Hot and humid here. I was hoping for a tiny bit cooler, but I think we’ll get hot and humid. It was 78F at midnight… with no breeze.
Did my pickups in Houston, then shopping at costco and lowes. Finally got the truck loaded and hit the road. Stuck behind a slowpoke and it added time to the trip. Made it though.
Today I’ll be fixing the mower deck so I can mow, and working other things on the list… and trying to do some stuff with my wife, like kayak on the lake. It’s gonna depend on the heat and the sun. I’m not interested in heat stroke.
Good thing there are lots of choices for what to work on :-/
Find something to fix. Improve your situation. Stack.
nick
Everybody needs a new rifle. That look like a nice one. It is sometimes better to ask for forgiveness than permission, Lynn.
I wonder if S&W would do me a stainless one with the wood furniture? That would look proper smart…
of course, I do like the Henrys, too. https://www.henryusa.com/henry-firearms/ The “Homesteader” is just crying out to be a truck companion.
Sir Ridley killed the entire “Prometheus” series for us with “Hey little fella”.
We never watched the sequel.
Colin County Appraisal District would have the tax numbers. Texas isn’t as open as Florida with public records going online, but the tax rolls are important.
At the end of the segment with DeSantis last week on the assasination attempt, Hannity asked the Governor about Trump’s position reversal to restore the full SALT deduction. I hadn’t heard that before.
We do much better with the increased personal exemption.
DeSantis is against restoring the deduction. I’m not sure what Hannity was up to hitting him with it out of the blue on the air, but DeSantis is a wonk and takes his job seriously, much to the annoyance of many in his own party.
Cutie Pie always has his own agenda.
The “Judge” concept has to go in Texas as the state drifts left. The offices will be the source of much misery as Dems start to hold more of them.
If you ever see someone on the news who holds a “Mayor” position over a county in Florida, that is a machine pol. Not every county has one, however, mostly just Dem strongholds like Orange and Dade.
More fallout at Texas Children’s Hospital as the Texas Attorney General’s probe into gender “confirmation” programs at the institution continues.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/after-35-years-as-texas-childrens-hospital-ceo-mark-wallace-resigns-new-ceo-announced/ar-AA1qt9Gy
This story continues to fly under the radar until after the election.
In SpaceX news: some lib/prog group bought an acre right on the Mexican border, near Spaceport, in an attempt to prevent border enforcement. It happens to also border the land that SpaceX is using. Some idiot contractor didn’t pay attention, and has basically paved the acre over as part of a construction site. SpaceX has offered to buy the property (don’t know for what price, but probably generous), but instead the organization is suing SpaceX for $15 million.
The FAA has also been playing stupid lately. For example, they allow the local range authority to supervise launches, and the range authority approved a change of which tank was being used to fuel a launch last year. But SpaceX didn’t inform the FAA (why would they, if the range authority approved the change). So the FAA is trying to fine them ¼ million. Along with other fines for equally questionable reasons. Plus delaying the next Starship launch an extra two months for extra environmental review. Bet: this is pressure from some politician who doesn’t like Musk’s politics.
If the US isn’t careful, SpaceX will open their next spaceport in some other country. Hey, Switzerland needs a spaceport! Just kidding, we don’t have the space. But someplace like Spain? Australia? Sure, why not.
Border Patrol has a checkpoint on the road leading out to Boca Chica so I’m not sure what the liberals were hoping to accomplish buying land near the “Starport”.
SpaceX is an hour drive from Port Isabel, the closest civilization, because the roads have to wind around the bay which separates Boca Chica from South Padre Island and the developed areas along 100. Border Patrol has “Your papers please” jurisdiction anywhere within 100 miles of the Rio Grande and Gulf of Mexico in Texas.
I’m suspecting an organized smuggling ring is behind the property purchase and lawsuit because sneaking migrants into, say, Brownsville in that section would require an intense amount of coordination and infrastructure.
Catholic Charities is a big one for supporting the illegals. I’ve seen the operation in action first hand on South Padre Island.
I’ve also been out to the launch site and poked around. Three times in the last four years.
Boca Chica is trashed. I’m not an environmental whacko, but they have a point about the site being inappropriate for the activity speaking strictly on a scientific basis.
