So another hot humid summer day in Houston is ready to start. And one just finished. Everyone likes to complain about the weather, and we got plenty to complain about…
Took D1 to her day camp (for those without kids, it’s an activity that gets the kids out of the house for a day or a half day). There is a whole industry of “day camps” for kids. Most of them have an educational component, so the kids don’t even get a break from school in the summer anymore. When the kids needed constant supervision, having a place for them to go for a few hours a day was as godsend and we did it. Looking back, it might have been better if the FUN element had been emphasized rather than the “learning”. D1 has her second day today.
Spent the rest of the day doing domestic bliss and passed out from carbs. Can’t do that today, too many things need to be wrapped up around the house.
I need to put the A/C units away. I need to do the last of the laundry. And there is more cleaning and organizing to do in my office and throughout the house. Outdoor shite is gonna have to wait… other than putting my plates on the trucks. I got that done yesterday. Now I have to get my toll tags changed out or at least matched to the new plates. There is always more…
Like my hobby website had issues that boiled down to me not knowing what I’m doing. I hope I got it straightened out… but I won’t know til later today. Stuff was working — for the browsers we tested. But apparently older IE refused to render the template properly, and wouldn’t redirect to the wordpress “parking” url. FFox and android, and apple all worked fine. So that revealed that I had taken control of the URL but not properly transferred it to my new host, and linked it to the wordpress built site. Thought I had, but I was wrong. And IE wouldn’t play along. That should have gone through last night, but I will have to verify it and make sure it is working…
Trying to stack up some community engagement. It’s easier to sit home alone. Not as useful, but easier.
Stack some stuff, the rate of change is speeding up.
nick
The Captain and Tennile was the most famous case of people gaming the current US system.
77F and sunny. Gonna be hot. Coffee is brewing and the shower is warming up…
Time to start the day.
n
I am on Medicare as is the spousal unit.
When a person turns 65 Medicare Part A is automatic and just covers hospitalization and there is no charge. Medicare only pays 80% of the adjusted bill. The deductible is substantial of about $1,600 for hospital stays. Of course, the government made it more complicated with various amounts for types of stays.
Medicare Part B the individual needs to sign up and that will cover doctors beyond the hospital. There is a monthly cost for part B and currently sits at about $165.00 a month. Once a person is on Social Security the premium is deducted from the SS payment. Medicare only covers 80% of the adjusted bill.
Medicare Part C is like an HMO. There is no charge for part C but the plan is fairly restrictive. Generally not recommended if part B is within a person’s budget. For some it makes sense, for most the only real beneficiary is the insurance companies. The out-of-pocket costs vary by the insurance provider. Biggest problem is that many doctors and hospitals will not accept Part C because the payment amount is too low.
Part D is prescription coverage. The premiums are deducted from SS money or must be paid by the individual if they are not on SS. That currently is about $40.00 a month for my wife. This amount varies depending on a person’s income.
The recipient has a choice of prescription drug coverage providers. They all have deductibles and copays. For top tier drugs it can be expensive. A three month supply of one of my wife’s heart drugs is almost a $1,000 copay. When limits are reached these amounts drop but are still expensive. Supposedly in 2025 the maximum a person pays for drugs is $2,500 after which everything is covered 100%. I fully expect premiums for 2025 to rise to close to $100 a month.
My wife has Part D coverage, I do not as I get my prescriptions from the VA at zero cost to me.
Delaying the signup for Part D, if needed, can be substantial unless a person can prove other credible drug coverage. Waiting three years to get Part D with no other coverage in those three years can increase by $12.50 a month, forever.
There is a yearly deductible with Medicare which is $240.00. Once that is paid Medicare will pay 80% leaving the 20% to the user. That is where supplemental policies come into play. These are policies purchased by the individual which will pay the 20% that Medicare does not pay. There are deductibles with these policies and are about $450.00. After that the supplemental will pay 100% of what Medicare does not pay.
