Cool to start but warming later. Some possibility of rain for the next two days. It didn’t rain Saturday, but there were plenty of low ugly clouds in various parts of the city.
I was driving all over the west side to get some errands done. Had to do a pickup of some stuff for the BOL, then do a maintenance issue at the rent house. Spent some time fixing the rollers on the garage door, then lubed it all up and ran it a bunch of times. No idea how the roller came out of the track but it’s back and fixed now.
Hit a couple of thrifts on my way back home. Still looking for some last minute additions to my display. I could do some sewing, but if I could find the right clothing items it would save time. I found a couple of pieces I think will work. While I was hitting a couple that I don’t normally hit, I was shocked by how much development and new building has been happening even in just the last couple of months. Crazy amounts of mixed use and large multi-family buildings, right up against the street, inside the Loop.
If demographics is destiny then we’re F’d. Too much, too many, too fast. It’s almost like the herd has been driven here to eat up our pasture and then move on. Even if they aren’t of the locust class, the end result is the same. I’m reminded of a story, that one of the Kings of France, one of the Louis’ maybe, if he heard you were plotting against him, or a challenger to the throne, he’d come to visit, doing you the great honor of spending some time with you. He and his entourage would descend on you and stay until all your money was spent on hosting the King and the Court. Then he’d move on. Problem solved as you now can’t raise the funds to rebel and all your money is spent. I see some parallels… maybe we shouldn’t be so vocal about being a thriving economy or freedom loving…
And maybe I need to stack some more. You probably do to, somewhere the locusts can’t find it.
nick
That’s not “multi-family”. That is “multi-Soy Boy” … and their little buddies (dogs).
The interior of the building has parking with EV charging. The design is everywhere in Austin, replacing failed strip malls but, more concerning, light industrial space which provides jobs other than “coding” or healthcare.
Soy Boy apartments were another part of the economic boom near my house.
Look for the dog park/singles bar. That’s another Austin “innovation” coming soon to the rest of Texas.
At least, until the true property tax increases stop being hidden in 2026 after two years of “reform”.
Lots of new Soy Boy housing was going up at a frantic pace for a while near the new children’s hospitals under construction . When the construction on the hospitals slowed after the Governor signed the “gender affirmation” surgery ban for minors, the slowdown hit the apartment buildings as well.
Again, things that make you say “Hmmmm…..”
“Gender affirmation” surgery on minors was obviously going to be a big business and provide a lot of soup bowls in Texas … until it didn’t.
Houston is even more dependent on healthcare for economic activity than Austin.
As if the colonist numbers originating on the Subcontinent weren’t already overwhelming.
https://www.wsj.com/world/india/indians-are-entering-the-u-s-illegally-in-record-numbers-2cf19e38
And we are being colonized in Austin and Houston. The wealthy from that part of the world have moved up the real estate food chain from being landlords of their “old” house to developers and have dabbled in politics with mixed results.
Interestingly, the recent severe hail storm in Austin has made many rethink their decision. The insurance mafia is a much tougher bureaucratic nut to crack than anything they encountered from business and industry back home or the school systems here.
Saved … by the Geico Gecko and his shameless greed. God help us all.
I was noticing that sub continent has moved into local politics in a big way. They have at least three radio stations in town too.
Our elementary and middle schools celebrate their holidays too.
n
Overcast, and mid 70s. Gotta cook some spam for D2, she loves the stuff.
n
Before my neighborhood was partitioned between four mostly rural Congressional districts, we had Indian candidates run for the nomination for the local seat from both parties.
The “Republican” was particularly interesting, with the name Abiraham and campaign posters with silhouettes of Lincoln implying GOP ideals.
Of course, his actual platform was extereme left wing Prog, particularly on “green” and education issues, attempting to pick up Dems in the open primary.
They don’t quite understand American politics … yet.
so how does this guy get to be First Minister of Scotland in the first place? there were no Scots available?
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/elon-musk-blasts-scottish-leader-blatant-racist
n
Scotland is 96% white, so after two years they won’t need another IoC (Idiot of Color) for another 50.
I’ve heard whispers that political elections in Scotland, and the UK in general, are not quite as fair, above-board, and honest as they’d like us to believe. I have no idea how true the whispers are – the claimants may have been coy with details because they fear being identified and punished, as they asserted, or because they were making it up.
White guilt and virtue signalling plus fraud to put them over the top.
Just like Obama. No experience, came out of nowhere, not a popular or likeable fellow, somehow “won” the election.
Obama was the Jesus Candidate. John McCain didn’t even try.
Mittens inspired the Republican base all right … to stay home.
If you believe the Cuban expats in Miami, Fidel Castro Junior currently runs Canada.
