Hot and humid, but maybe some rain, and maybe a bit cooler? Who knows? Not the weather liars. Not me. It will be what it is.
Kinda like the national and international stage. Anything can happen, but only some things are likely. No one knows, even the people who think they are in control, what will happen. That’s a bit concerning.
Yesterday was auction in the morning and kid stuff in the afternoon. Then I didn’t feel super, so I read. Not a productive day. I have got to pull me head out.
Maybe today. I’ve got pickups to do and no kid obligations in the afternoon. Once I’m moving it is easier to keep moving. There is mental and emotional inertia too. Overcoming that takes some effort, but once moving I can use it to my advantage. That’s one of the reasons I like to have all the stuff for a project in one place, so I can strike while the iron is hot…
The first thing I’ll need to do is load some scrap and take it and the old washing machine to the scrapper. If I don’t, it’ll be in the back of the pickup truck and in the way for my auction pickups. It’ll be good to clear some of the scrap out of the driveway too. I’ve been ‘stockpiling’ it. Hope it’s not too humid to work outside today. Or raining.
In any case, I’ll be working to improve my situation, and stacking some stuff. And that is good.
nick
Watch any politician at a political rally on TV. Every single one spends the majority of their time doing nothing but trying to tear down their opponent. None spend much time trying to establish what they are going to do, their plans. It is disgusting.
Just once I would like to hear a politician say “my opponent is a good person and would serve you well, however, I believe I am better and can serve you better. Here is why.” And then never mention their opponent again.
I despise both candidates. Both are lying scum. Both are suffering from ego trips. Both are worthless. In November I have to pick which is the least worthless. It is disgusting.
Agreed. It is another “hold your nose” and go vote. I do believe tRump is better for the country than The Kamel Humper. With her, all we will get is Obola 3.0. It looks like the commies will win. I’m going to laugh when all the Dumbo voters realize that the loss of the tRump tax cuts, and, additional taxes are going to cause major liberal tears.
Medicaid For All. No private insurance alternative or even cash payments allowed.
New laptop time at work.
Unfortunately, a ThinkPad T series isn’t on the list.
It looks like I’m getting another boat anchor.
IT gatekeepers for purchasing?
“Hamstring the government is the whole point of the constitution”
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2024/08/14/the-fall-of-the-january-6th-prosecutions-n3793124
Fifth Circuit invalidates geofencing warrants for J6 prosecutions on 4A grounds.
Big whoop. How to restore thousands of destroyed lives?
How about destroying some more?
Same time. Imprison the entire Biden DoJ in place. Put up a new building for the Trump Team.
ThinkPad is technically the competition’s product even if Intel does most of the engineering for the major vendors and the laptops get made in the same factory.
Another hot partly cloudy/light overcast day.
Better than blazing sun though.
n
OK, did a speed test on my DSL this morning (hard wired to router), about 1M up, 15 down…
Time to go buy a “pizza box” I guess. I think I actually saw a stack of them at the local Home Depot.
Not sure if Ring or Blink will work with the latency issues tho.
speedof.me says 700 down, 400 up to Dallas when I checked just now, on ATT fiber.
n
traceroute to austin still has that weird timeout in the middle, maybe that’s how ATT limits me to 700 instead of a gig with the next higher plan?
Tracing route to dell.com [143.166.136.12]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 4 ms <1 ms <1 ms dsldevice.attlocal.net [192.168.1.254]
2 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 172-14-48-1.lightspeed.hstntx.sbcglobal.net [172
.14.48.1]
3 6 ms 2 ms 2 ms 71.149.23.112
4 * * * Request timed out.
5 * * * Request timed out.
6 * * * Request timed out.
7 15 ms 11 ms 15 ms 32.130.17.51
8 17 ms 12 ms 14 ms cr82.auttx.ip.att.net [12.123.154.54]
9 12 ms 10 ms 8 ms 12.122.153.173
10 12 ms 8 ms 8 ms 12.90.230.34
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 * * * Request timed out.
