Cool and overcast. Rain in the forecast. Light rain anyway. No idea if it’s going to affect my part of town though.That’s a “wait and see” for sure. It was overcast all day Thursday, but never even got a mist.
I hung around the house all morning, after my leisurely lie in… then finally got out to do my pickups. The auctioneers at my stop have been making interesting comments about politics and the state of the world that had me thinking they were leaning toward being like minded… and they definitely are. They are late to the party,but have figured out that they’ll need more than ammo and guns to get through what’s coming. I’ll be sharing some links to other sites, but probably won’t de-cloak… every prepared person is someone who won’t be knocking on my door, come the day.
Today I have another pickup or two, and I need to get to REI to buy my wife a gift… should have gone online immediately, now the shipping would be too long. I do like browsing the store though… been a member long enough to remember when they sold actual climbing gear, and not just bikes, tents, and clothes. In fact I remember the newsletter when they hired the guy who shifted the focus to general retailing. He cited the examples of some other formerly great outdoor brands and mentioned the siren song of how much money there was to be made with clothes… he followed through, that’s for sure. Seems like at some point the socialist/commie/hippies all want to cash in. Anyway, my rebate check will expire if I don’t use it.
Maybe I’ll get something for myself, like a large group water filter… I should get some new webbing, cord, and a climbing rope. Or another FLASHLIGHT!
Next time you are at the outdoor store, maybe pick up something to back up what’s already in your stacks, maybe pick up something to extend your stacks. If you think you’ll be eating off the land, do you have the butchering gear?
There is always more to stack.
nick
Shoes? I don’t always do it, but often, when I find a solid pair of shoes, I buy two. It’s really annoying how fast models change: you may not find the same model even a few months later.
Last day of the semester today. Going through old exams, discussing the kinds of questions that might come up. Seeing the usual gamut of student reactions, from “that doesn’t look too bad” to “oh my god, I just realized I have no clue”.
Broke a tooth yesterday. No obvious reason, a piece just fell of in the middle of eating, probably fractured where there’s a filling. Great timing: With the holidays, there’s no way to get it fixed anytime soon. Even the “urgent” clinic I called said they’re overwhelmed. I’ll just have to wait until after New Year’s. Can I go back to my 20-year-old self and tell me to take better care of my teeth?
(4) Range, for those of us who need to go more than 200 miles on a trip, or 100 miles if we’re in the cold or the hot.
Dealers have their pluses and minuses. One big plus is having a separate corporate entity with local ties involved if you have a serious problem vehicle and the CRM system at the manufacturer has decided that you are a non-person.
Tesla’s CRM is particularly notorious. To be fair, Ford’s is bad too.
Having the Gigafactory in town hasn’t helped people I work with who are facing six month waits for repairs to storm damage on their vehicles from the hail event here at the beginning of October.
The line from Tesla is that they should have bought Tony’s insurance, “a deal you can’t refuse”.
Everyone who works at the Gigafactory is under NDA and non-compete agreements, which are air tight under Texas law, hence Texas Instruments vs. what happened to Shockley in California.
Rumors about what goes on in the Gigafactory range from Tony stockpiling damaged batteries in the cavernous space to simple delivery prep on vehicles from Fremont which could be done at … a dealer!
In theory, the Jesus Truck is going to roll out of Austin in large numbers next year. In theory.
End of an era.
Eleven years ago, when I flew to Cupertino for what was going to be a two day interview in Infinite Loop, at the end of Day One, I was picking up t-shirts for my kids in that store when the message appeared on my phone that Day Two was cancelled and Apple Travel would arrange for my flight home in the morning.
I still don’t consider the interview a negative experience. The kids got some cool shirts which are only available at HQ.
Giving my weed head ex partner at the Death Star a Labs Fellow award in return for delivering my work on a Mac version of NetClient wasn’t going to happen, and I made that clear to the VP who had apparently been in touch with my former bosses and bought the plane ticket.
My wife only reminds me about the Apple gig once a month these days.
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/12/21/apples-infinite-loop-store-closing-next-month/
The Death Star never delivered a Mac NetClient which made IBM happy enough to enable their announced effort a decade ago to “go Mac” 100% with their employees.
Gee, I wonder why. No regerts (sp).
IBM and … Kyndryl (?) … still issue drone laptops from Lenovo.
Not that Lenovo is bad. I’m typing on one now. Even a ‘T’ series Lenovo isn’t as “cool” as a MacBook, however, especially when sitting in an airline’s club lounge.
“often, when I find a solid pair of shoes, I buy two.”
Just ordered two pair this week. Hoping they are the same quality that I’ve purchased previously, otherwise they go back.
Here comes the response to Colorado.
Texas isn’t a Republican state anymore, but immigration is one of the distraction issues the Governor and Legislature use to deflect attention from the reality of what happens in Austin right now.