Of course, a lot of politics are involved, and the “poor” residents of the former Kennedy Shores now named Boca Chica Village are mostly millionares or better.
The Starship rocket generates 50% more thrust than even what the Germans designed LC39 at Kennedy to handle sustainabily. Starship will eventually launch from Florida, but serious work will be required first to take SpaceX’s pad down to bare concrete and add infrastructure like NASA did for SLS next door.
It is like saying that Disney is going to leave Florida after getting the beatdown in court from DeSantis.
The “Republicans” who run Texas give Elon whatever he wants. Fly into Austin’s airport, and the first non-airline logo you see out the windows above the escalators down to baggage claim is Tesla’s.
The State of Florida, even with a less pliant individual currently occupying the Governor’s Mansion, still accomodates SpaceX. The state has jurisdiction over what most people think of as “Kennedy Space Center”.
The White House may or may not change hands, but the cognitively impaired NASA Administrator, Bill Nelson, will be history in January, before the Dragon capsule splashes down off the Florida coast carrying the astronauts from the Starliner fiasco.
The traditional NASA contractor cabal runs Federal space policy until then.
Alien: Covenant is on the way. A used copy, of course. Should be here in a couple of weeks.
I read enough to find Prometheous and Alien: Covenant are prequels to the rest of the series.
ITAR means Musk needs the US governments approval. Which won’t happen.
Pictures from last night’s football game.
https://www.raymondthompsonphotography.com/Rockwood
Another time sink for the bored. Paul?
NYT Returns to Story About Unmarked Graves in Canada
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2024/09/20/ny-times-returns-to-the-story-about-unmarked-graves-in-canada-n3794807
A blood libel against the Catholic Church. Dozens of churches burned.
But it never happened.
And the lack if follow-up by Trudeau’s govt smells.
Alien was a ripoff of a Van Vogt story—I said as much when I saw it the first week of release. The sequel was decent. The rest is carp from third-rate talent. Like Star Wars, CGI cannot carry lack of plot.
There was an excellent TV program made based on the libel, which they accepted at face value.
I was always skeptical, but I managed to suspend disbelief for the purpose of entertainment.
It’s called Three Pines.
A lengthy investigation by Reuters into what’s happening at Boca Chica includes the situation with Cards Against Humanity’s land, prompting the lawsuit.
If it wasn’t their land, SpaceX is liable for the damage.
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/spacex-texas-musk/
I spent a decade at The Death Star working for an “Ends justify means, seek forgiveness instead of permission” type. It gets real old, and, eventually, that personality will turn on you.
Aquil and 15 others
https://legalinsurrection.com/2024/09/israeli-eliminates-entire-hezbollah-command-in-beirut-airstrike/
Apprently there are no Hezbollah Commanders left.
“Gone where the goblins go.”
I was hoping these would flush out the “Aliens” Universe. They don’t do that. They revert to what the “Alien” movie was all about: horror. It is SciFi themed, of course, but still good horror movies.
Yes.
Isegoria is reviewing the Isaacson biography of Musk and this caught my eye:
Emphasis mine.
In any big company it is always been “disproportionately psychopath at the top”.
But if your culture explicitly nutures them it’s going to be even worse. There is always an agency problem, this will make it worse in the end.
I left the first (unemphasized) paragraph in my quote because it begs the question: would you rather be on the roof with a comrade or with somebody willing to throw you under the bus?
The move away from hierarchical management structures makes a lot of these type of questions more powerful/problematic.
The military figured out how to do this, bonding comrades, and still enabling ruthlessness when needed. It provided a framework for male genetic responses and group dynamics. The addition of females to that environment didn’t work, so they changed the environment.
Any endeavor that needs intense focus, coordinated teams, and self sacrifice needs to be predominantly male, and hierarchical.
Counter examples are welcome, but I think probably few.
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78F and warming, currently 80F in the shade. MUCH hotter in the sun. Not much breeze for relief.
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lazy start to the day, long breakfast/coffee, and chat time with W on the deck.
Time to get to work though.
n
Any endeavor that needs intense focus, coordinated teams, and self sacrifice needs to be predominantly male, and hierarchical.