There are levels of coverage for the supplemental. Plan G is the best and is highly recommended. Other plans have cheaper premiums but also offer much less coverage. The current premium on plan G for both the spousal unit and I is running $288.00 a month. Spousal unit pays $122 a month, I pay $166 a month. That must be paid by myself through a check or automatic transfer from my checking account.
We use Mutual of Omaha and have since the onset of Medicare coverage. We have never had an issue. The hospital, or doctor, bills Medicare, Medicare adjusts the bill and pays the 80%. Then the hospital or doctor bills the supplemental insurance for the balance. I have never had a billing issue.
Like any government program the entire process, coverages, amounts, etc. is entirely too complicated. My recommendation is to use a broker that specializes in Medicare. They know the ins and outs and can make recommendations. There is no cost to the user as the agents are paid by commission by the insurance companies. Use a couple of agents to get a different perspective.
Thanks for the summary Ray, that is very useful.
n
I knew one family that really gamed the system for Obamacare. The couple was living together for 11 months out of the year. For one month out of the year the male leach would live with his parents. That way he could claim he was not living full time with the female leach. He worked and had his health insurance through work. She did not work and claimed zero income. She paid nothing in premiums.
At one point she complained that the state’s proposal to limit to six emergency room visits a month was going to affect her health and her two kids’ health. She had a habit of running to the ER when any of them had so much as a sniffle. There was also going to be a limit on prescriptions each month, something like 20, and that was going to endanger her family’s health.
She also received food stamps, rent assistance, utility assistance, a no-charge cell phone, and no-charge TV cable. She drove a V10 Excursion and would park in the fire lane at the grocery store because she felt privileged. They owned two wave-runners, a nice fishing boat and a travel trailer.
Each year she got several thousand in a tax refund having paid no taxes at all during the year.
Her daughter was dating some guy, the daughter got pregnant. The daughter refused to marry the guy until the child was two years old. That way the pregnancy and birth were paid for by the taxpayers as were the checkups, formula and diapers.
Her whole family were first class leaches. The two daughters were following the same career path, welfare leaches.
And I just got a notice that I am to appear for jury duty on July 29 at the Federal District Court in Knoxville. I have to call the court after 5:00 PM on the 28th to get instructions. I am familiar with the section of downtown Knoxville in which the court resides. I have no idea where to park or if parking is even paid for by the court. I have to be there at 8:00 AM in the morning and that means fighting that Knoxville traffic. I will have to leave the house by 6:30 AM to make certain I get there on time.
The court texted me, called my phone and sent an email.
I am not allowed to take any electronic devices into the jury area. That also includes smart watches. Since I will have to go through security, I will have to leave almost everything at home. I will just take my truck key and nothing else. I will still get body scanned by the manual device due to the knee replacement.
Where’s the wimminz:
Can you spot the unusual feature of Trump’s security detail at RNC two days after assassination attempt?
Move along, Skippy, nothing to see here. They’ll be back after some growth hormones.
More research indicates that I will get paid $50.00 per day for jury duty. I will also get $10.00 per day for parking. Mileage will be reimbursed with the rate not provided as it changes. The $50.00 is taxable income.
Ray, jury duty at your age? In our location, not sure if it is county or federal, folks over 70 can apply for a lifetime exemption. My wife did, and it was very simple: a phone call or just returning a jury postcard. I have not bothered yet. She found out by calling the court for a delay, but the result covered all courts, and she will not get any more notices.
I have been on three juries, and they were educational. The last one was about ten years ago, and there was no security other than a sign warning what not to take into the courtroom. No obtrusive searches. Might be different now.
We now have local courts, but in the past could have to serve in our county seat, 120 miles away. Stipend didn’t come close to personal costs.
Parking in our location is always no charge.
