Cool and wet. It rained all day yesterday pretty much without a break. It varied between light misty drizzle and heavy drizzle. Late afternoon temps got into the high 60s and maybe the low 70s for a bit. I’m hoping today will be a bit drier.
I was feeling … odd. And since my plans were altered by the rain, and since I felt unwell, I went back to sleep for a bit. I hadn’t slept well, and I was really tired. Woke later, and had stuff to do, of course. So I got started on that.
Mostly did auction stuff, getting stuff out of the attic for the auction, and I even shipped an item I sold on ebay. I thought I’d killed all my listings, but apparently not. I’m $5 richer! I also managed to get a couple of “if I can” jobs done. I like to have some projects sitting around, ready to work on so I can do it if I have time or inclination. Yesterday I grabbed one.
I picked up an aircleaner/ionizer at goodwill for a few bucks, mainly because it was filthy. I tested it there and smelled the characteristic ozone smell, so I knew it worked. Similar models on amazon are $150-180. I took a little time and disassembled it, cleaned it thoroughly, and put it back together. It runs well, and from the smell, is working perfectly. It will deodorize a big room if needed, claiming up to 3500 square feet. In any case, it went into the attic until needed. That got it fixed, and out of the foyer where it was sitting and waiting for attention. I love little jobs like that that I can use as fill in for my day.
I also spent some time sorting and building out Elenco Snap Circuit kits. I buy them and pick up the parts at the Goodwill bins whenever I see them. At the bins the parts are essentially free, but even buying the missing parts on ebay or through the manufacturer site, they aren’t expensive, for the common parts anyway. I did order some things from their site, mainly fans and motor cogs, as the fans are always missing, and the drive cog on the motor is often broken. I put about a dozen kits together and will put them in the auction. They sell pretty well, especially around Christmas, even as used sets. I’ve got a half dozen more without boxes that are just waiting for the fans. They probably won’t go in the auction this season. I like putting the kits together. It satisfies my desire to save stuff from the crusher, helps a kid learn electronics, saves someone some money, and makes me good money for the effort and time involved. Doing a dozen at once is fairly efficient.
I wouldn’t call it a side hustle, because I only do the work twice a year, but it is something I know and know will pay off. The percentage ROI is big, even if the absolute money involved isn’t huge. Do enough of that and it adds up.
That is true of a lot of things, and a lot of preps too. Do a little bit of this, and a bit of that, look for places you can add value easily and effectively, and keep doing it. It will add up over time.
And your stacks will grow, as will your skills and knowledge.
And that is a good thing.
nick
Isn’t “until needed” … now? You have teenagers. Based on my experience with teens, my own and others, their rooms always smell.
Really, is it that difficult to throw dirty clothes into the washing machine once in a while?
Brad, get you one of these.
Please. The $100k model.
Just like my wife’s contact at Toyota predicted.
Use your favorite search engine on the names of the new owners. The first F150 Lightning delivery went to an obvious Deep State operative, complete with posting to Spec Ops freak show command at MacDill on the military side of his resume.
@Geof Powell
“What we do have, though is cold. Brass monkey cold. Down around 0C cold.”
That’s barely freezing. Even pot metal monkeys laugh at that here, and real men go to football—real football—shirtless.
For the nitpickers:
The $60,000 truck will not be available until 2025.
The $79,900 truck is just under the limit for the tax credit. Call it $80,000.
We’ll see how many Jesus Trucks actually get delivered … in 2024.
Could you send two to Mr. Ray? I AZZume they will take care of fart gas clouds.
Tony has bigger problems in Del Valle in the short run.
https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/uaw-to-try-to-organize-non-union-automakers-as-tesla-delivers-first-cybertrucks
Cybertruck, theoretical bottom end $60k, but really $80k/$100k. Our previous car, from 2008, cost (iirc) $35k. We spent $60k on our EV – ouch, that was going “high end” for us. Do ordinary, middle class people really spend $80k or $100k on a car? Seriously?
Musk and his mouth again, saying the cybertruck will “destroy” other vehicles in a collision – he is just inviting trouble. Plus it’s stupid, because the vehicle certainly had to pass crash safety tests. The high-bumper trucks you see in the US are more dangerous – I’ve always wondered how those are street legal.
Uh, no thanks. My current situation keeps people from visiting my home and I don’t want to upset that apple cart. I like being able to see the air I am breathing in my home.
Generally they are not street legal. Tires extend more than 2 inches beyond the fenders, lights are not aimed properly and are generally well beyond DOT specifications, exhausts are too loud, emission controls probably removed, diesels have been chipped.
It is just not worth the officer’s time to pull over someone with a small PP.
In the US, an $80k vehicle is unaffordable to about 95% of the households looking at the numbers from a strictly technical perspective.
