Lots of heat, lots of humidity. Joy. And more to look forward to tomorrow too.
It was so hot yesterday I really didn’t get anything done but unloading, putting stuff away, and buttoning up before leaving. That and my oncoming sniffles.
Been a long time since I caught anything. Not liking it any more now than before. Fluids and rest. Joy.
I’ve gotta get back into the swing of things here, the school year is starting up. And I’m snotty.
D2 to orthodontist, stuff to auctioneer- maybe, and more home stuff.
But all I want to do is sleep. Well I guess I’ll have to suck it up and do what needs to be done.
Maybe I’ll clean my office some more. That’s a low engagement, low effort task that has real benefits. Whatever I end up doing today, it won’t be rocket science or anything that needs a big wrinkled brain.
TEOTWAWKI isn’t waiting for me to feel better, so keep stacking!
nick
Not my experience, though that could hinge on the “unquestioning” weasel word. Note also my small sample size. (Ref yesterday’s comment about not talking to hardly anyone.)
High up-front cost to install, with payback only on the chance that the tenant has an EV, the EV’s plug is compatible, and the tenant isn’t able to charge at work? Concerns about the car catching fire while charging?
It’ll be interesting to see if EV chargers become required for new homes, or if not required then expected. That would hinge on standardization and safety concerns, or at least I’d hope so.
For myself, I’d like to see the normalization of a 220V outlet in the garage and on the back or side of the house. That, too, would be subject to standardization of outlet/plug. (Ref my complaint a couple months back about the seemingly endless proliferation of 220V plug configurations.) Running that line when building the house would cost essentially nothing. Running it after the house is complete can be a challenge.
IMHO, the President has one main job: Put the right people in charge. People that ask the hard questions, fight against the status quo, when necessary, and are willing to do the work to find the ‘best’ compromise/answer.
President Trump failed at that, mostly. I was pleasantly surprised with his SCOTUS nominees, but I was mostly unimpressed with most of the people he chose. He seems to want ‘Yes’ men around to stroke his ego. Not a good look and not good for the country.
Secretary Clinton would have been far worse, as she has shown herself to be vindictive and not afraid to use the government to punish people that disagree with her.
I wish we had better choices. On all sides.
The Dems portray the “shaman” standing in the well of the House chamber on Jan. 6 as equivalent to the Reichstag fire.
Yes, democracy was in danger that day. I wonder how many Captiol Police asked for pictures as they showed him around the building.
What is a convenient location for for an outlet serving one model or manufacturer of EV may not work for another. Plus, after the garage fire last week in Florida, I imagine a lot of actuaries at the insolvent carriers – technically, all of them in the state except for Citizens – are working overtime crunching new numbers for next year’s rate increases.
Looking at the half-a**ed job the neighbor did knocking the hole in the wall to run the outlet for his Mach-E Mustang EV “GT” (really?), my guess is that the job was done on the sly, without a permit necessary or the insurance company notified.
At least his parking spot is outside – the garage has too much junk stored in it.
Look down ballot. In 2020, our walking corpse Congresscritter needed protection from the fake Republican Subcontinent-born candidate opposing him in the primary after “Doors” exposed the incumbent’s vulnerabilities in 2018.
Plus, voting Democrat will get you on mailing lists which you may not like.
Bobby Kennedy Jr. fires the imaginations about “Camelot” for a lot of oldster Dems, just like Robert Francis but without the stage makeup. Republicans should keep in mind that RFK 2.0 would be likely to sign a Medicaid for All bill, but I suspected that would be true of Trump in a second term.
If Trump is at the top of the ballot in Texas, the right Dem candidate would mean the end of Rafael Edward. Keep that in mind if you go for the “Operation Chaos” on the Dem ballot.
My wife gave serious thought to crossing the party line in 2020 to vote for Royce West over “Doors” in the US Senate primary to face Cornyn.
“There’s something wrong with her eyes.”
I believe Rick Scott may well be history in Florida with Trump at the top of the ballot, but the Dem bench is empty in the state unless you count the machine politician “Mayors” (like “Judge” in Texas Counties) or the odd Congresscritter.
One of the neighboring houses is a rental, and a new tenant just moved in. I noticed the owner installed a Level 2 charger, as the tenant has a Kia EV6 parked in the driveway charging almost every night. I haven’t looked closer to see if the charger was installed inside or outside.
