonder where else Walmart has stores at?

  31. MrAtoz says:

    That is a lot of hate in just one person there.  He will have to learn to moderate his hate or someone will moderate it for him.

    LOL “cops be going in our ‘hood shootin‘ our babies…” It’s the Amish shooting their own babies. As the news headlines  tell us every year.

    Tough guy probably has a gun, but will be the first one to flee when the shooting starts.

    This is an account that should be banned for life.

  32. lpdbw says:

    she comes back in the courtroom, you’re not going to believe this, takes the defendant and the defense attorney back in her chambers, takes them out of a private exit and tells them to leave. 

    Ex parte communications are grounds for censure, contempt,  or even disbarment.   That’s just for plaintiff’s and defendant’s attorneys.  When a judge does it, on purpose, she should be impeached.

    And then jailed for the federal obstruction charge.

  33. Greg Norton says:

    “Useless College Degrees”

       https://areaocho.com/useless-college-degrees/

    “A useless degree is one that will likely result in its recipient not ever earning enough money to repay the costs associated with earning it. Here is a helpful guide of majors for four year degrees that are offered at University of Florida that are likely useless:”

    That is a lot of useless degrees.

    Why pick on Gainesville, Rollins, and U. Miami?

    Did Divemedic attend FSU?

    Tallahassee used to have a Clown College and, even if that’s gone, plenty of other majors are available on that campus as well as a questionably accredited med school and an engineering program shared with Florida A&M, possibly on a special deal for accreditation as well.

    We won’t even discuss FAMU.

    As for Golf and Sports Turf Management, UF is the Land Grant school in the state, and that minor fulfills the mission.

    Look at a map of any major city in Florida and count the golf courses.

    Let Borrower Defense work and decide the worthless degree programs.

    Of course, a lot of “good” schools reputations will be shredded when that starts rolling in a couple of weeks.

  34. Lynn says:

    “2025 Toyota Highlander Limited Hybrid 25th Anniversary Edition Review”

        https://www.carpro.com/vehicle-reviews/2025-toyota-highlander-limited-hybrid-25th-anniversary-edition-review

    Nice.  35 mpg.  AWD.  Where is the dadgum CD player ?

    $54,570 ?  Woof !

    My wife’s 2019 Highlander has 33K miles, the 300 hp V6, and gets 22 mpg.  And it is long paid for.  She loves it and it has a CD player.  I would get a beating were I to trade it in.

    BTW, this is a real Hybrid that gets 50% better mileage over the base model. Ford needs to take note. Ford and Toyota have cross licensed all of their patents since they designed the CVT drivetrain with the electric motors together. This needs to go in the F-150 hybrid.

  35. Greg Norton says:

    Why pick on Gainesville, Rollins, and U. Miami?

    Disclaimer: My sister’s husband went to Rollins.

    I mention it because I may have put that information out here in the past.

  36. Greg Norton says:

    My wife’s 2019 Highlander has 33K miles, the 300 hp V6, and gets 22 mpg.  And it is long paid for.  She loves it and it has a CD player.  I would get a beating were I to trade it in.

    That V6? You would be surprised what you would get offered in trade, but you would do better selling private party.

    The V6 is gone from TNGA as is the CD player..

  37. Lynn says:

    “Tesla Lawsuit Over Odometer Discrepancies”
        https://www.carpro.com/blog/tesla-lawsuit-over-odometer-discrepancies

    “Tesla is being accused of deliberately inflating odometer readings to make vehicle warranties expire quicker – a claim Tesla CEO Elon Musk calls “idiotic” in a comment he left on an X post dated April 19th.”

    “The allegations stem from a proposed class action lawsuit filed in California by Los Angeles resident Nyree Hinton. Hinton says he bought his 2020 Tesla Model Y in December 2022. He claims that within six months, his vehicle’s odometer recorded over 13,000 miles, despite his consistent driving habits that previously averaged around 6,000 miles for the same period. Hinton says this odometer discrepancy made his 50,000-mile warranty expire prematurely, resulting in a $10,000 suspension repair bill that Hinton believes should have been covered, but wasn’t.”

    No freaking way.

  38. Lynn says:

    The V6 is gone from TNGA as is the CD player..

    TNGA ?