One of the more interesting pieces of trivia to emerge from Matthew Perry’s passing this weekend is his family’s relationship to Wee Pierre. Perry went to school with Justin Trudeau, and Perry’s mother served as one of Pierre Trudeau’s press secretaries.
Why yes, I am a nerd. Why do you ask?
https://borepatch.blogspot.com/2023/10/dad-joke-ccic-special-cisco-edition.html
(thought I had posted this earlier but maybe not enough caffeine then)
I’ve lived in Scotland. Great country, nice people!
However, it’s not a rich pkace, and the politics are very socialist. There’s a lot if “where’s my handout?” mentality.
– good luck with that if it involves the usual suspects…
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/10/least-18-injured-2-dead-mass-shooting-during/
– not technically a mass shooting.
n
I thought it was ‘in the can’ so why would the writer’s strike have any impact? Unless they were ‘fixing it in post’…
n
The claim (by socialists, communists, and other gimmedats) is that the former is the cause of the latter.
Anyone who’s been paying attention to the world over the past century or so knows that the latter is the cause of the former.
As I was saying…
ref Sailor’s Law of Mass Shootings
“Nothing good ever happens after 2 a.m.”
Apparently a “Friends” episode too.
Not a mass shooting if everyone involved is Amish.
Ybor used to have Guavaween, an organized Halloween event with paid admission and a fence around the entertainment district to keep things under control, but apparently that stopped in 2017.
They’re replacing the seven Seattle baristas with CGI dwarves according to the movie geek sites.
Disney should just cancel the movie.
If I had to guess, something happened on the set of The Beard’s “Westside Story” which obligated Disney to take care of the two lead actresses in exchange for their silence.
Especially on 7th Ave. in Ybor City.
Early voting has started here in Texas, and here’s a list of the recommendations for the 14 ballot propositions from the Texas Scorecard.
November Constitutional Amendment Recommendation Roundup
Election Day is Tuesday, November 7.
Another…
https://www.avclub.com/r-i-p-night-court-star-richard-moll-1850968994
Well, Their choices match mine. For what little that means.
>>Stopped by my favorite gub store and dropped off some mags to consign. I picked them up at the state surplus store on my quick trip to Austin last week. Normally there isn’t much margin in them, but these were Kimber, and Kimber stuff is priced like it’s dipped in gold.
Speaking of Kimber…
https://www.handgunsmag.com/editorial/kimber-kds9c-9mm-compact/483430?utm_term=oct29&utm_campaign=guninpho&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=osg
“Only” $1,499.
Pretty. I’ll stick with my Glock anyway.
Brrr! Winter, or at least actual autumn, has arrived in San Antonio. The temperature has dropped 25 degrees in 3 hours, from 83 at 3PM to 57 now. And it FEELS chilly!
Same over here by the airport. The wiener dogs will only go out for 5 minutes.
Proposition 7 is the generator slush fund for Warren Buffett. I’ve been a hard ‘no’ on that for a while.
Up here in Burnet, all of 100 miles north of the SA airport, it was 74 this morning around 7am. While walking the dogs I felt a few sprinkles. Just random small drops of water. So I loaded five bags of stove pellets into the cart and dragged it to the front porch. Under cover and 15 feet from the front door. The forecast said it was going to rain. Yeah, ten minutes of sprinkle all day counts I suppose.
Then the front arrived. The temp went from 74 to 64 in an hour and has dropped since. Currently 43. not raining, just a mist, and windy as heck.
Ok, I’ve had enough winter now.
It’ll be cold (and rainy) tonight and we’re forecast to get freezing temperatures overnight starting tomorrow and continuing at least to the end of the week. Daughter and I set up the heat lamp in the chicken coop and I set the thermostat to kick on at 42F. I need to do a better job with it tomorrow, but it’s good enough for tonight, especially considering that we did it in the rain with fading light.
I plan to make a long overnight drive in a few days, with temperatures comfortably below freezing, rain, freezing, rain, and snow expected, and going through twisty mountain roads for part of the trip. Oh, joy. Can’t leave earlier because of other commitments and can’t leave later because the trip is to get me to an event which won’t be postponed if I’m late. Bah. I’ll skip it if I have to but don’t want to.
Oh, and then an equally long drive back home, again through bad weather and bad roads. Bah. And that can’t really be put off for rest or to wait for better weather because of commitments Wednesday evening. It’s looking like it’s going to be a lousy 20-22 hours.
“It’s looking like it’s going to be a lousy 20-22 hours.”
reboot…
reboot…
reboot…
#3 is a “what?” I already pay property taxes. Is this some kind of tax on what you have in the bank? An inventory and furnishings tax on things like your car? Enough already.