My speed drop from 800 to 150 has been confirmed by running a speed test. I am noticing no difference in anything I am doing on the web. Truth be told, for most people a speed of 100 or 200 Mbps is more than enough. It only takes 30 Mbps to support a 4K stream. Even 100 Mbps will easily support that requirement. 100 Mbps is really quite a lot of data.
What I wish I had was symmetrical speed. 150 Mbps both directions is more valuable than 1 Gbps.
will go on Medicare in ten months at which point I will go on plain old Medicare with A, B, D, and G supplementals. About $300/month for my wife, I think that I will be the same.
Living in the UK, the structure of the NHS is not optimal in my view and we could improve our Health Service delivery and outcomes. However, when I read about what medical care involves in the USA, why would anyone would this is a good, or acceptable, system for your society.
No ID? These days it can be dangerous to go anywhere without your papers, er, ID.
The court knows I am over 70 because of the application I was required to provide my birthdate. I saw nothing about an exception on the application.
This is a federal court so security is quite tight. About 15 years ago I was taking a photography class one of the assignments was photographing downtown Knoxville. I was across the street from the Federal Courthouse and some security guard comes running out saying I could not take pictures. I informed the guard I was on public property and the building was fair game. He threatened to handcuff me. I told him if he did he was going to be charged with assault. He got all huffy and called the police. I waited. The police showed up and told the guard that I was on public property, breaking no laws, and to leave me alone.
Even our local county courthouse has a security entrance. Everything through the scanner, body scanner, then manual scan because of the knee joint. Even my tiny little Swiss pocket knife was taken and held until I left the building.
I was on a juvenile murder trial. Different than a criminal trial. In this case all we had to do was affirm the states case true as presented. The juvenile had set a house that was occupied on fire. The occupant died in the fire. We had to view pictures of the charred body, gruesome.
Eight men and four women. The men immediately came to a decision. The women were “oh he may just be a troubled child”, “oh we should feel sorry”, etc. It took several hours, part of one day and into the next, to convince the women that if the child was troubled, then he needed help and off the street.
Both attorneys were incompetent and I wish I could have told them so. The idiotic questions, the missed questions, the stumbling. It was sad.
The case was fairly prominent in San Antonio and after we left the courtroom the jurors were trounced by the press. None of us gave any interviews and said nothing to the press.
Yeh, well, I missed that part. Of course I will have an ID. My driver’s license will remain in my vehicle. I will take my VA ID into the court. That tends to confuse the people checking the ID even though it is federally issued and has my picture.
I have 50 Mbps symmetrical from a mom and pop provider WISP. The download speed is often below 30 because of congestion, but the upload is almost always right at 50. I stream TV, with hardly ever a glitch, but I have a TV that upscales. TV is not too important to me.
I also tried T-Mobile fixed wireless, but it was often too slow for good TV. I keep it for backup, with the hope they improve their backhaul. Other locations get T-Mobile speeds that rival fiber. I signed up for an unlimited plan that is guaranteed price per month as long as I keep it. I am thinking of switching our phones from AT&T, because the price is much cheaper.
It is looking like Frontier might not bring fiber to my block, in spite of promises to do so. Rats. Their fiber gets very good ratings, and is cheap compared to competitors. Speedy and reliable, too.
The Feds are tightening up on VA ID being used as ID since the cards lack RFID.
Get a Passport card if you don’t have one already. Outside of border areas or cruise ports, most people haven’t seen one of those either.
I have one. Even their use is limited. They can be used when driving into, and back, from Mexico and Canada. But not when flying. The card cannot be use when flying anywhere outside the US. The card can be used at a TSA check point.
On my last flying trip I tried to use my VA ID at the security checkpoint. They take your picture and process the identification. My VA card would not work, they wanted my driver’s license. Later I asked a TSA agent why the VA card would not work. He did not know. He did offer that even their TSA IDs will not work in the system.
I like to mess with the poll workers when voting. I sometimes use my passport card, sometimes my passport, sometimes my VA card. I never use my driver’s license. And I do have Real ID on my driver’s license.
