Back home, where it’s 78F with 80%RH this morning. I’m sure as it heats up the RH number will go down…. I sure hope so anyway.
Good to be home.
We have a really great interstate highway system, mostly for free (except tax money, of course) that could never have been built privately despite what the libertarians might say. There are state to state, and even county differences, but it all works together. The last 2-300 miles of my journey were on US and TX roads and the differences were stark, even when the design was similar.
I’m amazed by the number of truckers who appear to be driving tired and falling asleep. I’m amazed by the number of smashed up guardrails that haven’t been fixed in Arkansas. I think the two probably go together. Arkansas rest stops look and smell like prison latrines. Everywhere else, they were nicely designed, and well maintained.
Thank old white men for satellite radio. I’d have lost my mind without it. It’s a great distraction and a welcome diversion.
There is a lot of great music available from the last 75 years. Not so much from the last 5.
There is a LOT of Illinois in the long direction. Almost all of it farms. The cities are smaller than you’d think, and farther apart than your mental model might suggest. They are islands surrounded by a sea of farmland.
There is a lot of poverty in the rural areas as well as the sort of city neighborhoods that get bulldozed for highway projects.
In a couple of weeks I’ll be back in Chicago for the Celebration of Life, or whatever we’re gonna call it. Until then, it’s good to be home.
nick
Also, HOLY CRAP!
mass shooting at a game contest, CME with solar magnetic storm, tesla meltdown…..
lot’s of news
n
oh, and I forgot that a lizard found a new host…
Lynn, wish you the best on your “procedures.” Lady needs you pulling for her.
We have a really great interstate highway system, mostly for free (except tax money, of course) that could never have been built privately despite what the libertarians might say. There are state to state, and even county differences, but it all works together.
Oregon (of course!) applied for a pilot project to toll I-5 on a narrow section near Downtown Portland. If the tech works, the tolling will be expanded to all of the Interstate mileage from the two bridges over the Columbia down to Wilsonville.
My current employer will most likely look at the ODOT work. We have a lot of West Coast work, including cleaning up the mess left by the last vendor on the Golden Gate Bridge.
There is a lot of great music available from the last 75 years. Not so much from the last 5.
Try UK acts. Their record industry didn’t commit suicide. Cats in Space “Scarecrow” and just about anything from Molotov Jukebox. Except for the Elvis hour, I’ll stream Radio Caroline all day at work.
The first single from “Scarecrow”, “Mad Hatter’s Tea Party”, rips on Facebook. That’s probably the big reason why they don’t see much air time here.
I’m amazed by the number of truckers who appear to be driving tired and falling asleep.
+1
Now that I’m traveling alot, I see many trucks swerving all over the place. I truly hate the hills where one truck is trying to pass another going 1 MPH slower and block all the lanes for miles.
Raining in Clackamas, OR. Duh.
@Nick – glad you are home safely. I hope you can get some rest and rejuvenation.
@Lynn – best thoughts and prayers going your way on this day before the Big Operation (BO). It’s a BO for your family and friends too, so I am sending thoughts of support and comfort their way too.
Air quality throughout WA State appears to be returning to normal. Let’s hope it stays that way.
Peace
Add: Almost forgot, a good ear scratch and hug for Lady. She is going to a bit melancholy while you are recovering, but you know that she is there for you. Now you just need to keep her from jumping on your stitches.
@lynn, looked at the house listing, and every surface needs redoing. Lots of work, but nice lot.
Good luck with your procedure. We are all pulling for you.
n
Raining in Clackamas, OR. Duh.
This is the time of year that cr*p weather starts.
At least you aren’t there in early August, mid-70s, sun, with your wife asking, “Why don’t we move here?”
If you are that close to town and have time to kill, Powell’s “City of Books” and Ground Kontrol arcade are worth the time. Take the MAX if a station is handy — during daylight hours you should be okay.