Until the voters get the reality smackdown of their 2026 trim notices, the RINOs in charge of this state will have to do something to make their base happy through 2024 and the mid-term primary season.
https://mishtalk.com/economics/should-texas-ban-biden-from-the-ballot-for-not-securing-the-border/
Like my wife periodically reminds me that I once owned Amazon stock, and sold it, back when it was really cheap. I kick myself periodically for that as well :-/
Anyway, we just moved to the investment funds run by the bank. They do decently well…
Just watch the fees at the banks. In the US, people will pay 1-2% of account value annually for “experts” in “wealth management” at the Too Big To Fail Banks which really doesn’t mean diddly squat and greatly limits the compounded return.
Well I’m up. Checking in BEFORE coffee. That’s how much I love you guys. PRE coffee…
My wife has it in her head that she suggested bitcoin mining back when they bought the first pizza with it. I remember setting up Folding at Home for my screensaver instead, but it could have been SETI’s thing. Don’t recall ever getting anywhere with it.
WRT EVs and range, I’m looking at my day right now and I’m going to have about 150 miles of driving, more if I try to pick up the generator too. That’s about the one way to the BOL too. Some days I drive to Austin and back, or Galveston and back. EV is not for me.
n
Dershowitz is dead on:
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/12/claudine-gay-in-context-take-2.php
66F btw, and still overcast.
Got coffee, and breakfast. Headed out soon.
n
On EVs:
I think that was Pintos.
>> Anyway, most dealerships make their money in service. EVs need a lot less servicing, so EVs automatically mean fewer dealerships.
>> Dealers have their pluses and minuses. One big plus is having a separate corporate entity with local ties involved if you have a serious problem vehicle and the CRM system at the manufacturer has decided that you are a non-person.
Tesla’s CRM is particularly notorious. To be fair, Ford’s is bad too.
See how it works when the manufacturer owns the (99% exclusive) service department and then “gets to decide” what’s a warranty repair and what isn’t…
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/tesla-musk-steering-suspension/
>> Well I’m up. Checking in BEFORE coffee. That’s how much I love you guys. PRE coffee…
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
Can’t be re-elected if he wasn’t elected the first time.
I’ve heard this one.
First time: Didn’t I suggest bitcoin mining ten years ago?
Second time: I told you and told you we need to get into bitcoin mining and you ignored me.
Third time: You said you were going to set up a machine for bitcoin mining ten years ago.
The truth: Saw an article on it, thought it sounded interesting, never said anything.
My authority for this: Being married for most of my adult life
Can’t be re-elected if he isn’t on the ballot. And I’m not talking about Colorado-style removal.
The Dems will continue the charade through the South Carolina primary.
Everybody wants to spend January in Savannah.
Pulling the plug (pun intended) now means spending January in Iowa and Manchester.
When the cameras are off, both reporters and politicians alike will all indulge in the Hypocrisy Blue Plate at The Lady and Sons.
Go back ten years, and bitcoin mining meant setting up a Linux system with specialty drivers for the video card.
And let us not forget classic Mustangs.
Oh, yeah. A friend had one. Open the trunk and there was the top of the gas tank.
Did a bunch of my pickups and am home. No rain today but 80% chance tomorrow… so I better get some stuff under cover.
I forgot that I got some good stuff.
Also got my wife’s Christmas prezzies sorted.
Sure is grey out.
n
For fun, my dog has the coloration, but his legs are twice as long…
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiELbzsovUzG0Q1Fc4dCsxxxqdDzN5LEFnvgAjuWgDf-KIrui5ZaXmIwoEmrmcWKAuJGgG0xqNfyVJ8Lz7sB40_sOTkhPEGC73_GSJX865oXn6OzOyE44l_mY4U15eEXFze1phJM7Tcjd7jbE1b4wwOH6COZ_4EnJtfqlkMTck9Ewf2kCTqjJtJWR1ro2k/s720/1%20(87).JPG
n
edit- should say, my dog DID, and my daughter’s dog DOES
It’s kind of odd outside. It was sunny and 72f for a bit. Real nice for this time of the year. It’s hazed over and is down to 68f. There is a bit of breeze once in a while to rattle some wind chimes. There are several flocks of robins around making noise. Plenty of other kinds of birds chirping, too. I hear a few jets way up high once in a while, too high or far away to see the trail. I heard a dog barking, not Rascal at the nearest neighbor’s, farther away.
No traffic noise from town. Zero. It’s like very early on Sunday morning while walking the dogs. Just odd.
>> Go back ten years, and bitcoin mining meant setting up a Linux system with specialty drivers for the video card.