That was my observation too when I was on juries.
That’s right. Just asked my wife, and she corrected me. She called the court for an extension, and was told she could apply for the exemption. She was mailed a postcard to sign and return. She has no copy.
Apparently, this is a well kept secret. One of her friends tried and was told there was no such thing. My wife gave her the phone number, and it worked like magic. Apparently you have to know who to ask. Typical for a bureaucracy. Good luck.
I have always used my drivers license for ID, and never had any problem in any state, before or after getting Real ID. I do use my passport when crossing all borders, and never a problem. I have never used my passport card, and don’t trust it.
I do have other forms of ID, but only used one once. That was for a financial matter, and I thought the security was dodgy. It worked fine.
I would never use any form of ID other than drivers license or passport in person. This is on advice of my uncle, who was a retired LAPD detective, and a local head of security for a major airline. He knew all sorts of practical stuff. I have his retirement badge, and it is one of my most prized treasures. It never leaves its secure storage. No one else in the family wanted it. It is beautiful.
fedgov sent this from CDC today.
https://www.cdc.gov/radiation-emergencies/caring/index.html
Radioactive contamination and exposure could occur if radioactive materials are released into the environment due to an accident, event in nature, or intentional act. CDC works to protect people from radiation-related hazards, and provide best practices, guidance, training, tools, and information. While there is not an immediate threat of a radiation emergency, knowing the right steps to take can protect health.
You cannot see, smell, feel, or taste radiation but you can still protect yourself from harm. If a warning is issued for a radiation emergency, take actions to stay safe.
Get inside:
Stay inside:
If you are in a car:
Stay tuned:
If you think you have been exposed to harmful material during a radiation incident, follow these steps to remove radioactive particles from your body.
1. Take off outer layer of clothing:
2. Get clean:
3. Help others and pets:
Paul A. Charp, Ph.D., Fellow, Health Physics Society
Senior Health Physicist; Radiation Studies Program
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
What key advice do you have for community leaders to help their community be prepared for potential radiation exposure?
Official communications in the immediate area may be unavailable depending on the type of radiation incident. Infrastructure and communications systems might be damaged. Community leaders can help share messaging before, during, and after an incident using communication devices that are available. They can share recommendations for protective actions, evacuations, and locations of community reception centers and shelters in impacted areas.
What do you wish people knew about protecting themselves from radiation?
In most radiation emergencies, the best thing to do will be to get inside, stay inside, and stay tuned for more information from emergency officials. Three basic protective measures are “time, distance, shielding.” Minimize your time near the impacted area, put distance between yourself and the radioactive source, and shield yourself by getting inside a building or home.
What is the biggest challenge facing emergency response work after a radiation event?
Identifying the location of the contaminated area and what resources (fire, rescue, medical, public utilities) are available can be challenging. Finding such areas will make it possible for experts to recommend ways to reduce harmful health effects after determining if people, plants, animals, and the environment have been impacted.
fedgov sent this from CDC today.
https://www.cdc.gov/radiation-emergencies/caring/index.html
Radioactive contamination and exposure could occur if radioactive materials are released into the environment due to an accident, event in nature, or intentional act. CDC works to protect people from radiation-related hazards, and provide best practices, guidance, training, tools, and information. While there is not an immediate threat of a radiation emergency, knowing the right steps to take can protect health.
I did not see the bend over and kiss your butt goodbye directive.
Apparently, Jack Black is really, really sorry about that unfortunate statement made in support of Trump’s shooter.
Not because of supporting assassination, mind you, but because his concert tour has just been canceled.
Poor Jack Black. My heart bleeds.
re: radioactivity
Once again, I insist: If you don’t have a copy of “Nuclear War Survival Skills”, buy or download one now. The download is free.
Unlike the advice “Bend over and kiss your butt goodbye” advice, or the fictional nuclear winter advice (Sagan admitted to making that up), Kearny did actual research on survivability. At an actual national lab.