13 * * * Request timed out.
14 9 ms 9 ms 9 ms lb-redirect-www-ps3.dell.com [143.166.136.12]
Trace complete.
n
FJB wants whatever small bit of payback he can muster:
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/resentful-joe-biden-set-snub-134106186.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZHJ1ZGdlcmVwb3J0LmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADqzBm-WSzi0kCIExcqwlx3TF3ANkDs0Ncd3YLyrDCzTvjIkRFHaNmJs91tCC6j-wbzSvn0q9_e5aQwsaelzXOb3OPnFV9naqhtNk7wEmapH25TG7n7pjkQ99-fpS6FquXybyAotAjl5Vm_aniCMwRwdcphttrg1pt2UU4GMAjT0
>>FJB wants whatever small bit of payback he can muster:
I heard that he’s been wandering around the WH while the rest of “his” staff is busy working and he’s been prying off the “k” key from keyboards.
For four years, Biden has been the lamb tied to a stake in the yard of a Greek household on Orthodox Easter weekend. He may not be totally aware of what’s coming, but he knows it won’t be good.
Baa …. Baa …. Baa ….
I still believe Big Mike is coming to slit that lamb’s throat.
speedof.me says 700 down, 400 up to Dallas when I checked just now, on ATT fiber.
speedof.me on Starlink says 27 mpbs down, 7 mbps up, 34 ms access.
C:\dii_16>tracert dell.com
Tracing route to dell.com [143.166.136.12]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms balance-664d [192.168.0.1]
2 1 ms 1 ms 2 ms 192.168.1.1
3 22 ms 18 ms 21 ms 100.64.0.1
4 18 ms 20 ms 21 ms 172.16.252.66
5 42 ms 36 ms 36 ms undefined.hostname.localhost [206.224.68.216]
6 33 ms 19 ms 21 ms 149.19.109.96
7 20 ms 20 ms 17 ms dls-b23-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.147.32]
8 * 18 ms 18 ms et-10-1-2.BR2.DFW13.ALTER.NET [204.148.43.169]
9 30 ms 24 ms 25 ms 0.ae1.GW2.AUS5.ALTER.NET [140.222.229.195]
10 28 ms 28 ms 26 ms tbd-gw.customer.alter.net [208.192.181.22]
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 * * * Request timed out.
13 * * * Request timed out.
14 33 ms 33 ms 31 ms lb-redirect-www-ps3.dell.com [143.166.136.12]
Trace complete.
The time outs are a huge firewall. Maybe three of them. Do anything bad and it will deploy a Terminator to your location.
“Stolen Valor Walz Plays Victim: “You Should Never Denigrate Another Person’s Service Record””
https://www.infowars.com/posts/stolen-valor-walz-plays-victim-you-should-never-denigrate-another-persons-service-record/
Awww, poor guy.
BTW, on Starlink. I have noticed that it collects all the traffic here and sends it to a huge downlink in Dallas. Interesting.
“Actor Dennis Quaid: Facebook Censoring “Reagan” Film Posts To Silence Conservatives”
https://www.infowars.com/posts/actor-dennis-quaid-facebook-censoring-reagan-film-posts-to-silence-conservatives/
“Longtime Hollywood actor Dennis Quaid is lashing out at Facebook for censoring content related to his upcoming film, Reagan, celebrating the life of U.S. President Ronald Reagan.”
Reagan movie trailer, for release August 30:
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/reagan_2024
“General Motors Sued by Texas AG for Scooping-Up & Selling Driver’s Private Data to Corporations & Insurance Companies”
https://www.infowars.com/posts/general-motors-sued-by-texas-ag-for-scooping-up-selling-drivers-private-data-to-corporations-insurance-companies/
“Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against General Motors (GM) for ‘deceptive and unlawful business practices’ related to the automobile manufacturing giant’s collection and sale of private driving data of Texans that chose to own modern vehicles to corporations and insurance companies.”