Fry’s is in Wilsonville if you forgot something. 🙂
Thanks ! I have CTA and TEE tests tomorrow (probe down the esophagus to sonogram back side of heart). The ablation procedure is on Thursday.
I pulled Lady in her wagon one mile last evening. It was tough when one cannot breathe fully due to afib.
The TEE is the test my dad swore he’d never have again. Then we knew he was really sick when he consented to have it done again.
It’s awesome that they can get the info they need, but man, that test apparently SUCKS.
n
I find that most of the highways and other roads I drive on are in good shape. I find that most of the people on the highways and other roads I drive on are lousy. Just this weekend I watched a car go all the way from the right lane to the far left lane and back again with barely any room to spare between the cars. All to move ahead of 2 cars. Lots of risk (to themself and others) for very little gain. Fool.
Good luck Lynn. I’m sure all will go well.
Breaking Cat News: The brave cats have armored up !
https://www.gocomics.com/breaking-cat-news/2018/08/27
Apropos of nothing else…Three months ago I bought a Seiko 5 automatic watch (SNK809) for about $60 on Amazon. For the first couple of weeks it was +11 sec/day, which I didn’t think was that great. It must have needed to “break in” because since then it has settled into a +3.5 sec/day for the last 6 weeks. That seems quite accurate for an inexpensive automatic.
I’ve worn it everyday since I got it. Doing yard work, hiking, fossil hunting, shooting range, cooking. Seems like a good solid watch.
@jlp, those watches are well regarded and sought after in the vintage market.
An autowinding watch should be on every prepper’s list, and besides that, they are just cool. No need for expensive or lots of complications, vintage or new, there are plenty of styles to choose from.
n
“Texans’ J.J. Watt details what Hurricane Harvey donations have done”
https://www.chron.com/sports/texans/article/Texans-JJ-Watt-Hurricane-Harvey-donations-money-13184885.php?ipid=hpctp
“According to the foundation, money raised has cleaned up, repaired and rebuilt more than 600 homes. It also has helped recover and rebuild more than 420 childcare centers and after-school programs, serving more than 16,000 children. The foundation distributed more than 26 million meals to people affected the by the storm. Physical and mental health services were provided to more than 6,500 people and medicine was distributed to more than 10,000 patients.”
Just when you think that people don’t care anymore, these great stories come along.
My brother’s neighborhood (and ECH’s), still has many empty homes as people try to decide what to do. Many homes have been demolished. Some have been raised six feet (looks horrible !).
My brother’s neighborhood (and Ech’s), still has many empty homes as people try to decide what to do. Many homes have been demolished. Some have been raised six feet (looks horrible !).
I’ve seen bad raised home jobs in FL. The numbers involved make me wonder if that kind of remodel is just another flavor of the sinkhole remediation scam.
Most of the homes I saw raised in low lying areas after the March 93 “No Name Storm” (effectively a Cat2 hurricane) were gone within a decade, torn down by subsequent owners and replaced with something more modern.
@JLP, I have always admired Seiko watches, but never owned one as they were often on the expensive side. And, just realized yours is probably a mechanical watch. I still have a couple of those, just in case. I also have a sundial 🙂
Since going from an original Accutron (purchased in 1964 and used for over 20 years,) to all electronic watches, and later ones with mechanical analog dials and small LCD windows, I have had either Casio or one Timex. Accuracy was always one of my desires. Four years ago, I purchased a watch similar to this:
https://www.amazon.com/CASIO-WAVECEPTOR-Waveceptor-MULTIBAND6-WVA-M630D-9AJF/dp/B008NYUJAG/ref=sr_1_32?ie=UTF8&qid=1535390064&sr=8-32&keywords=casio+waveceptor&tag=ttgnet-20
Once I set it up, I have never touched it. It sets itself every night, so long term accuracy is not an issue. During the day, it is always well within one second. It handles DST automatically, including the recent date changes, because it gets all its data from WWVB. It also runs on light, with an internal rechargeable cell that can be changed after ten years if needed. In my experience, after ten years I am ready for a whole new watch. Highly recommended.