I have plenty of capacity to install a level 2 charger if needed.
Renting a house but they have a $50,000 EV not counting dealer markups.
Priorities.
Kia. How close to your house is the driveway in case that thing goes En Fuego?
removepaywall.com worked on the article, too.
I’m relieved now that Georgia has finally GOT tRUMP. I can sleep at night knowing he is locked up in a super-max for killing all those people on Jan 6.
LOL I was not going to vote for tRump in the primaries. Now I probably will just stick it to the Redumblicans. You better lay in a metric ton of popcorn for 2024. Imagine if plugs assumes room temperature.
I don’t see how any court in GA will get a conviction. tRump Tweeted and it is a felony. Geeze.
There are those who say this website is just such a milieu. And yet many of us complain that Trump put too much trust in the wrong advisors like Jared and Ivanka, made several bad decisions like bump stocks and Warp Speed, and completely failed at his primary initiatives like the border and cleaning out the deep state.
For the first 2 years of the FJB regime, I didn’t hear any Democrats complain even one iota about Biden. It’s only now that they realize how feeble and stupid he is they’re letting criticism out, and it’s so minor compared to his lifetime of crime as to be ridiculous.
Across the street and two houses down, so no danger. It also helps that houses in our neighborhood aren’t built on top of each other. It’s one of the reasons we chose to build here.
The last couple of tenants have only been for a year. I only talked to the last renters. They were renting while they built a house in the area. They moved from Atlanta to be close to their daughter and son-in-law. But yeah, I agree, rent house and a 60k car.
Fulton County. I joke about “Yeah, Biden. Trump tho.” but that seems to be the thought process at work.
The question will be what Georgia is going to do if Trump decides not to report in 10 days. DeSantis has previously said that extradition is off the table, and Mar-a-Lago is Palm Beach County Sheriff jurisdiction, who answer to the Governor and not a city council.
DeSantis fired the Broward Sheriff after Parkland, and he just canned another State Attorney for not enforcing laws.
Does the insurance company even need to be notified about such changes? I know insurance will not cover intentional acts, but they will cover acts of stupidity. Make wiring changes in your home, burn the place down, insurance will cover the damage. After convincing the insurance company it was not intentional.
I worked with a guy whose house burned down. Fire investigators determined the fire started in an outlet the the guy had recently replaced. Initially the insurance company said it was arson and refused to pay because he and his family were not home when the fire started. He had to show that he had no reason to burn the house down. All his stuff was still inside, he was not behind on the mortgage, he was not significantly in debt.
He did have to get a lawyer involved. But that is fairly normal for insurance companies. They will find any reason to not pay. Many times requiring a lawyer. And what they do pay is cut down by silly items.
I have photographed every room in my house from multiple angles. Opened cabinet doors and photographed closets. Photographs of every significant item, some close up. A couple hundred photographs. All copied onto a DVD and that DVD stored offsite. Receipts are scanned and the scans stored on the same DVD. If it ever comes to the insurance company saying I did not own something, I have proof.
Insurance companies don’t exist to lose money. But working with them it is an exercise in frustration and misery. The legal system being the necessary alternative.
Kid’s teeth taken care of, cleaning the house assignments assigned, and breakfast consumed.
I think I’ll check a few things online and go back to bed.
Rest and hydration…
n
What is a convenient location for for an outlet serving one model or manufacturer of EV may not work for another. Plus, after the garage fire last week in Florida, I imagine a lot of actuaries at the insolvent carriers – technically, all of them in the state except for Citizens – are working overtime crunching new numbers for next year’s rate increases.
My home insurnance provider is leaving Texas. No renewals. My insurance agent has no explanation.
My home insurer is AAA. They are not doing new coverages but they are continuing with the current ones.
My home insurer is USAA. A few more retired “woke” Generals at the helm, and they might leave Texas.
The Gecko increased my car insurance rates 50% last year without any reason given other than “Texas”.
My homeowners company back door cancelled me after the mortgage company missed the payment date by a few days, zero grace period.
I chalk it up to bad weather and lots of dirtbags moving here, similar to Florida. However, Texas still has real insurance carriers with tougher laws.