#4 is complicated and I’m sure what you read on the ballot isn’t the actual thing. But increasing the school tax exemption from 40K to 100K is a good thing. I mean, if the the county can suddenly say your property is worth double from last year…
Sure, They will jack up the so-called value of your house or simply jack up the tax rate. But…. over here we already have Homestead and Over65 locked in. I’m cool with keeping $900 in my pocket.
All the rest is no.
Heat lamps for the chickens? Put the bulbs on a dimmer. Yeah, I get it, you already have a t-stat. But on an old style rotary dimmer, cranked down a quarter turn, the bulbs last much longer.
Safe travels.
Saw a brand new wind turbine field coming back from the parents house today. There was 40 to 50 of the new 780 foot tall wind turbines just south of El Campo, Texas. Yes, 780 feet tall and peak power of 13 MW each. They are freaking HUGE !
Take I-69/TX 77 south from Robstown/Corpus, and you will see a lot of the wind turbine fields.
Siemens stages at a big piece of property just north of Port Aransas.
For perspective, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis is 630 feet tall.
yer out of the running this year, @Nick
https://www.newspressnow.com/multimedia/national_video/risqu-halloween-display-in-utah-city-goes-viral/video_6bcd1ccb-b143-5cfb-b9bf-3889885c951f.html
Installed the air compressor I bought a several weeks ago. Had to remove the top of the enclosure I built in the shop port last spring. I created a sling for my cherry picker to lift it off the pallet and roll it into place. The cherry picker’s legs wouldn’t clear the pallet until I put it on some 2×12 boards. Took me parts of three days to get it bolted down and the enclosure rebuilt.
Spent the evening working on the itinerary for the trip to Reno. I want to drive about 800 miles a day like I used to do but I’m now 78 (and I wasn’t traveling with a dog) so I’m planning the trip around 650 mile days. If I am able to drive farther each day, I’ll just get there earlier or spend more time with a friend in Las Vegas on Monday.
The trip back should be interesting. My 19 year old grand-daughter will be traveling with me and the car will be loaded with things of her Dad’s . First we’ll go to my home town where I can show her places she’d only heard about. We’ll also be stopping to see relatives I haven’t visited since 1995 in Visalia and Las Vegas . And some side trips she can pick out. She may get to do most of the driving; her mother says she a good driver. No rush on the return trip. She’ll be staying in Alabama for a week or so before I take her back to Illinois.
Great idea, nice thumb in the eye for the Karens.
n
@bob, drove from Sarasota to Houston with my dad over a couple of days, and had a nice chance to talk as adults. Take advantage of the time if she’s receptive.
n
Got some decor up. Looks good and anyone else would be happy with what’s there. I’ve got more to do though…
As I plugged in the last sketchy connector, the power went out. Took me a second to realize the whole block was down. AGAIN.
Utility got it back up in about an hour. More in tomorrow’s post.
Headed to bed soon. School night, yaknow…
n
The animated show South Park has been hailed for slamming Disney and Star Wars‘ incessant woke pandering in their latest special…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12686309/South-Park-hailed-mocking-Disney-entertainment-giants-incessant-woke-pandering-blamed-multiple-box-office-flops.html
“Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, Book 1)” by Ilona Andrews
https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Bites-Ilona-Andrews/dp/0441014895?tag=ttgnet-20/
Book number one of a ten book paranormal romance dark fantasy series. I read the well printed and well bound MMPB published by Ace in 2007 that I bought new on Amazon recently. Note that “Ilona Andrews” is the pseudonym for a husband and wife writing team. I have purchased the second book in the series and am reading it now.
Kate Daniels’s universe sucks. Forty years ago, the tech world crashed over the entire Earth and was replaced by the magic world in the form of a magic flare. Guns don’t work, car don’t work, electricity and phones do not work. But magic works. Good magic and bad magic.
After a week, the tech world came back to a drastically changed world. And radically fewer humans. And the magic world came back after a while. And the tech world came back after that. And so on and so forth.
Kate Daniels is a mercenary. And a former Order member. She carries a large magic sword. And many knives. And she has magic blood. And somebody just killed her former guardian, a Knight-Diviner of the Order of Knights of Merciful Aid.
The authors have a website at:
https://www.ilona-andrews.com
My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (10,988 reviews)
“Preparing for emergencies: The devil’s in the details…”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2023/10/preparing-for-emergencies-devils-in.html
“from now on, keep your vehicle’s tank at least half-full on a permanent basis. Some suggest two-thirds to three-quarters full.”
Arab Oil Embargo 2.0 is approaching. Mom learned to cook supper early when we lived in London as the coal miners picked the Arab Oil Embargo 1.0 time to strike also. They usually cut our power at 5pm for an hour or two.
I remember the gasoline sellers in London taping a £1 to the pump display as they only supported pence per gallon before that. And then converting from Imperial Gallons to Liters. Dad had a Ford Pinto for the five of us, it was not comfortable but it got us around.