Forget mining, all you had to do was buy a few…and not lose your digital wallet…
According to CoinGecko, the price of one bitcoin (BTC) has increased by 2,054% over the past 10 years, or $15,772.95.
https://www.bitdegree.org/crypto/tutorials/largest-lost-bitcoin-wallet
ok, total left field, but several people have pointed out that slojoe has been using some sort of body double…
and I’ve been skeptical, but after watching his speeches, I’m pretty certain that any public appearance that goes longer than about 45 minutes can’t be him. He starts to slur words at 20minutes, gets angry, does the yelling and whispering thing at 30, and starts talking about random lies after that. By the end of most speeches, he doesn’t know how to exit the stage. Ergo, any time he holds it together longer than that is suspect, since you’d think his handlers get the best possible performance out of him for something like a nationally televised speech.
ok, skeptical. But as I sat here it occurred to me to do something simple.
google “joe biden profile pictures” and select images. He has very clear detached earlobes in his official white house portrait. But in image after image, his lobes are clearly attached. In those pix, he also has better hair in back. His hair normally looks like Skeletor when seen from three quarter, or behind. It hangs away from his skull.
Liver spots move around too, although that could be makeup related.
Something weird is going on, and the photos clearly show it.
n
The masquerade is falling apart. The normies are catching on.
It only matters until Saturday, February 3rd.
South Carolina “Primary”.
Shades of “Double Star”!
Wonder if it’s just “stand”-in?
How does Dr. Jill look these days?
Except that in Double Star, the double was brought in because of crimes committed by the bad guys. In today’s FUSA, the duplicitous dummy is part of the coverup of the crimes committed by and on behalf of the paedo POTATUS.
We’ve seen most of “Wag the Dog” play out, why not “Dave”?
The implications are terrifying though, if you think them through.
n
@greg, good stuff in this auction, NW of Austin
https://svdisposition.hibid.com/catalog/510118/techfootin-texas–2
Lots of monitors and tvs.
n
That’s not far from Texlake. If you wife takes Girl Scouts out there, she could do a pickup.
The location ends up being a long drive because of the parks and NIMBY interests ensconced between Marble Falls and Austin.
“Star Trek”, “Patterns of Force”.
The last time the episode came up in the Saturday night MeTV rotation, the recording on my TiVo was blank.
Body doubles; The Sen. John Fetterman that we’ve been seeing on TV recently is NOT the original. The original had forehead/eyebrow ridges that were nearly Ferengi in magnitude, while the current body double has merely a couple of wrinkles. And the new guy is almost conservative in tone, instead of the original’s far left attitudes.
Biden’s earlobes; I had mentioned that on X a few times mid-year, and I agree. the Biden we’re seeing on TV isn’t the real Biden. The double’s chin is almost normal, while Biden’s chin almost has two spikes sticking out of it.
Caleb Hammer’s last video of 2023: The poster child for “intersectional feminism”.
LA but originally from … Austin!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4dnvJRanl8
>> Lynn says:
Wow, the Pope’s Bible must be different from mine.
Well, it may be…if this is @Lynn’s “Bible”:
https://www.amazon.com/GARRISON-GRIP-Lettering-Adjustable-Medium-Sized/dp/B075ZS9FG9?tag=ttgnet-20/
Nah, this is a much better carry bag for things like gubs in church, a library, or a grocery store. Shoot, I can get a S&W 629 in there.
https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Laptop-Messenger-Shoulder-Tablet/dp/B075Y6Y9H5?tag=ttgnet-20/
For an EDC, that bag or fake Bible is way overkill. I spotted a 1911 on one of my fellow church members the other day in the middle of his back under his sport jacket as he reached over and put his arm around his wife.
It’s cool enough I am comfortable wearing my Dickies work shirts as “cover garment”. They are heavy and kinda stiff until they’ve been washed 100 times. GREAT value, btw. Won’t wear one without a t shirt under, I like my nipples the way they are.
I have the two tone, and solid, as well as a couple of old shirts in a plaid.
https://www.amazon.com/Dickies-Big-Tall-Short-Sleeve-Shirt-4X/dp/B000G35AU6?tag=ttgnet-20
https://www.amazon.com/Dickies-Short-Sleeve-Two-Tone-English-X-Large/dp/B008LWS62I?tag=ttgnet-20/
The Dickies shirt does a great job of hiding the print, especially the couple of shirts I have with a pattern. Patterns break up the outline even more.
And from the amazon review…
emphasis added.
n
Finally some useful info from the AI machines.
>> We’ve seen most of “Wag the Dog” play out, why not “Dave”?
The implications are terrifying though, if you think them through.
Make sure you have doubles of those DVDs in the stacks 😉
Huh, I’ve got copies, I know it, and I thought I’d already ripped them, but they aren’t on the server.
Maybe they are already at the BOL. or maybe they’re in the boxes waiting to be ripped. I know I own them, just can’t FIND them…
n
“Blacks Want Segregation”
https://areaocho.com/war-on-whiteness-continues/
Can’t we all just get along ?
As I’ve been saying for a year or two: If White people are so bad, why do you keep moving to our neighborhoods?