Regardless, I doubt Tony intends to ship many at $79,900. That’s a teaser price to get people into the buying process who think they can make the vehicle work for their financial situation with the tax credit the Federal Government offers.
Buy an EV truck or SUV below $80,000 and the Feds will give you $7,500. Some states make that incentive sweeter.
Still, even at $72,400, the vehicle is unaffordable for most of the population.
OTOH, in the last few years, in the US, people have been really vehicle horny to the point that a statistic I saw was that 40% of the new car payments are above $1000/month, which is a really staggering amount of money for most household budgets.
Trucks are an even bigger fetish item. Try to find an F150 on a dealer lot for less than $60k right now.
Who knows. I don’t think this EV kabuki ends well for either the manufacturers or the US in general.
Sometimes I wonder if the bulk of the population has simply given up on the future and has decided to simply live in the moment.
“I want that sex toy -er- truck!”
I think I mentioned, when I handed my mother’s car back, that I had a lot of trouble convincing GMAC that she was actually dead. Someone in the car business explained to me that lots of people try to fake their own death, in order to get out from under impossible car payments. Who knew?
70F and not actually raining. Sun was poking thru while waiting for the school bus, but it looks overcast at the moment.
So far have been putting stuff in the “take to the auction pile.” Finally got the wife to sort and label the American Girl ™ stuff D2 wants to sell. This is the time of year to sell it…
I need to finish some sorting and head out but I keep getting distracted.
n
While it is highly illegal, it wasn’t uncommon pre-pandemic for the F&I rooms to include planned repossesion of an existing vehicle as part of the finance package in order to make the numbers work.
I stumbled across this a couple of days ago. There are other clips but they have a commercial. It’s John Goodman in “The Gambler”. The audio is not great but odds are it’s the not great speakers in my monitor.
Actually good advice. I sort of had this figured out 40 years ago but I had to do plenty of stupid stuff first. It takes a while to build up the assets and cash in the bank. Took me awhile, anyway, to get there. But everything is paid for. I have a metal roof on the house and the other buildings. Big carport/shed to get cars and tractors out of the sun and rain.
Yeah. Full of f-bombs. Kind of sounds like my Dad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1qFqsQZXfo
I bought a used DVD from Big River that should be here is a week or so.
Reaching further back along those lines, I’ll see your John Goodman and raise you Curtis Armstrong.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRLP7r6OuYE
A side note — I find it interesting how hysterical the f-word makes the PLT these days.
Michael Parkes gets all the press in Kevin Smith’s “Red State”, but John Goodman is awesome in a supporting role.
When Kevin Smith spoke in Austin a few years ago, someone asked about working with Goodman during the Q&A. Smith said that Goodman was always on time, professional, and was never far from set, even when not in a scene.
Smith said Goodman was fond of playing Words With Friends to kill time when not in front of the camera, and he asked the actor why he didn’t disappear back to his trailer to play where it was quieter.
Goodman replied, “Nothing good ever happens in a trailer in Hollywood.”
Profound in several ways.
That’s nothing. If you want to see a libtard break out in screaming fantods, drop the r-bomb: “What kind of retard came up with this?” “You realize that’s a retarded idea, don’t you?”
Yeah, retard seems to crank some folks. I suppose they think they are borderline. All the more reason to use it. Or call them Ed. Because they are so special. That one takes a bit of compute time to figure out.
John Goodman is good in /everything/ I’ve seen him in. Starting with Matinee.
He comes across as “real people”, not just an actor.
As I am politically correct these days, I don’t use the “R” word (retarded). I use “special needs”.
Spent a bit of time doing a minor change to the first book of “The RV Vigilante” series.
Found out that I had two characters with the same first name. One was the main character. So it was a bit confusing, although nobody had complained yet.
I changed the name of the minor character to “Nick”. Because I could. The minor character doesn’t have a last name, and the location is up in the Olympic Peninsula, so Nick’s ‘opsec’ is safe.
Also made a Facebook ad for the new “Dad Jokes” books. The “RV Vigilante” books have a FB ad that’s been running since publication in October. The “RV Vigilante” ads have cost me about $50/month so far, but have brought in revenue of about $140 each month, so seems to be worth it – I’m getting ‘clicks’ and purchases.
Hoping that the “Dad Jokes” FB ad will bring in some sales via the FB ads. This is ‘prime time’ for marketing those books.
Marketing takes effort. There are probably better ways to do it, but the FB ads are fairly easy to set up, as long as you get the ‘audience’ right.
This calls for a parody fanfic: The 2003 Ford Fiesta Vigilante
Heh. I don’t think I have enough fans to have ‘fanfic’.
@EdH
Oatmeal price heavily influenced by oat commodity price.