  39. Greg Norton says:

    I will stick with my Mechanical Engineering degree from TAMU in 1982.  It has served me well and allowed me to earn a LOT of money over the years.

    My wife’s nephew wants to leave the Army but is finding out real fast what kind of tech manager job market exists for his J school diploma, even among DoD contractors.

    I told him that he needs to pay some dues in an engineering degree of some type, but what do I know. I’m not a manager.

  40. Greg Norton says:

    The V6 is gone from TNGA as is the CD player..

    TNGA ?

    Toyota Next Generation Architecture, introduced in the 2018 Camry and used for the Camry, Rav4, and Highlander.

    All TNGA are hybrids despite the questionable gas mileage improvement in the case of the Highlander.

    My wife’s 2016 Exploder can get 28 MPG on the highway if I cruise at ~ 70, where the EPA does the high speed MPG testing.

    The Highlander used to be the size of the current Rav4, but it grew a foot over the years.

    The Rav4, meanwhile, used to be the size of the Corolla Cross, which isn’t a Toyota.

  41. Lynn says:

    My wife’s nephew wants to leave the Army but is finding out real fast what kind of tech manager job market exists for his J school diploma, even among DoD contractors.

    I told him that he needs to pay some dues in an engineering degree of some type, but what do I know. I’m not a manager.

    Ah, a technical manager with no technical skills like Dilbert’s pointy headed boss.  Those jobs are few and far between nowadays.  Employers want technical skills in their managers now.

  42. Greg Norton says:

    I told him that he needs to pay some dues in an engineering degree of some type, but what do I know. I’m not a manager.

    My manager at CGI was a retiree with pensions from both the Army (20 years) and an unidentified police force (10 years).

    I used to joke that he was Cop Army – think KISS Army but with more emphasis on the fascism and less on the music.

    He didn’t have a degree period, but he didn’t last long at CGI. After I unloaded on him in my exit interview — he didn’t think highly of Skippy either — the next guy to quit got frog marched out the door for “stealing”, and after the employee’s TWC hearing cleared him of wrong doing, Cop Army was apparently fired.

  43. Lynn says:

    Toyota Next Generation Architecture, introduced in the 2018 Camry and used for the Camry, Rav4, and Highlander.

    All TNGA are hybrids despite the questionable gas mileage improvement in the case of the Highlander.

    Huh, my wife’s 2019 Highlander has a eight speed slushbox and my 2008 Highlander has a five speed slushbox.  Neither have CVT trannys and both are V6s.  No electric motors or batteries that I know of.  Both get about 22 mpg.

    My 2019 F-150 4×4 is called a mild hybrid because it has a start-stop system with a electric pump in the ten speed slushbox to keep the pressure up when the engine is off at a traffic light. Also known as an AGM battery killer.

  44. Lynn says:

    Toyota Next Generation Architecture, introduced in the 2018 Camry and used for the Camry, Rav4, and Highlander.

    All TNGA are hybrids despite the questionable gas mileage improvement in the case of the Highlander.

    Ah, the TNGA Highlander was the 2020 model.  My wife has the 2019 model.

       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Highlander

  45. Lynn says:

    My wife’s nephew wants to leave the Army but is finding out real fast what kind of tech manager job market exists for his J school diploma, even among DoD contractors.

    I told him that he needs to pay some dues in an engineering degree of some type, but what do I know. I’m not a manager.

    J School == Journalism School ?

  46. Greg Norton says:

    All TNGA are hybrids despite the questionable gas mileage improvement in the case of the Highlander.

    Huh, my wife’s 2019 Highlander has a eight speed slushbox and my 2008 Highlander has a five speed slushbox.  Neither have CVT trannys and both are V6s.  No electric motors or batteries that I know of.  Both get about 22 mpg.

    22 MPG to 34 MPG makes the government happy but the improvement is not that significant when you consider the cost difference and long term durability of the hybrid system.

    The money saved will be negligible.

    Jerry knows this.

  47. Greg Norton says:

    J School == Journalism School ?

    Yes. And not with the intent to use it to go to law school either.

    The Army has a “Futures” Command boondoggle here in town which is intended to train technical project management within the ranks. He was hoping to get in there from his current posting in Killeen, but that isn’t working out for him.