Worth suing the mortgage company? Their carelessness or deliberate action caused you real damages, if only in the time it took you to find a new carrier and get it set up.
USAA is based in San Antonio. Leaving Texas would be interesting politically.
Plus they must have a steep discount for active duty, another perk my wife’s nephew receives.
No, AD, dependent or retired get the same rate.
xkcd: Car Wash
https://xkcd.com/2815/
Hey, I like getting my truck washed every few months.
Explained at:
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2815:_Car_Wash
“NRC approves emergency preparedness rule for small modular reactors”
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/nrc-smr-emergency-preparedness-rule-small-modular-reactors/690871/
“The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s “reckless” decision fails to require SMRs and other new nuclear technology to have offsite emergency plans, the Union of Concerned Scientists said.”
Dow Chemical outside Seadrift, Texas, has now ordered four of the SMR reactors.
“Is the US Attorney-General deliberately defying US law?”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2023/08/is-us-attorney-general-deliberately.html
“Karl Denninger says he is.”
Well there is the first problem.
“Disabling Self-Driving Cars with a Traffic Cone”
https://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram/archives/2023/0815.html#cg2
“[2023.07.18] You can disable a self-driving car by putting a traffic cone on its hood:”
I suspect that this is just the first of many issues for self driving cars.
@ITGuy1998: There is a Pal’s close to us. We may go there for dinner this evening. Someplace new (to us) to try. If I don’t like the place I expect you to reimburse me.
We did stop at the Whataburger on Highway 109 which is east of Nashville when we traveled to Hendersonville last Saturday. Alas, no Dr. Pepper milkshake.
I do like the BBQ sandwiches from Buc-ee’s. The pulled pork, not the sliced pork.
Why I mentioned those two items, I have no idea.
Optical system. Stereo vision fed to a computer for interpretation.
Flexible delineator traffic control devices used to wreak havoc in our optical systems at the tolling company, when they would move slightly due to the wind.
Unfortunately, the devices are the cheapest way to separate normal travel lanes from “express” lanes on the mixed toll/free roads.
And we had the advantage of a fixed location surveyed to a centimeter or less with an acceptable accuracy of 99.99%
LIDAR wasn’t even remotely practical for the application. It won’t be in mass produced cars at the necessary resolution for a very long time absent a huge breakthrough.
Sarah has some interesting observations about generations and boomers, and the economic results…
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2023/08/14/boom-2/
If nothing else, she will cause you to look sideways at stuff.
n
Hydrogen just wants to be free, except for this guy…
https://www.thedrive.com/news/hyundai-tucson-fcev-owner-shocked-by-113k-repair-bill-for-hydrogen-fuel-cell
Hydrogen just wants to be free, except for this guy…
https://www.thedrive.com/news/hyundai-tucson-fcev-owner-shocked-by-113k-repair-bill-for-hydrogen-fuel-cell
It used to be that every hydrogen fuel cell came with a PostDoc PhD Chemical Engineer to keep it running. I am not kidding. Fuel Cells used to be the size of small buildings.
Just because Fuel Cells were downsized does not mean that they are simpler to run and maintain.
With only a BS degree in Chemical Engineering I was never selected to work with Hydrogen Fuel Cells.
But then, I worked aircraft with traditional jet engines and rockets with the usual petroleum and solid fuel engines.
With only a BS degree in Chemical Engineering I was never selected to work with Hydrogen Fuel Cells.
But then, I worked aircraft with traditional jet engines and rockets with the usual petroleum and solid fuel engines.
I have assisted several people to build thermodynamic models of fuel cells. The first thing that I remind them of is that their model is too simple and looks too good (efficiency wise). Fuel cells require a lot of fans, compressors, and pumps to start with. Then they require very clean air. So on and so forth. What looks good on paper becomes a mechanical nightmare, kind of like a jet engine.
And all of this blue, black, green, purple, etc hydrogen is driving me nuts.
And remember, hydrogen wants to be free !
“LMAO: Aussie Chick Is Offended By American Flags… Abbott’s Response Was PERFECT”
https://clashdaily.com/2023/08/lmao-aussie-chick-is-offended-by-american-flags-abbotts-response-was-perfect/
And some say that Abbott has no guts.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
He certainly never met an abortion restriction he didn’t like. Too bad it comes at a cost of cutting deals like the property tax “reform”, where the ISDs get the budget surplus to p*ss away on nonsense.