Wouldn’t hurt to get in a supply of potassium iodide while you’re at it.
Oh, and you don’t need a geiger counter, either. You can buy an electroscope or even build a homemade one.
A nuclear war would be an extinction level event for humanity. Everyone seems to get it except for the cabal runnng Corn Pop.
Not expensive on the Big River. You probably only want to buy a couple of bottles at a pop to stay off of any undesirable list.
“BREAKING: Secret Service chief reveals BIZARRE reason why agent wasn’t on the roof of shooter’s building at Trump rally…”
https://therightscoop.com/breaking-secret-service-chief-reveals-bizarre-reason-why-agent-wasnt-on-the-roof-of-shooters-building-at-trump-rally/
“The head of the Secret Service has finally revealed why they didn’t have an agent on the roof of the building the shooter used to try and assassinate President Trump during his rally on Saturday.”
“In short, they felt it was too risky to have an agent up there because of the slope of the roof.”
“Here’s more via the Daily Mail:”
Yup, DEI runs the Secret Service now.
Oh, and you don’t need a geiger counter, either. You can buy an electroscope or even build a homemade one.
What ? Got parts URLs for something an idiot like me can build ?
“Federal Appeals Court Rejects Transgender Challenge To Tennessee’s Birth Certificate Policy”
https://legalinsurrection.com/2024/07/federal-appeals-court-rejects-transgender-challenge-to-tennessees-birth-certificate-policy/
“Court: There is no fundamental right to a birth certificate recording gender identity instead of biological sex.”
Finally, we are getting more and more good decisions out of the Federal Court System.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
“Training combat drone pilots the hard way”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2024/07/training-combat-drone-pilots-hard-way.html
“There’s a very interesting article over at The War Zone on how Ukraine is training its FPV (first person view) drone pilots to take on the enemy, and win. Here’s an excerpt.”
Yup, one thing that the Ukraine – Russia war has been invaluable for is telling us that WWII war styles will no longer work. Tanks must be invulnerable from all directions, including top and bottom. Drones are deadly serious in swarms and in the hands of good operators. 3D printers must be close to the battlefield.
I got 3 bottles from Amazon. That, and a few filter respirator masks.
Radiation decays quite rapidly; stuff that’s very radioactive will lose half of it’s radioactivity from decay in 8 hours, and 8 hours later, it will be half that again. Low-level radioactives decay more slowly, but are less dangerous. For a “dirty bomb”, they would choose the most radioactive stuff they could find, and use it as soon as possible.
In Colorado, several housing developments were impacted when the aggregate used in the concrete foundations was discovered to have trace amounts of uranium-238. The primary danger there is that radon is one of the decay products, so radon in foundations sinks to the basement and long-term exposures can cause cancers. The solution is a fan that vents basement floor air to the outside, where the heavy radon can flow downhill until it dissipates. No basement? No worries!
For light reading, I recommend Herman Kahn’s “On Thermonuclear War”.
“Data center, crypto operations in 10 states drive all US commercial power sales growth since 2019: EIA”
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/commercial-sector-power-sales-data-center-crypto-eia/721467/
“Virginia, Texas, South Carolina and Arizona led the way with the highest demand growth while Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois and New Jersey had the largest losses, the agency said.”
And they are driving up the prices of electric power for all of us as the utilties buy new peakers by the truckload.
It’s literally a chapter in the book. It uses tin cans, cardboard, aluminum foil, string, cardstock, and scotch tape.
Here’s a good search term for you. Even the cretins at Wikipedia have an article on it.
Building an Electroscope
https://www.wikihow.com/Make-an-Electroscope
Build your electroscope NOW, and see how long the static charges take to dissipate. Radiation will cause a charge on your electroscope to dissipate more rapidly, and the rate of dissipation is roughly proportional to the amount of radioactivity.