  48. Lynn says:

    “Unilever crushes dreams of woke co-founder of Ben and Jerry’s”

       https://www.theblaze.com/news/unilever-crushes-dreams-of-woke-co-founder-of-ben-and-jerrys

    “There is a battle under way over the ownership and identity of the iconic ice cream brand Ben and Jerry’s — and its radical leftist founders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, appear to be losing badly.”

    What a couple of loons !  You sell your business and then want to control it afterwards.

  49. Ray Thompson says:

    Spousal unit decided she wanted an iMac. Primarily to sync with her iPad and iPhone. This evening we picked up a blue M4 iMac with 16GB of memory and 512GB of hard drive space. We will see how it goes. We have 14 days to try it and if she does not like it we can return it to Apple.

    To be honest I would convert to all Apple if I had not recently upgraded my Windows device. There are also a couple of software packages that will only run on Windows and will not run in the ARM version on Parallels.

    The integration in the Apple ecosystem between Macs, iPhones, and iPads is really quite nice and well done.

  50. EdH says:

    What a couple of loons !  You sell your business and then want to control it afterwards.

    The human urge  to “have one’s cake ice cream and eat it too” cannot be denied.

  51. Greg Norton says:

    “There is a battle under way over the ownership and identity of the iconic ice cream brand Ben and Jerry’s — and its radical leftist founders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, appear to be losing badly.”

    What a couple of loons !  You sell your business and then want to control it afterwards.

    Unless they signed a brutal non-compete clause, nothing is stopping Ben and Jerry from building another ice cream business under a different brand name.

  52. MrAtoz says:

    The integration in the Apple ecosystem between Macs, iPhones, and iPads is really quite nice and well done.

    Apple Books does this really well. Reading and marking up a pdf on an iPad Pro is handy. Thanks to Calibre, removing DRM and converting a book to epub is easy. When I’m waiting around somewhere, continuing a book on the iPhone is great. That resolution makes a book really easy to read.

    Yes, you can work on a pdf on a Kindle/xxx, but it is slow and not nearly as good. Plus having areal browser on an iPad blows a Kindle away if you need to look something up in a book.

  53. Greg Norton says:

    To be honest I would convert to all Apple if I had not recently upgraded my Windows device. There are also a couple of software packages that will only run on Windows and will not run in the ARM version on Parallels.

    The integration in the Apple ecosystem between Macs, iPhones, and iPads is really quite nice and well done.

    Apple gave up the corporate market after the failed deal to convert IBM’s workforce and now they make disposable hardware.

    Mac OS is starting to fall behind Linux, which is increasingly used to power ARM AI systems exclusively.

  54. MrAtoz says:

    That is a lot of useless degrees.

    Mike Rowe Drops Some TRUTH Bombs on Employment, Trades, and College Degrees (WATCH)

    He’s right on HS dropping shop classes. Instead of getting your hands dirty and learning skills, kids sit in a class talking about their feels and whether they are a he/she or it. Then they are pressured to get a liberal arts degree or they are a loser who will never amount to anything.

    Inverse Cramer!

  55. MrAtoz says:

    BTC hit $90K today.

  56. drwilliams says:

    “No freaking way.”

    At the claimed rate of 13,000 miles every 6 months, he would have hit 50,000 about October 2024. Did he bring it up to Tesla during the 22-23 months?

    I would bet that every mile is recorded.

  57. drwilliams says:

    “Unless they signed a brutal non-compete clause, nothing is stopping Ben and Jerry from building another ice cream business under a different brand name.”

    Wouldn’t be brutal to offer millions of dollars for the company and an agreement that the founders will stay out of the ice cream business. The recipes are doubtless trade secrets, and the clever naming is probably covered under trade dress. 

  58. Greg Norton says:

    “Unless they signed a brutal non-compete clause, nothing is stopping Ben and Jerry from building another ice cream business under a different brand name.”

    Wouldn’t be brutal to offer millions of dollars for the company and an agreement that the founders will stay out of the ice cream business. The recipes are doubtless trade secrets, and the clever naming is probably covered under trade dress. 

    Ben and Jerry’s is all about the brand and public fascination with “Vermont” when the company went national in the 80s. The ice cream is high butter fat similar to the hated (by Ben and Jerry) Haagen Dazs with the unique feature being the chunks of whatever is included in the various flavors.

    The brand is actually up for sale. Unilever wants out of the ice cream business.