The AI boom has inspired all kinds of new innovation in pumps and fluids with the goal of shrinking the size of the boxes and dissipating the heat as much as possible.
I’m sure the components will find application in other areas.
Will AI’s solutions conform to the Laws of Thermodynamics?
The cooling solutions aren’t designed by the AI … yet.
More interesting is that I heard the name of one of The Gecko’s subsidiaries come up today in relation to one of the components.
BS he isn’t high tech. Simple homespun wisdom my eye.
And if you believe he isn’t outperforming the S&P 500 by his own internal “intrinsic” standard, may I interest you in some relatively dry real estate in Florida?
Took a nap. Woke up. Did some auction stuff. My eyes hurt. I think I’ll eat something and go back to bed.
Do not like, can not recommend.
n
Nope. Texas law says I’m ultimately responsible for making sure the homeowners policy gets paid by the mortgage company. I don’t let them keep the money in escrow anymore, however.
Plus, I actually saved money unloading the old policy and insurance broker.
The communication breakdown really happened with the broker, Goosehead out of Dallas. When I called to find out what happened, I had to sit on hold for more than half an hour. The mortgage company tried several times to call, but their reps didn’t have the time to wait.
I just had a week on gap insurance, my only loss. What I could recover in a lawsuit wouldn’t cover what it would have cost just to talk to a lawyer about the situation.
I paid stupid tax. It won’t happen again.
Nick, is it possible that you’re suffering from excessteenagedaughteritis? You might want to remove the possible source of irritation. Removing them as far as Botswana is probably overkill; a few hundred or a thousand miles should do it. Six months should give time for your symptoms to go away. No need to consult your physician on this. I’m a DBA*.
* Doctor of Brilliant Advice, and just ignore those haters who say that the B is for Bad.
You can get a good look at a strike vote by sticking your head up a union member’s a**, but wouldn’t you rather take the UAW President’s word for it?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/uaw-strike-vote-announced-authorization-expected-amidst-tense-negotiations/ar-AA1fjD9R
The Death Star broke the union when they lacked leverage and faced a similar prolonged labor action in 2009, but they had Steve Jobs help.
Ford and GM have zip … and a bunch of overpriced vehicles sitting on dealer lots.
Summer camp. You can send boys to Fork Union Military Academy summer school.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onacCSC-1Bg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqUyRZ086yM
If it sounds familiar, then you probably saw one of the original “Diary Of A Wimpy Kid” movies. Fork Union is the inspiration for Spag Union.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJLVbL_i1XY
Big Smile!
Or Camp Mohawk. It is co-ed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7jXZQSxTSA
The legend is that is the outfit which Bill Murray showed up wearing on the first day of filming — except for his motorcycle helmet — and the monologue is 100% improvised.
h/t to AoSHQ:
Research shows snoops can decipher keystrokes during Zoom calls
https://techxplore.com/news/2023-08-snoops-decipher-keystrokes.html
More grist for the “return to the office” argument.
another for AoSHQ:
THE MORNING RANT: The Ticking Commercial Real Estate Bomb – Lenders are Seeking to Secure a Smaller Loss Now Before It All Blows Up
—Buck Throckmorton
https://ace.mu.nu/
CRE market crashes and takes the property tax cashflow that finances the top-heavy goobermint in the blue shiiteholes. Having spent many a night in city hotels that have three lines for sales tax and charge $25 and up to park a car, I have no sympathy for the hotels, the banks holding the paper, the restaurants and shops that feed the disease, the woke employees that have no skills but demand $25 an hour, or any of the others that will get hit.
What I do have is a steel rod that I will gladly use to treat the lower alimentary canal of any representative that thinks about voting to bale these mofo’s out.
@Lynn
“She even admits to not knowing what her own damned flag looks like.”
Why do I expect her flag is splayed legs on a field of polyester?
That’s the equivalent of the friendly lawsuit by the ecolawfare group getting DemGov to enter into a consent decree.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/uaw-strike-vote-announced-authorization-expected-amidst-tense-negotiations/ar-AA1fjD9R
The Death Star broke the union when they lacked leverage and faced a similar prolonged labor action in 2009, but they had Steve Jobs help.