However, Amazon has a “Prime Day” deal on a cheap Geiger counter, https://www.amazon.com/Geiger-Counter-Nuclear-Radiation-Detector/dp/B0BHH9X1WG/ref=sr_1_5?crid=23DYO6SO3WDU0&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.oubR9tawehaU02cQS9s6QHDOLfXNVKn-rW19ygU35YTI-S_WueeR-NgowXNa7cy7e0RNB77e8lVdiBW_dgikRAufnS92XE3_cQ9TLCD-tgFJTVMOxzg-jdYJta1v4PxGbyY-yCVeCTXHpfBirIZsQA11fxFRu8jrDyQEPLGKNHKB-4lF8587wMp5jOD5AzlfQ3mWvXeB11tjGHKXnkFW82VJ6phDcuve8ojZBvwIc1g.NBnpIC6oqV6Urb9DZTX0JoTVYnXIWDU9RW5b1vvVmI4&dib_tag=se&keywords=geiger+counter&psr=PDAY&qid=1721155462&s=prime-day&sprefix=geiger+counter%2Cprime-day%2C150&sr=1-5 for $48.17. With an option to get the printed copy of “Nuclear War Survival Skills”.
>> “The head of the Secret Service has finally revealed why they didn’t have an agent on the roof of the building the shooter used to try and assassinate President Trump during his rally on Saturday.”
And she also said “the buck stops with me” and “I intend to remain in this position.” Well…one of those two might be correct…and it ain’t the second.
Photo fail o the day… or a bit of snark?
Photo shows Naomi Campbell in a wet, light-colored bikini, with her genital piercing jewelry clearly visible thru the fabric…
(added- or I guess on closer examination ** cough ** it could be some charms from her thin gold chain around her hips…)
n
“Donald Trump’s VP pick JD Vance labels UK ‘first truly Islamist country to get nuclear weapon'”
https://www.themirror.com/news/politics/donald-trumps-vp-pick-jd-595042
“Donald Trump’s new running mate JD Vance branded the UK the “first truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon” in a brutal swipe just days before he was formally selected by the ex-president”
You know, JD Vance may not be wrong. Some scary stuff is going on over there in the UK. I first noticed it when I walked to Heathrow Airport one afternoon in 1995 ??? when I accidentally got off the tube one or two stops too early. Lots of men sitting on buildings stairs watching me walk down the street pulling my suitcase. It was a very eerie feeling.
Hat tip to:
https://www.drudgereport.com/
BTW, Drudge is throwing all the hit pieces that he can at JD Vance today.
Follow up from ATT about the data breach.
traffic analysis… still a thing, and still damaging to the customers.
n
@lynn:
Depending on where you are. I’m sure it’s the same in the US, as far as ethnic minorities are concerned. You do have no-go zones for whites, don’t you?
Most Muslims in UK are not supportive of the Islamist factions. They’re not vocal about it, but they seem to be not in favour of extremism.
Of course, this might be me being unobservant.
G.
And yet, the very large number of Muslims being elected to mayorships seem to skew to the Islamist side, and they don’t object the street closures for prayers, or demands for sharia courts.
Here in the USA, sharia is ENTIRELY incompatible with the Constitution, and any Muslim who advocates for sharia here needs to be immediately deported.
Fixed it for you.
If you are willing to waste 00:06:54 of your time here is a link to a slideshow I produced of my trip to Europe in 2023.
https://www.raymondthompsonphotography.com/Europe2023.mp4
“BREAKING: Elon Musk to move SpaceX and X from California to Texas to protest ban on schools notifying parents of students’ gender identity”
https://www.reuters.com/technology/musk-says-spacex-will-move-headquarters-texas-california-2024-07-16/
“Musk added that he’d “had enough of dodging gangs of violent drug addicts just to get in and out of the building.””
I am surprised that it took him this long to move SpaceX to Starbase (Boca Chica), Texas and X to Austin, Texas.