  59. nick flandrey says:

    Ben and Jerry decided to be filthy capitalists and take the money.   Now they regret that.  I’m crying for them…  not.

    ——-

    Did my pickups, and it was indeed two 420w solar panels.   I paid $80.   So about 10c / watt, which is crazy cheap.   They have a dozen more that I’ll be bidding on too.   Someone bought direct for their project because even if they threw away the extra panels (direct from china you get pallet quantity) it was cheaper than buying exactly what they needed here.   That’s the story anyway.   I’ll buy them at auction since they didn’t want to just sell me the rest at the price I paid.   

    Picked up the boat.   Got to the BOL in one piece.   It was a bit slow going but mostly due to traffic, not that I couldn’t keep up while towing.    The Ranger did a good job, even getting to 75mph on occasion.   I was watching RPMs closely and when it downshifted and went over 4K, I lifted my foot right quick…  

    Parked the boat on the pad, I’ll wait for the Mrs for the maiden voyage.

    Didn’t do any work on the mower.  It was steamy and I wasn’t motivated.   I bought a bunch of parts for it and they didn’t arrive before I left.   W said they hadn’t arrived before she left either.   Which is a shame, but I’ll do other things tomorrow.   Grass doesn’t look too bad.   The googles had other people complaining of the same issue I’m having with it not stopping.  Several suggestions might even help.  I did D/L and print the relevant manual pages so  I can be sure I have the belt on the right way.  I suspect that’s the problem.

    Had a chicken Hungry Man for dinner, and it was terrible and dry.  That’s the first one that hasn’t been really good.  [for what it is]  huh.

    Wife and kids plus three extra kids should be here around 11pm.  I think I might relax before then.  Oh, right, all my time is gone and they’ll be here in an hour.  Not much relaxing, but maybe I’ll get a tiny little fire.

    n

  60. Lynn says:

    “Jack In The Box Closing Up To 200 Locations”

        https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/jack-box-closing-200-locations

    “When the fast food joints start closing, it’s usually not a great indicator for the economy.”

    “Jack in the Box plans to close up to 200 underperforming locations, aiming to bolster its balance sheet amid declining consumer spending.”

    “The San Diego-based chain also announced it’s exploring a sale of its struggling Del Taco brand, according to CBS News. Most closures will target older, low-performing stores, with up to 120 shutting down by year’s end and the rest phasing out based on franchise terms.”

    Not good.

  61. Lynn says:

    “”Take Control Of Their Food Supply”: Tractor Supply CEO Says Backyard Chicken Demand Skyrockets”

       https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/take-control-their-food-supply-tractor-supply-ceo-says-backyard-chicken-demand

    “In return, Lawton noted that Tractor Supply customers securing their own backyard chicken supply chains drive more recurring trips to store locations.”

    “”Chick days is like an annuity for Tractor Supply as birds typically live five to seven years,” Lawton said, adding, “One chicken can eat over 75 pounds of feed a year, which keeps customers coming back again and again.””

    So, there is an ulterior motive for Tractor Supply to sell baby chicks.  It is to sell chicken feed.  I thought it was because the baby chicks are so cute.

  62. Lynn says:

    Yeah, I have been thinking about buying a few rolls of silver dollars.

    Silver bullion rounds are available from trusted mints.

    The price on a case of Charmin Blue pretty closely tracks the cost of a silver one ounce round from a private mint.

    A 20 coin tube of Silver Eagles is now $798 using a credit card.

       https://www.jmbullion.com/2024-1-oz-american-silver-eagle-tube/

    I think that I would rather keep a stash of Mountain House freeze dried meals.

        https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084J57LQZ?tag=ttgnet-20

    I’ve got a few bullets too.  Those might be trade worthy.  Hopefully from hand to hand, not at 1,200 feet/sec.

  63. Bob Sprowl says:

    I’ve tried Calibre twice.  It’s so powerful I can’t do anything with it.  I have dozens of books in my Kindle folder and and could not get one into Calibre.  The “how to dos” assume I know what I’m doing amd I don’t.  

    I guess I just dumb…

  64. Nick Flandrey says:

    I tried briefly some years ago, but haven’t in the past couple.   I should do it to back up my purchases.   I should do a lot of things….

    n

  65. Alan says:

    >>Maybe I should have taken up stamp collecting?

    Or (silver) coin collecting??

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