Weather station says 45F and wet, and the sun is out. Haven’t poked my head out yet, the dog has a doggy door he can use…
Problems continue for Wall Street. Other economic news has grim stuff in it too.
Thanksgiving will be a nice break from the litany of doom and gloom, if I can survive houseguests. I’m on edge and easily angered. Watching my tongue and unable to talk about anything substantive. Good thing there is a place on the net to vent 🙂
Start thinking of what you’ve got to be thankful for…
n
28f here in N. Mississippi. about 20f below normal.
No guests for us this Thanksgiving. Just the wife and I for the first time since we had kids. We will see what kind of mischief we can get up to on our own.
Head out for chinese food!
n
Pay no attention to the doom and gloom about Wall Street in the MSM, and yes the Wall Street Journal is just another part of the MSM. Just remember, between now and Christmas all businesses will be making 75% to 90% of their profit for the year. If the crowds I am seeing, with arms loaded, are any indication this is going to be a boom holiday season.
Other indicators:
– Our USPS Carrier says they have hired more people than ever and package volume, particularly from Amazon, has already exceeded projections. Sunday is now a mandatory work day.
– The manager at our Costco echoes the record business already this holiday season and the crowd on Monday was cart to cart and don’t get in the way of 20 pallets (yes 20 full pallets) of pumpkin pies. Our usual 45-minute shopping took an hour and a half because of the crowd. There was a shortage of flatbeds to haul out big-screen TVs.
– The Walmart was ugly, and the people were uglier.
The demoncrats and the MSM are going to paint a gloomy picture, but it is false. So what’s new.
I am sure California is going to plead poverty and demand a bailout from the federal gooberment as well as every cent PG&E is projected to make for the next decade or two.
Our weather? Yes, we have some.
I came across this article yesterday:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/11/we-need-to-change-way-we-talk-about-space-exploration-mars/
Hardy fearless explorers pushing back the frontiers of space? Nope, whiny snowflakes afraid of words and hurt feelings. It’s hard not to laugh out loud (and cry inside) as you read the article.
How will these people ever be able to get through a launch countdown since even numbers are non-inclusive and support binary genderism. Don’t get me started on the phallic symbolism of rockets……
The manager at our Costco echoes the record business already this holiday season and the crowd on Monday was cart to cart and don’t get in the way of 20 pallets (yes 20 full pallets) of pumpkin pies.
We’re off Costco pumpkin pies for a while. They’re fine, but they are always a reminder of Vantucky Thanksgivings. Maybe next year.
We hit a local bakery for pies this Thanksgiving. And my mother-in-law badgered the HEB bakery sufficiently to make her a special order blueberry pie the other day … which is now sitting mostly uneaten in our kitchen. No reflection on HEB — my mother-in-law is bonkers.
Go to the house of someone you don’t like, pound on their front door after it’s dark, yell “Trick or Treat!”, and then TP all of their trees and bushes. If someone complains that you’re off be 22 days, tell them you got confused by Global Warming. (There’s nothing it cannot do!)
That was one of the “socially aware” complaints about money spent on both military rockets and the space program: why should women have to pay for small penis compensation, or something along those lines.
” my mother-in-law is bonkers.”
— has she ever gone shopping for ground pork for sausage, and spent 20 minutes haranguing the counter guy about how salty it is (when she’s never bought meat there before)??
— does she wrap every scrap of food in paper towel, then put it in a baggie in the fridge??
–does she leave used wads of paper towel EVERYWHERE as if she’ll continue using them later?
— does she loudly proclaim that your kids are eating the wrong things, and in the next breath tell you she’s been on a diet since she was 16 (and is apple shaped and 50 plus pounds overweight) ???
— will she comment negatively when you butter a roll, but put a 1/4″ layer of cream cheese on a bagel without a second thought??
n
36Âş and cloudy where even the Turkeys get the Trots.
Theme for this year’s event is Star Trek. In the “He’s Dead, Jim!” vein. Turkeys with Vulcan ears. Phaser-shaped noisemakers. Sweatpants with Moons on the butt. Corny as all heck.