I have not traveled out of our time zone since I got this, but it should be as simple as just changing it to the new zone. It is also supposed to be able to get a signal in many parts of the developed world.
A friend likes higher end and collectible watches, and after seeing mine bought a nicer Casio Waveceptor that looks similar to mine. His has a titanium case and sapphire crystal, but was still less than $200.
Casio makes a lot of what I call cartoonish watches, but also some really nice dressy ones. They don’t import many of these styles to the US. I guess they think they won’t sell. Timex also makes some nice looking and practical watches, but you have to be selective. Before I got my present watch, I looked on line for years for a replacement for my Timex. Picky, I am.
Full disclosure, I don’t beat up my good watches. I have a cheap one for those times. I still have my 1964 Accutron, which would work if I could get a mercury cell for it. Since getting this Casio, I don’t wear it around the house, just when I go out. Keeps it even nicer.
I also find I don’t use many of the advanced features of a watch, such as the stopwatch and countdown timer, since I got a cell phone ten years ago. There are many things a phone can do better than a watch.
Casio makes a lot of what I call cartoonish watches, but also some really nice dressy ones. They don’t import many of these styles to the US. I guess they think they won’t sell.
Check the Edifice line from Casio. I have one as my daily wear watch ever since the last overhaul on my mechanical ran $700.
I don’t have the “atomic sync” or whatever they call it now. I lose a couple of seconds a week with the movement at most so a time receiver really isn’t necessary.
@Nick – I think my father-in-law’s Rolex is the real deal. I pulled it out to eventually take it for cleaning/appraisal a few weeks ago, and I noticed it start moving without “ticking”. He may have owned a fake version for daily wear.
I find that most of the highways and other roads I drive on are in good shape. I find that most of the people on the highways and other roads I drive on are lousy.
Everyone wants another Porkulus $1 Trillion bill and justify it with “crumbling infrastructure” talk.
The Holy Grail is another bill like Reagan worked out with Tip O’Neil in the 80s, under which the Federal Government paid the bill for planned road projects at both the state and Federal level. That would be prohibitively expensive now, but what’s a few trillion between friends…
“Pope Francis Called Emergency Meeting on Climate Change, But Not on Rampant Pedophilia in His Church”
https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2018/08/27/pope-francis-called-emergency-meeting-on-climate-change-but-not-on-rampant-pedophilia-in-his-church/
“RUSH: Once again, folks, rampant and blatant hypocrisy that is related to a political agenda.”
As a protestant, I find the Pope’s behavior to be repugnant. He is all about promoting the fake science generally now known as climate change. Meanwhile, thousands of children are being molested in his churches.
And, the hypocrisy here is blatant. Catholic priests in Africa are allowed to marry, other continents not except for minimal exceptions. This makes no sense to me whatsoever and promotes unhealthy desires.
As a protestant, I find the Pope’s behavior to be repugnant. He is all about promoting the fake science generally now known as climate change. Meanwhile, thousands of children are being molested in his churches.
OFD must still be out of commission if a softball like this didn’t get him typing.
May Xenu be merciful with OFD. 🙂
The OFD response would be “Fake Pope. Fake Science” or something to that effect.
The Vatican assassins must have a good reason to let this travesty go on as long as it has so far.
“How to hurricane-proof a Web server”
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/09/how-to-hurricane-proof-a-web-server/
From “A year ago, Houston was under water”
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/09/how-to-hurricane-proof-a-web-server/
The Church was captured by homosexuals and socialists in the late 60s, near as I can tell. It’s taken a while for them to be comfortable in the open, but here they are.
n
It makes plenty much sense to me. Historically, when the proselytizers move out into other areas to capture more constituents, they have to modify the story. People would be too resistant if they had to do a 100% about face on their current beliefs.