+1
Apparently a door-dash guy mowed down my mailbox …
Breaking up the comradery must extend to the smoker cabal.
Where I currently work, management knows this, and the smokers are banished to the sidewalk next to the busy road in front of the building.
Large signs at the entrances clearly state the policy, and, in Texas, being fired for breaking clearly stated policy is grounds for termination “with cause” – no unemployment check and, when hired at a new job, ineligibility status for a specific length of time.
Bern’s Steakhouse in Tampa was among the last restaurants in town to allow women to work in the main dining room. It never happened while Bern himself was alive, and only grudgingly under the son, who is roughly my age, starting around 30 years ago.
Women could work in the dessert room, and Bern’s hand picked successor in the kitchen was female. Waiting tables in the main room, however, was the core of the whole operation.
Plus, Bern was a little nuts. All of the good restauranteurs in Tampa were once upon a time.
My partner at the Death Star knowingly signed for a promotion which was done using money meant to promote me. We don’t talk anymore, and that fallout had serious impact on the product and the ability of the largest customer to adopt Mac OS X as their primary platform.
If you’ve ever seen “The Tiger King” and wondered how much of the Gene Holloway story is true …
https://www.tampabay.com/arts-entertainment/2020/04/13/tampas-original-big-cat-king-the-saga-of-the-sea-wolf-restaurants-gene-holloway/
Something was lost in Florida once The Mouse moved in.
How did they know it was Door Dash?
A high end pickup or EV could have been a Turo rental customer out for a spin.
A neighbor said they saw it.
I am not terribly upset because the mailbox was small and leaky and the door would often blow open, so I planned to replace it anyway.
I will pick one up at Lowe’s when I go shopping tomorrow.
Wee Pierre is in serious political trouble up north. A “no confidence” vote is scheduled for Parliament next week, and, should it pass, Canadadians would go to the polls, possibly around the same time as the US.
@EdH
“A neighbor said they saw it. “
Get the time and date from the neighbor and send a bill to Door Dash. Include your time. I wouldn’t do a mailbox on a post fir less than $200.
Random web ad (nb, I don’t own any Tony stock and don’t get any commissions from this link) – Starlink Residential for 40% off…
$299
$499for the Standard Kit.https://www.starlink.com/residential?referral=RC-1195276-75811-68&utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=sls_us_dis_ggl_ptg_imk&utm_content=sls_us_dis_ggl_ptg_imk_res_hds_v4s_stc_en-us_usa299gdn300x600&gad_source=5&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrLqMgu7UiAMV-DZECB24jxTmEAEYASAAEgLuIvD_BwE
SpaceX is still privately held. Musk holds 54% of the stock with the rest held by private equity, Fidelity, Google, and participants in the various funding rounds, including the ever-mysterious Baillie Gifford, the largest single holder of Moderna.
Things that make you say, “Hmmm …”
@drwilliams: I thought about following up, but two things.
(1) Said neighbor already put a new post in for me this morning without even asking. So I wonder if “DoorDash” is really a code word for “our idiot teenage son”?
(2) But even if it is a DoorDash guy there have been times in my life where I’ve had to do cr*p jobs for sh*t wages, I’m not going to wreck somebody’s income for a $40 mailbox.
Plus I recalled a little while ago that the last time I complained about the mailbox to some friends that they mentioned that they had several in their backyard for a birdhouse project that never eventuated. I just pinged them about it. So that may end up being free to me. I see them tonight when I go into town for astronomy outreach. at the park.
By coincidence, Gaetz voted ‘no’ on the continuing resolution this week.
Pure coincidence.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/gaetz-attended-drug-fueled-parties-with-call-girls-at-florida-lobbyist-s-home-witnesses-say/ar-AA1qVNSI
Forget 2024. 2026 has started.
Something tells me that the DoorDash guy hasn’t added coverage for the delivery driving to his insurance.
It amazes me how much financial trouble people get into doing nonsense like ordering food from the delivery services. The apps must deliver quite a dopamine hit.
The one constant on the Financial Audit channel is the subjects propensity to have a lot of credit card debt from places like UberEats, DoorDash, and, here in Texas, HEB’s Favor service.