“Modern automobiles, roughly vehicles manufactured in about the last decade, are often equipped with a variety of systems including technology that can control where and when drivers are allowed to drive, track driver’s eyeballs, record occupant conversations, collect genetic and health information, biometrics and weight of drivers and passengers, causing auto insurance premiums to be increased and even monitor driver’s sexual activity.”
Oh my.
“Democrat Election Worker in Harris County, Texas Charged with Six Felonies For His Role in Rigging 2022 Election After Probe Finds Insufficient Paper Ballots in Republican Precincts”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/08/democrat-election-worker-harris-county-texas-charged-six/
“A Democrat election worker in Harris County, Texas was charged with 6 felonies for his role in rigging the 2022 midterm election.”
“Democrat District Attorney Kim Ogg on Tuesday announced tampering and theft charges against election worker Darryl Blackburn after there was a paper ballot shortage at 119 polling locations across Harris County.”
“The investigation found there were insufficient paper ballots in many Republican precincts.”
I ain’t buying that the blank ballot shortages were not intentional.
Speed test here says about 90 down and 40 up. It varies a bit. Sometimes 100 down, sometimes 70 down. It depends on the time of day. It’s usually about 95 down.
C:\Windows\System32>tracert dell.com
Tracing route to dell.com [143.166.30.172]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 15 ms 8 ms 9 ms 10.16.1.1
2 10 ms 11 ms 7 ms 10.14.1.165
3 13 ms 22 ms 13 ms 23.175.232.254.dal01.efkolos.com [23.175.232.254]
4 18 ms 11 ms 12 ms syn-070-116-212-113.biz.spectrum.com [70.116.212.113]
5 23 ms 22 ms 21 ms lag-101.mcr02dllbtxlb.netops.charter.com [24.93.50.141]
6 21 ms 26 ms 21 ms lag-9.rcr01dllatx37.netops.charter.com [24.93.50.157]
7 * 34 ms * lag-414.dllstx976iw-bcr00.netops.charter.com [66.109.6.52]
8 51 ms 44 ms 36 ms lag-302.pr3.dfw10.netops.charter.com [209.18.43.77]
9 * 29 ms 25 ms 63.125.136.241
10 * * * Request timed out.
11 56 ms 58 ms 53 ms 208.198.62.30
12 * * * Request timed out.
13 * * * Request timed out.
14 * * * Request timed out.
15 35 ms 36 ms 33 ms lb-redirect-www-pc1.dell.com [143.166.30.172]
Trace complete.
Interesting that lb-redirect-www-pc1.dell.com times out three times for the three of us.
“As heat continues, we dig deeper into Hurricane Beryl’s wind data. It was unpleasant, but very far from a worst-case scenario”
https://spacecityweather.com/as-heat-continues-we-dig-deeper-into-hurricane-beryls-wind-data-it-was-unpleasant-but-very-far-from-a-worst-case-scenario/
“Of most interest is the winds from Beryl, as they were the cause of power outages to about 90 percent of customers in the Greater Houston area. A few days after Beryl’s landfall, Space City Weather published a post that said a region with a competent electricity distribution system should not have experienced such widespread outages. The new data supports this view. The highest sustained winds across the vast majority of the Houston area were in the vicinity of 40 to 60 mph, with gusts in the 60 to 80 mph range.”
“For much of Houston, especially the eastern half of the metro area, these winds were less than experienced during Hurricane Ike, in 2008. For example, maximum sustained winds during Hurricane Ike at Hobby Airport, in the center of the city, were 75 mph. During Beryl, maximum sustained winds were 54 mph. These were different storms, with different tracks, but it seems clear that our electricity distribution grid 16 years after Hurricane Ike is no stronger than than before. It is possibly even more vulnerable.”
I suspect that Centerpoint got lax on tree cutting. There are always people screaming at them and filing lawsuits about cutting the trees away from the electric lines.
And, Centerpoint needs to replace wooden poles with concrete poles. I know that they do not look as good but, the concrete poles are way stronger.