For example, the virgin mary mythology was never part of the story until the converters started into Rome. Romans believed that all the people up in the sky were male, women were not able to inhabit their concept of heaven. Consequently, to answer the question of how the Roman gods recreated, they had to concoct a new story:
The ex-Roman gods lived in the sky like Christian saints, but they periodically had sex with earthbound women to have the next generation heaven bound male babies. As the earthbound women never had sex with earthbound men, only heavenly residents, they were actually virgins.
Yes, there was not virgin birth mythology in Christianity until they attempted to convert the Roman pagans.
And it goes on and on, during the middle ages the creation date (Adam and Eve) was in October, 4004 BC. Does any preacher try to sell that today?
From “A year ago, Houston was under water”
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/09/how-to-hurricane-proof-a-web-server/
From “A year ago, Houston was under water”
https://spacecityweather.com/a-year-ago-houston-was-under-water/
I claim incompetence. Wait, a bad heart, I claim a bad heart is starving my brain.
I think we have the travel trailer sold for $2000. We haven’t used it for travel in about 4 years. The last time I went anywhere was in 2011, down to South Padre. The tires are old, one shows some cracking. Another has a bad valve stem.
It’s a gooseneck. To add the hitch to my truck looks like $800 for parts and who knows what for installation.
So, sell it. Empty the boat shed* and I have more room for the tractors and I have carport space for my truck.
I started cleaning today. Mostly just dusty because I have had the windows cracked a bit so it didn’t get stuffy. Remember Jerry? The friend that died in February? He stayed in the trailer for 5 or 6 months. So… grubby from him, too. I found a bag under the sink. Way back, behind the drain. Nice surprise. $322. $250 in ones and an assortment of rolled coin. 🙂
When we cleaned out his house after he died, I found a few tiny zip lock bags of what I was told was meth. Right into the trash. No wonder he was always broke.
*boat shed…. when we pulled the SeaRay off of Texhoma I had a carport built. You see them all over the place, double wide carport for $695. I had it made longer and taller. I could stand on the boat and almost touch the roof. The building has been extended since and no longer sways when the north wind is blowing like a tornado. Oil well pipe set in concrete will do that.
*boat shed…. when we pulled the SeaRay off of Texhoma I had a carport built. You see them all over the place, double wide carport for $695. I had it made longer and taller. I could stand on the boat and almost touch the roof. The building has been extended since and no longer sways when the north wind is blowing like a tornado. Oil well pipe set in concrete will do that.
Oil well pipe set in concrete is awesome. Until, you want to remove it.
I found a bag under the sink. Way back, behind the drain. Nice surprise. $322. $250 in ones and an assortment of rolled coin.
There may be more. @nick has some recent experience spelunking in the area of finding hidden cash …
BTW, as to prepping, I recently moved all of our master closets canned goods to the bug out site. The wife has just called me for more canned goods that she swears were in the house. Yup, she was shopping in the canned good preps. I am to bring home a case of canned diced tomatos from the bug out site.. And, I will be adding a couple of cases of diced tomatoes to the Sams Club list for the bug out site.
@Nick – I responded to your question about the site visit spike on Friday; you may have missed it: https://www.ttgnet.com/journal/2018/08/24/fri-aug-24-2018-finally-friday/#comment-150802 .
Analytics are just starting to show up in GA (it always takes a few days for anything meaningful to show up after creating the GA site/code), so nothing useful yet.
As mentioned, I can set you up with a ‘read-only’ access to the GA pages. But you will need to have a Google account to view. Send it (your Google account ID) to me PM, if you want access.
Thanks Rick, I did miss your reply.