Mid-March 2020, oats $2.62 per bushel (2019-2020 range $2.28-3.61)
Mid-Nov 2023 $3.90 (2023 range $3.18-4.09).
In-between it spike at $7.65.
https://www.macrotrends.net/2536/oats-prices-historical-chart-data
Oatmeal is simply hulled oats that are processed through a mill. I’ve looked at DIY in the past, and may get serious in the current inflation.
Could you at least make it a Fiat Spyder?
“Palestinian Health Authorities report that the renewed offensive had destroyed 47 hospitals and has killed 440,000 Palestinian civilians, including 750,000 children and 5 million dogs. Christiane Amanpour was the first American Journalist to report the scoop.”
h/t to AoSHQ
Friday’s TPS (Thrilling Poultry Status) report:
The weather was overcast, chilly (though warm for early December just south of the Adirondacks), and drizzling or raining. I let the chickens into the garden for several hours while I did chores and worked indoors on my computer. When I went back out to let them out of the garden, they were damp, floofed out, and seemingly not too pleased with the world. The older hens ran up into the coop while the younger birds all stood around the main area of the run, continuing to get rained on. They didn’t even go into the caged area below the coop. They are literally too dumb to come in out of the rain.
Four eggs from six hens, about what I’ve been getting since the hens matured. Not bad for the shortening days. I have three hens (and the sole remaining rooster) from an “egg” breed. The other three are just generic chickens, I think. Probably mixed breed; we got the eggs from someone who has a bunch of chickens all together. They didn’t grow fast enough or big enough for “meat” birds and don’t lay enough for “egg” birds. The egg hens lay about six per week each while the other hens give a couple per week each. I can tell because the “egg” birds lay brown eggs. If anyone is interested in the actual numbers, I can go back through the notes I’ve kept since the first egg was pooped out.
On the expense side, I know how much feed I’ve bought (organic “layer” pellets, cracked corn, oyster shell, and gravel) (and dried larva, which my wife was using to try to train the birds, with no noticeable results) but I didn’t note the prices. They didn’t matter, as the cost of the food and water was dwarfed by the value of my time in taking care of them. Ignoring the “capital” expense of the coop, run, and other stuff and the value of my time, the organic eggs are cheaper than we’d pay in a store. Probably more expensive than regular ol’ eggs from the grocery store.
However, I’ve noted that these chickens are basically pets who happen to give eggs. On that basis, the money put into them is not bad at all. I’ve seen how much my mom and a number of other people have spent on their lapdogs or purebred cats. A year of grooming and special food and vet visits is probably higher than the total I’ve spent, and lapdogs just poop on the carpet, not poop out eggs. Advantage: chickens.
Jenny, I belatedly saw your note on lighting and coop temperature. I’ll adjust the thermostat down a few more degrees. Once the birds are moved to the patio, I plan to set out a light for the run. That’ll take some experimentation but I have a couple of LED room lamps which should work in the cold.
The weather was overcast, chilly (though warm for early December just south of the Adirondacks), and drizzling or raining.It was a dark and stormy night.
FIFY
The Renault Le Car Vigilante. Beware the fold-over sunroof!
LOL, that’s getting close to the whole population. Mission accomplished.
Never forget that Christiane Amanpour was the weather graphics girl at a TV station in Connecticut until she played house with a Kennedy.
At least Bob Iger was on-air “talent” in the Weather department.
Unsafe At Any Speed!
The Edsel Avenger!
Big threats, never gets to accomplish anything.
Coach’s are more processed than most I suspect, so there’s the cost of that and energy cost of the finished goods transport added to spot prices.
I have tried other brands without much success … unlike some others here I prefer not seeing what I am breathing.
This calls for a parody fanfic: The 1960 Corvair.
Unsafe At Any Speed!
Hey, Brian Adams takes his 90 year old Momma for rides in his slightly beat up convertible Corvair.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=d0caIWs0O9c
Ok, I don’t believe that it even starts.
The good news: We live in a time of unprecedented wealth of choices in carry handguns, sights, and options.
Bad news: We live in a time of unprecedented…
I’m going through analysis paralysis. There was a time, not so long ago, when the answer would have been to buy a Glock 48 and call it done. Now there are better choices, and a variety of red-dot sights, and for things like the Sig P365 there’s basic, X, XL, and 3 different X-Macro models.
This may take me longer than I thought.
@jenny, I stand educated… I guess since the product is sold at walmart it must have a broader appeal than I imagined… I mainly associate that sort of thing with Gwenith Paltrow quackery and squatting over bowls of steaming herbs…
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oatmeal has too many carbs for me, puts me right to sleep. I grew up eating Maypo for breakfast, but it’s a regional product and not available in Texas, although I’d only eat it for nostalgia, as it would be nap time soon after.
—–
@Rick, Nick is a good name! Especially when there is recursion, when the name Nick is a nick name….