And, if electricity is important to you, get a whole house generator. Unfortunately, solar systems with batteries are still 3X the cost of a generator, but maybe someday.
Texture and dye the concrete. Think “pine tree trunk”.
FIFY
Inflation report: $10 for a Whopper and Diet Coke at Burger King today in Austin near work.
At first, I thought they gave me the meal, but the cashier verified the price.
Usually, I don’t go to BK so the price hike was surprising.
Oof:
Breaking: Hackers Claim to Have Stolen EVERY American’s Social Security Number
“I am not a number! I am a free man!”
Paxton has been busy settling scores since the Impeachment.
GM has a big tech development shop in town. Lots of H1B labor. They must donate to the Progs.
Something has him revved up about GM.
The gentrifying areas of Tampa were bad with NIMBY. I can only imagine that Houston is worse since the NIMBYs have more money.
Tampa has one Fortune 500 HQ left, Outback Steakhouse (or whatever the parent company calls itself now), and that is likely to change with an acquisition in the future.
BK has the $5.00 meal. Well, at least here. Whopper Jr., 4 chicken nuggets, fries and a small drink. I find that more than enough.
I’ve gotten the McDonald’s $5.00 pack a couple of times lately. Mine came with a chicken sandwich (quite good), 4 piece chicken nuggets, small fry, and small drink (which I upgraded to a large drink).
All was tasty and hot. Good value, IMHO.
At Wendy’s, a ‘double stack’ (small double cheese/double burger with real onions) and a large drink is about $6.00. Also good and hot.
Well different parts of town are getting hammered by rain. Inches in minutes. But it totally depends where you are.
n
Wendy’s? In WA State? I guess it depends on where you live.
In Vantucky, Wendy’s was $7+ for a single when we left a decade ago. With state, county, city, and neighborhood sales taxes of just under 10%, lunch for two often pushed $40.
At Wendy’s.
I don’t want to think about what it costs now.
I usually avoid Burger King because the local franchisee hasn’t learned that Dr. Pepper ruins the plastic of the fountain dispenser lines, and the syrup can’t be swapped out easily.
The Diet Coke tastes like Dr. Pepper. My son said that their Sprite does too.
Canadians own Burger King now, part of Tim Horton’s parent along with Popeye’s and Fire House Subs. Maybe the prices were in Canadian dollars. 🙂
Wow, lightning strike felt like it was in the yard right in front of me. Nothing smoking though…
n
Squirrel Boy on “working” from home.
Yes, we can’t fire the employees fast enough so they need to work harder.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/eric-schmidt-says-google-is-falling-behind-on-ai-and-remote-work-is-why/ar-AA1oO2my
Thank you Fake Steve Jobs for the nickname.
Inflation report: $10 for a Whopper and Diet Coke at Burger King today in Austin near work.
At first, I thought they gave me the meal, but the cashier verified the price.
Usually, I don’t go to BK so the price hike was surprising.
The 12 pack of diet Dr. Pepper was $8.86 at HEB last night. I passed.
Dollar General was advertising 12 packs of diet DP for $6 a couple of weeks ago. I might darken their door.
Costco has the big box o Dr Pepper for 50c/can.
n
>>“Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against General Motors (GM) for ‘deceptive and unlawful business practices’ related to the automobile manufacturing giant’s collection and sale of private driving data of Texans that chose to own modern vehicles to corporations and insurance companies.”
Obviously the car “owners” didn’t read the TOS.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/texas/article-13743951/texas-state-fair-gun-ban-ken-paxton.html
The law is clear and unambiguous. State land, guns OK.
The Houston rodeo isn’t on state owned land, and uses a clause that prohibits carry at “professional sporting events” which they use to include the actual Rodeo. They used to weasel about “school or educational events” but IDK if they still try that one one. Carry should be legal at the events.
Houston Zoo is a perfect example, as it’s .gov land, ie owned by the citizens. LEGAL to carry despite their signage attempting to intimidate carriers.
n
Costco has the big box o Dr Pepper for 50c/can.