It is weird that the number would jump so dramatically, and it seems weird even if something was scanning. There just aren’t that many pages to scan….
n
Nice looking round up of solar ovens
https://thetinylife.com/the-complete-solar-oven-guide-best-solar-oven-reviews/
h/t woodpile report
n
“The Church was captured by homosexuals and socialists in the late 60s”
You’re too generous. I expect this has been going on for hundreds of years. It’s also not just homosexual – there is apparently quite a high rate of sexual interaction between nuns and priests, some consensual, some less so.
Historically, there have always been priests and choir boys, monks and monks, priests and impressionable young parishoners, monks and nuns, nuns and nuns, etc.. The human sexual urge is pretty strong, and living an entirely celibate life is just not realistic for most people.
I think the Vatican has a problem, though. The rot is so deep and so widespread that there’s no way to root it out. Denial is the only viable option. If this stuff keeps coming out, and starts coming out in Latin American countries as well, it may ultimately destroy the church.
Already started coming out there. Lots of stories about 3 weeks ago.
n
It’s about draining the Roman swamp.
To save the church, the church must be destroyed. I don’t know what that will do to the Catholic faithful. My wife is a devout Catholic, and this has her terribly annoyed.
Incidentally, there was a list of priests in PA that were accused of indecent acts. One was a teacher I had in high school. I always thought the guy was a little loopy, but what he was accused of barely scratches the surface of weird when the entire school swam in the nude when phys ed involved the pool. Yes, we did.
So when one priest of an enormous number is accused of weightlifting naked, well, I just don’t know.
“The Church was captured by homosexuals and socialists in the late 60s”
You’re too generous. I expect this has been going on for hundreds of years. It’s also not just homosexual – there is apparently quite a high rate of sexual interaction between nuns and priests, some consensual, some less so.
Historically, there have always been priests and choir boys, monks and monks, priests and impressionable young parishoners, monks and nuns, nuns and nuns, etc.. The human sexual urge is pretty strong, and living an entirely celibate life is just not realistic for most people.
Apparently, the church did not require priests to be “celibate” until AD 1,000 or so. And then, the priests lived together in a house with a house keeper or two. The house keeper(s) kept the house clean, kept the priests fed and satisfied, and took care of the children. This practice stopped about 1960 ??? to the detriment of the priests. And the house keeper(s).
Co-ed, I hope. Just, er, change the pool water with some regularity.
There’s nothing sacred, pardon the pun, about Rome being the “center of Christianity”. There’s nothing special about the Catholic interpretation of scripture. Rome was only one of five(ish) seats of Christianity, way back when. The bishop of Rome became “the head of real Christianity” through hard-nosed politics and outright betrayal of Byzantium when the latter was under attack; also through the geographic luck of being farther from the Persians, Mohammedans, and Mongols.
Anyway, your wife can join or form a congregation of the like-minded and follow the rites and teachings as they see it. They will have just as much legitimacy as the priest-bishop hierarchy ending in Rome. More, in fact, as nowhere in the Bible (an honest translation, anyway) does it say that authority begins and ends with the Bishop of Rome.
@SteveF – you’re right about the church, at least as I see it. Her? Not so much.
About the swimming thing – it was an all-male high school. It’s funny how things that are odd from the outside can be “normal” once you’re in there. It certainly got me over my shyness in the locker room, which may have been the point. Phys-ed teachers were NEVER priests, and most of the ones I knew were married or overtly hetero.
I went to high school in the latter 1960s, Maine Township High School East (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_East_High_School), when the original pool still existed. It had a floor that slides over the pool, from the left and right ends, there was a movie that showed a pool like it, but I can’t recall the name. (BTW, Hillary went there but claimed another high school in the district because Maine East wasn’t cool enough, but I have yearbooks with pictures that prove she attended Maine East.)
Through my sophomore year, both “girls” and “boys” swam au naturale, except that the “girls” were required to wear swim caps. The door from the “boys” locker room had gaps around the edges. We always rushed to get to swim class early to get a view of the “girls”. When we came in the first time the junior year the doors had been replaced, and swimsuits were required for everyone. Some prude spoiled our education.