Oktoberfest:
https://www.powerlineblog.com/ed-assets/2024/09/IMG_3177.jpg
Onions are saute’ing in red wine and butter, steak is seasoned and waiting for the grill. Several gallons of water are on the boil in the crawdad pot for the crab. We’re going to feast tonight.
I forgot to bring up the little cups for the melted butter. Prepper fail.
n
Just a hazard of having two locations. You can stock both with essentials, but I’d rate that as at best a nice-to-have.
I’m sure there’s a substitute that would work. I’m also sure you figured it out by now.
“China Bans Electric Vehicles from Underground Carparks”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/09/19/china-bans-electric-vehicles-from-underground-carparks/
“EVs are vehicles which if they catch fire cannot be extinguished, which burn at a similar temperature to a welding torch, melting concrete and steel in the immediate vicinity, threatening the structural integrity of any nearby supports, which emit hideously toxic fumes, and which can react with water to produce large quantities of highly explosive gas.”
Very bad juju.
Fancy dinner sounds fancy, Nick. I hope W will be pleased. Happy birthday to her, good health and happiness on her next circuit of Sol.
Little cups for melted butter missing at the BOL? Improvise, adapt, overcome! Shot glasses, espresso cups?
Our BOL is getting quite upmarket, tableware-wise. W has taken a lot of the “good, for guests” stuff from home and brought it there, where we are actually allowed to use it! Wonders will never cease. I am considering suggesting moving some of the good wineglasses too – everything tastes better out of crystal 🙂
During our holidays in Ireland, I picked up a few pieces from my favourite craft potter, dunbeaconpottery.com and also commissioned a small set of porridge bowls to my specifications. Today is the autumnal equinox, so it’s time to break out the porridge oats! I expect the bowls will arrive this week – hopefully not in pieces!
Did I already mention that the in-house firefighters where I work advised against allowing EVs in the car park, for all of those reasons. They were overruled, for “green” reasons, and there are now EV charging points in the basement.
It is more important to virtue-signal than to protect the safety and integrity of the structure.
I expect the firefighters will have multiple hard copies of the relevant memos and advice stored off-site, to be rediscovered and leaked when the “told-you-so” moment arrives.
“Why do Leftists hate Native Americans?”
https://www.libertystorch.info/2024/09/20/why-do-leftists-hate-native-americans/
“Do you remember everyone screaming about how racist the Redskins logo was? I don’t, because it wasn’t everyone screaming, just a very loud minority of busybodies and people who have a compulsion for unearned moral preening and virtue signaling. But they succeeded in removing what they found offensive, and never once did they bother to ask the family of the man on the helmet how they felt about it.”
“The lovely Native lady on the Land-o-Lakes box? Gone. Uncle Ben? Gone. Aunt Jemima? Gone.”
I miss Aunt Jemima on the bottle of pancake syrup.
Yup, they are removing minorities from mainstream culture.
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Sky just started to clear. It was all patchy clouds after dark, even though it was clear all day. Did see one meteor even with the clouds.
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20M was noisy but lots of signals. Commercial radio out of NZ was quiet and loud. Heard a ham in France, and if I got the call correct, one from Bosnia. Nothing on 6Mhz from Cuba though. 80M was mostly quiet.
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Very comfortable 80F at the moment.
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I used plastic cocktail glasses for the butter. Had to warm some butter half way through dinner, but no one complained. Wife and kids were very happy with the meal. Costco ‘choice’ grade tenderloin is as good as anyone else’s ‘prime’. It was $13/pound which is a BIG discount over where it was last week at HEB. And crab finally came down in price. It was well above $30/pound until recently. The crab legs we had tonight were $17/pound and were not Alaskan King Crab, but they got the job done. I used the propane ring and seafood boil pot that I have up here for the first time, and they worked great. It’s hard to get a couple of gallons of water boiling, and hard to get them BACK to boiling if you dump a couple of pounds of crab in. The outdoor pot and ring made it a lot easier.
It was a big expensive dinner but still cheaper than steaks and seafood at a nice restaurant… the missus was happy, and I got to impress the kids with my cooking. A good night.
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now to shower the smell of smoke off, and get to my (late) bed…
n