Ford and GM have zip … and a bunch of overpriced vehicles sitting on dealer lots.
GM is a zombie. I am not sure what Ford is but it is the opposite of healthy, probably walking wounded is a good metaphor. I do not have a clue about Chrysler. The three of them will probably tell the UAW to pound sand. This may be the year to break the UAW and their gold plated health insurance for all of the retirees.
We were told today 1Q 2024 will be three days a week in the office … and they really mean it this time.
OTOH, they no longer have enough cubes in the building for everyone to show up on the same days, and about half of the parking was sold off to a co-location landlord in a deal cut during the pandemic so I’m wondering if they’ve really thought this through.
Management can handle higher arithmetic like 3/5 = 0.60, and doubtless already have an estimate for the number of employees that will quit.
I told people thirty years ago that if they worked on a computer in a cube, the wires connecting them could be any length, up to and including halfway around the world.
Technology marches on. There’s no reason the DMV clerk has to be in the same country and it’s rapidly becoming “in the same country or a biological life form”. The people automating Chick Fil-A today will automate the DMV and the post office next. Wait until you’re issued a ticket by patrolman Sony, and the first lawsuit that claims that a droid knocked a guy on his ass for using a silicon-insensitive epithet.
A university professor who taught a “science fiction as litra-chur” class told me that the economy described in one highly-regarded sf novel was the equivalent of two guys getting rich washing each others cars. I expect a whole emerging field of study loosely revolving around “what does software want?” to appear soon as a creation of alphabet people, only to be accused of racism shortly after Non-Biological Entities who take it over and demand that we all study the subject.
Well.. I guess I should apologise.. This is the level of stupid that most of her generation have down here. Also the lack of respect and no sense of history. The “here and now” generation….
I do hope she stops off at Thailand on here way back to Oz. A bit of critical blogging on the King etc, would be a boost for her stats…..
Plus I should have added, she conveniently forgets because of “that flag”, and the lives lost fighting under it, she would be speaking Japanese.. It deserves as much respect as our own flag…
>> Or Camp Mohawk. It is co-ed.
Or this camp…
https://youtu.be/4yFTOvO0utY
>> The people automating Chick Fil-A today will automate the DMV and the post office next.
Lots of paper still flows through many DMVs, some still with antiquated systems. A lot more complexity vs a Chick Fil-A. And the DMVs are civil service.
>> I don’t see how any court in GA will get a conviction. tRump Tweeted and it is a felony. Geeze.
Not to mention the judge wants to try all 19 defendents concurrently. Popcorn Time!
Fever broke. Ate. Going back to bed.
D1 has similar symptoms but worse. Can’t skip tomorrow, or she’ll be un-enrolled and it took W1 HOURS to get her re-enrolled after the last timing/paperwork F-up.
n
Oh, and completely different topic and all…
My non-prepping hobby organization has asked me if I’ll take over the website maintaining, and updating. It’s a mess of static HTML using some sort of online editor, with a host provided store for memberships and the occasional training class payment…
My thinking is – freeze the current site, archive it behind a link, and build new using a modern tool. Could still look and be organized like the old, but probably would look more like an infrequently updated site with a bunch of static links.
I was thinking a blogging platform like wordpress, but then I saw my thousanth ad for Squarespace and their tool… and wondered if any one here has any experience with a modern, low traffic site, with infrequent updates, but a bunch of reference links, and a store with a few items?
Re-creating the site, and maintaining it must be LOW EFFORT. Bi-weekly updates, the occasional article by someone else, some pics after meetings, the occasional eblast to stay in contact with membership…
There isn’t any rush, it’s been limping along for years, but the one guy is getting tired of doing it, and I’m the sucker they tapped.
n
Nick, Squarespace should work with minimal effort. Its whole schtick is that you can get a site up in minutes. The common knock against it is that Squarespace sites look like Squarespace sites – sooooooo tacky for a business, doncha know. That shouldn’t matter for you.
I don’t know about the shopping feature. I used the pre-revamp version, I think.
Pricing may be an issue. It looks like SS no longer has a free-for-NFPs option.
Make sure to keep the originals of any content uploaded to the SS site. They had limited support for exporting content and settings, last I looked.
Bottom line, it should work for little effort and little money.