The appeal to the courts on my back issue has produced some results. According to the lawyer the VA admitted procedural mistakes and mistakes in the examination. The VA is going to reevaluate my claim. Whether this will require another exam, or just a ruling of increased compensation by the VA is unknown. According to the lawyer this is a positive result as court was not required.
Ever been out to see Starbase/Boca Chica?
If you say, “Sure, 30 years ago,” rest assured, not much has changed.
As for X, that HQ would be better off in Dallas unless Musk wants a rerun of what happened in San Francisco. The true technical talent base isn’t that deep here in Austin.
Oracle already bugged out, and their Austin “HQ” was not much more than a branch office with a hotel attached, mostly used to train new college grads before the experiment with basing the company here.
“Analysis Finds That Rich Americans Are the Biggest Winners of the Government’s Green Subsidies”
https://thelibertydaily.com/analysis-finds-that-rich-americans-are-biggest-winners/
“(DCNF)—The majority of the $47 billion in green tax credits claimed between 2006 and 2021 went to high-income households, according to a new study published Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research.”
“Households in the top 20% of earnings nationally received about 60% of clean energy tax credits, while the bottom 60% of households received just 10%, according to the paper written by Severin Borenstein and Lucas W. Davis, two economists at the University of California, Berkeley. This pattern of high-income filers claiming the lion’s share of green tax credits has stayed “relatively constant” during the time period until it experienced a “slight broadening” with the introduction of an electric vehicle (EV) credit in 2018.”
Gotta have it to spend it.
If you say, “Sure, 30 years ago,” rest assured, not much has changed.
My Dad used to have a deer lease in Del Rio, north of there, 45 years ago. The word “desolate” does not begin to describe the area.
X would do better in the DFW metroplex than moving to Austin.
Still desolate.
Don’t go out to visit the Starbase without a full tank of gas, and take the F150, not the Highlander.
EVs? Yeah, right. Lots of big pickups in the parking lot at SpaceX, and the Starbase is about an hour from any infrastructure which could support a meaningful number of Superchargers for the workers.
We did not go out there on the last trip since the gas stations in Port Isabel were already running dry by Saturday morning and we had to sweat getting back to civilization on the Sunday after the Fourth.
Just back from the range.
I’ve been pretty proud in the last 8 months or so bragging about my red dot sights and their “shake awake”, battery saving technology, and how I’ve finallly joined the 21st century.
I brought 2 gubs today.
Both had dead sights.
At least the P365 had co-witnessed iron sights. The AR-15 pistol was useless. To be fair, I haven’t really found a great use-case for an AR-15 pistol, but it’s even less useful if you can’t aim it.
Time to order some more batteries. And backup iron sites for the ARs.
And mark my calendar to change batteries at least every 6 months, even though the manufacturer and the gub journos swear you’ll get 12 to 18 months out of them.
Best to learn this at the range instead of when work needed done.
Real technical talent is available in Dallas along with a lot of telecom experience.
Austin just offers the party and more Soy Boys similar to what X had showing up for work on Market Street in San Francisco.
Well, when they weren’t “working” from home.
This month’s electric bills have arrived. The price of electricity has gone up a bit. I can’t control that. I can control kWh used.
The EDC used 383 kWh at $60 vs 416 at $63 this month last year. The window unit seems to think “set at 80” means “cool to 75”. So I have pushed the t-stat up a little. 78 on the thermometer is close enough. It’s a balancing act. I have two freezers and a fridge in the EDC. If it’s hot the freezers and fridge work harder. A few years ago I tried using just a fan in the window. Less juice than a/c, right? The electric bill went up about $25and it was 95f in the EDC on a cloudy day. Kind of like having a fridge and freezer in the garage.
The bill for the house is $81 this month. Last year it was $107. 589 kWh vs 879 kWh. Other than not cooking breakfast anymore, the big change is I have the t-stat set at 80f instead of 78f.