Yeah, so does HEB. But then I have to load them in my office fridge individually as the big box of 24 cans does not fit in the fridge.
Another piece of my childhood and literally the last project Jim Henson completed before he passed.
Mickey, erase the Muppets’ legacy in the Studios park and you truly deserve what’s coming.
En Fuego!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/travel/disney-world-closing-muppet-vision-3d-would-be-a-colossal-mistake-for-its-legacy/ar-AA1oK1F0
Dr. Pepper: BBQ flavored Sprite
Dr. Pepper: BBQ flavored Sprite
The non-diet version of DP has more sugar than Sprite ! Almost as much sugar as Mountain Dew. But not near as much caffeine (Mountain Dew has 2X caffeine of DP).
Dr Pepper, so much better than Mr Pib…
Clearly the elixir of the gods, to have survived multiple decades of the WORST ad campaign idea in the history of bad campaigns- dancing tights wearing rent boys, FFS.
n
I never thought the Muppets belonged at WDW. The IP is snarky, adult, and often makes fun of D and Disney IP.
The attraction and its success, led to several other “4D” attractions that have become mainstays of a WDW visit… so there is that. It’s looking a bit long in the tooth though, and it’s been a few generations since Sesame Street and the Muppets lost relevance to kids.
n
MD was my goto soda in college….
Did not drink coffee at all.
—–
Starlink box is on the dining room table, too much to do today to even open it.
Finished the Hidden Legacy books and novella. I liked them a lot because of the family dynamic and change in viewpoint character… something the authors play with in the Innkeeper series.
They do stick to their Avon/Romance template, but the books are enjoyable. They’d be the same without the (small number of) sex scenes, but I guess that’s part of the genre. There’s a lot of stuff outside of the romance genre to catch and keep my interest.
BTW, if you like any of the books they’ve written, you’ll probably like them all… due to the genre conventions…
n
>> The Kamel’s strategy of hiding in Joe’s basement except for scripted appearances
This eventually becomes obvious. Of course, anyone who suffers from TDS will studiously not notice.
So their response is that the press isn’t their constituency, the people are, and they’ve (Kamel and Tampon Tim) been crisscrossing the country and talking directly to the American people. I guess they can count on the left side of the IQ bell curve.
>> New laptop time at work.
Unfortunately, a ThinkPad T series isn’t on the list.
It looks like I’m getting another boat anchor.
No Carbon X-1 either, huh?
>> So their response is that the press isn’t their constituency, the people are, and they’ve (Kamel and Tampon Tim) been crisscrossing the country and talking directly to the American people.
Wow, even the LSM is getting cranky about this issue…
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6360418955112
MD was my goto soda in college….
Did not drink coffee at all.
– I drank water or koolaid in college. Couldn’t afford coffee or soda, or milk or butter for that matter. The one Dr Pepper a day I sometimes allowed myself came during break at my afternoon job. That came from spare change, if I had any.
Beer was cheap, and went on credit cards when I wanted it. I did some work for one of the food joints/bars across from campus and got paid in beer and sandwiches. My tab lasted pretty long with $2 pitchers. Of course there were weeks when my cards were maxed, and paychecks hadn’t come in or I didn’t have work for a week, and the balls didn’t quite all stay in the air. Those days I ate 10c wings and $1 beers. $5 for supper and a beer and a tip. Or I raided the leftover hamburgers at the White Castle clone where I worked. I think my minimum wage jobs paid $3.40/hr…
I don’t really eat wings anymore. Or ramen. Or hot dogs. Or mac n cheese.
n
>> Texture and dye the concrete. Think “pine tree trunk”.
Not uncommon for cell towers, not so much for power poles, not sure why but perhaps power poles are much more numerous?
https://www.bendbulletin.com/business/it-s-a-pine-tree-no-it-s-a-cell-tower/article_ed25038c-25d5-5c1a-8baa-f5d0e08bc79d.html