—-
Christiane Amanpour said in an on camera interview that she considered it her job to bring down the Bush government… although the few clips I’ve seen lately seem to suggest she’s moved away from the left a bit. Or maybe it’s Martina Bartaromo that moved right… can’t remember, can’t bring myself to care much.
—-
It started raining here shortly after I left the house on my errands so I’m glad I took the Expy. It’s currently “full up” with stuff, but the forecast tomorrow says “clear” so I should be able to sort things out and get back to ‘normal’.
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Definitely sneezy and nose is running. Hard to blame allergies when it has been raining for days. Wife must have given me her crud. Joy.
—–
Thinking about Airborne and an early bedtime.
n
I’m going through analysis paralysis. There was a time, not so long ago, when the answer would have been to buy a Glock 48 and call it done. Now there are better choices, and a variety of red-dot sights, and for things like the Sig P365 there’s basic, X, XL, and 3 different X-Macro models.
BTW, have you considered a really small gun like the Ruger LCP ? 7 shot .380. Very small, no printing.
https://ruger.com/products/lcp/models.html
I just cannot rack any semi auto now due to my tendonitis in my right wrist so I carry only revolvers now.
@lpdbw
Have you rented any flavor of the P365?
Red dot sights are wonderful. whether they play well with a CC holster is another question.
About 25g in the ¼ cup I measure out. But I add raisins, various seeds, prunes, etc.
Not really a huge fan but Doctors orders…
Early in the holiday season and already the package delivery date scamming is tiresome.
Sent a USPS Priority Mail package Monday. Delivery date was listed as Thur. About the time it should have been delivered there was a delay notice. It sat in Denver mid-transit for 18 hours before continuing. Delivered Fri.
Best Buy package ordered Monday evening. UPS shipping, Fri delivery. It was in town for 20 hours before being transferred to USPS for Friday delivery.
The busy season hasn’t even started yet.
I wouldn’t use UPS for anything critical after my experience last year with the car part that got handed off to a contracted “local” delivery service and sat two hours away for most of a week, during which time I had the brown truck stop at least three times.
Meanwhile USPS is running deliveries 7 days a week getting nickels for the last mile for UPS and Fedex while letting their own deliveries suffer.
Had this from eBay this week:
The various country’s postal services have conspired to make international shipping costs obscene over the last twenty years. Even so, eBay has made it impossible to use because they want to direct things through their even more obscene profit center.
Five Years After the Nasty Race Crime Hoax That Further Divided the Country, Jussie Smollett Is Finally Going to Jail
—Disinformation Expert Ace
Yeah, it would just be too bad if he got stabbed 22 times by a white supremacist and former ex-FBI informant.
@lynn, cornered cat has alternatives and techniques for people with poor hand strength, or hand issues.
https://www.corneredcat.com/article/running-the-gun/rack-the-slide/
It comes down to holding the slide, and punching the gun forward, but of course there is more nuance.
n
Un-refutable Evidence of Alarmists’ Ocean Acidification Misinformation in 3 Easy Lessons
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/12/01/un-refutable-evidence-of-alarmists-ocean-acidification-misinformation-in-3-easy-lessons/
Most people won’t be able to get by the first “easy lesson” because they don’t understand pH.
So, ok, skip to the second lesson, which is very easy to understand:
The scent you detect is the straw man argument set on fire and merrily burning away.
@SteveF, wrt running the ion generator in the stinky teens’ rooms, supposedly you aren’t supposed to run it around people or pets. They are one or the other, and thus it’s contraindicated. My stopgap is to hide a “Scentsy ™ ” wax fragrance packet somewhere in the room. Behind a curtain is a good spot because the sun will warm it. They are designed to be broken into waxy chunks and melted in special Scentsy holders, but they work well just opening the packet to expose the cubes and let the air do the work. Some of them smell quite nice, and they are abundant at the goodwill outlet store for a few cents. I’ve stashed them in bathrooms, bedrooms and other stuffy places.
n
@lynn, cornered cat has alternatives and techniques for people with poor hand strength, or hand issues.
What would I do with my eight revolvers ? Nine if you count the black powder that I have never shot.
I only have three semi autos. I gave my Glock 23 ? to my son.
The Napoleon movie was very good and very somber. He was a win at any cost warrior. He had 61 battles over 20+ years and won 60 of them. He cheated whenever possible.
The music was weird, kind of a funeral dirge for the entire movie. Ridley Scott said that he wrote the script from his 2,500 books about Napoleon.
Please, do not pantomine sex for me, I can figure it out.
The movie claimed three million men were killed in his battles. Mostly on the other side though. He took a half million men to Russia and came home with 40,000.
The movie started with the guillotining of Marie Attoinette. Napoleon was in the crowd.