I open the house up in the morning. Sliding door open, some upper windows pulled down. Even with no breeze, convection cools the house. It’s a game that amuses me.
Yeah. Eccentric is coming on fast. 🙂
The dumpster fire continues to rage in Burbank.
Someone is burning serious amounts of cash to keep the stock at the 200 day MA to avoid triggering the final algorithm burn to a reasonable valuation. Calling that number at half of the current share price would be generous with the PE over 100.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/15/business/internal-disney-slack-leak-hacker-group/index.html
Does anyone have any reliable info on whether “True the Vote” and its founder are legit, or are they just grifter RINOs? A little cursory research doesn’t seem to help. But then, if they actually were legit, the enemy would paint them as grifters, so what’s a guy to do?
I haven’t really found a great use-case for an AR-15 pistol,
–truck gun for when you have to get out of Dodge and there are people who might stop you.
Easy to maneuver in a vehicle.
n
I assume they are all grifters. Everyone from Jim and Tammi Faye (and long before) to today. If they are asking for money and you don’t get anything, not even a magazine subscription or a bottle of snake oil, grifter.
And shared ammo. Maybe shared magazines. Clips. The thing you fill with bullets.
Pistol and rifle use the same stuff. Inventory control! 🙂
Danger, Will Robinson!
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/16/politics/supreme-court-reform-joe-biden-ethics-immunity-term-limits/index.html
Kind of like having a fridge and freezer in the garage.
I have got two refrigerators in the garage, a 7 ft3 dorm fridge and the old 25 ft3 side by side. Now you have got me wondering what they are doing to my electric bill. But, we love the side by side in the garage, it is awesome to have extra storage. It is actually mostly empty for the refrigerator side, the freezer side is almost full.
Danger, Will Robinson!
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/16/politics/supreme-court-reform-joe-biden-ethics-immunity-term-limits/index.html
Anything that changes the Federal Court system will have to be a Constitutional Amendment. SCOTUS established that way back in 1803.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marbury_v._Madison
“Secret Service ramped up security after receiving intel of Iranian plot to assassinate Trump; no known connection to shooting”
One can only imagine what the ‘not ramped up’ security would have looked like – yikes!
>> Anything that changes the Federal Court system will have be a Constitutional Amendment. SCOTUS established that way back in 1800 or so.
it’s FJB and his puppetmasters that we’re talking about here…by hook or by crook if given the opportunity.
More Justices would be a simple majority vote of both chambers.
Filibuster? You’re kidding right?
The Constitution does not term limit the Justices, however, so, yes, that would have to be an amendment.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Johnny Carson Park …
https://www.msn.com/en-xl/money/topstories/warner-bros-discovery-rises-after-bofa-says-possible-sale-of-assets-likely-beneficial/ar-BB1q65NN
Austin is merely the Berkeley of Texas, so moving Xwitter there would be pointless. Dallas would be much better as the home for “X”. Or even San Antonio.
X would do better in the DFW metroplex than moving to Austin.
Musk apparently just built a building for X in Austin next to the Tesla Gigafactory.
Apparently the new X building is not as large as the San Fransisco space. Maybe 10,000 ft2 for 100 people ? In the real world, X does not need many people compared to the 5,000 ??? people X had before ?
Yummy leftover indian food for dinner. Living large. Really. Crazy good food.
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As more detail about the assassination attempt comes out, the story gets more and more unbelievable.
The world is getting weirder every day.
n
All that was missing was the SS clown car…
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2024/07/16/secret-service-snipers-saw-trumps-would-be-assassin-two-minutes-before-opening-fire-n2642028
Scroll about halfway down for the details from CBS News.
I’m thinking of adding a new tag for content – getting older. The topic has come up a lot recently, and I find a lot of the discussion to be helpful. And it’s something we all aspire to…
n
More like get dragged into kicking and screaming…
🙂