It’s going to be COLD tomorrow, too. Down to 20Âş at the start of the first race, then slowly warming through the day. Brrr. But it’s all okay because it will all be done before sportsball starts.
Happy Thanksgiving, Mr. Nick!
lol!
Happy Thanksgiving to all, and thanks for all the joy you bring!
” my mother-in-law is bonkers.”
…
— will she comment negatively when you butter a roll, but put a 1/4″ layer of cream cheese on a bagel without a second thought??
Would you like a bread product to flavor your saturated fat?
Yeah, we could swap lists of crazy all day, but tomorrow is supposed to be a day of reflection on the things for which we’re thankful so I’ll spare everyone. I’ll leave you with the blueberry pie situation I mentioned above … and ask you if your mother-in-law washes her underwear in the bathroom sink every morning, hanging it out to dry on the back porch furniture.
“hanging it out to dry on the back porch furniture.”
Ok, you win!
n
edit– especially if it can be used as a table cloth or cover for the chaise lounges….
BC: “There’s your turkey right there !”
https://www.gocomics.com/bc/2018/11/21
Heh. The rare horned turkey.
Head out for chinese food!
Nah, it is time for turkey loaf !
The manager at our Costco echoes the record business already this holiday season and the crowd on Monday was cart to cart and don’t get in the way of 20 pallets (yes 20 full pallets) of pumpkin pies.
We’re off Costco pumpkin pies for a while. They’re fine, but they are always a reminder of Vantucky Thanksgivings. Maybe next year.
We hit a local bakery for pies this Thanksgiving. And my mother-in-law badgered the HEB bakery sufficiently to make her a special order blueberry pie the other day … which is now sitting mostly uneaten in our kitchen. No reflection on HEB — my mother-in-law is bonkers.
Their pumpkin pies are good but my wife’s pies are much better. They use allspice. The wife uses a secret concoction of pumpkin spice she got from her mother.
Nah, it is time for turkey loaf !
Tofurkey.
… or, if you want to horrify your vegan friends:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xc5wIpUenQ
Still the best of this video series after eight years.
I am binge watching the second season of “Fear The Walking Dead” until 130pm when I can take off this horrible heart harness. This is about the fifth time that I have worn a heart monitor for more than a day. But this is the first time that I was not in a hospital. Then I will mail the heart monitor back to them as I do not want to drive 20 miles each way to the clinic and pay $12 to park in their 30 story building (the first ten floors are parking).
The first couple of seasons of “Fear The Walking Dead” are an interesting examination of watching society go to the dogs quickly. Each season is about a month in real time. The biggest takeaway to me is stay away from large groups of people. Say, more than 20 people as the infection spreads like wildfire in large groups.
… or, if you want to horrify your vegan friends:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xc5wIpUenQ
Still the best of this video series after eight years.
That was freaking awesome. And the garnish of butter with Dr. Pepper is so totally cool. I almost had a heart attack just watching it.
Nah, it is time for turkey loaf !
Tofurkey.
That stuff is disgusting. I tried it once, never again.
Long time listener, first time caller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE7YKu8apPA
Long time listener, first time caller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE7YKu8apPA
Oh gosh, that was hilarious.
Turducken or you’re not a real American!
Just the other evening I talked with a couple people about this. It started with the woman saying she’d boned a raw turkey once and never would again. Once we got past “Why on earth would you do that?” (because she was in a hurry to get the meal ready and she thought it would roast faster if broken apart) I said that the only reason I’d bone a turkey would be to make a turducken. At which point a man joined the conversation and said it was worth doing once, just to do it, but it was too much work. He also gave me a couple tips in case I ever want to try it, most importantly “don’t even try to slide the duck into the hollowed-out turkey; just slice the turkey open and stitch it together afterward”.
OMG that meat lovers video was AWESOME! I want one!
Bacon wrapped bacon, gen-i-ous….
n
“Bacon wrapped bacon, gen-i-ous….”
Chocolate coated bacon.
There, FTFY
Bacon candy —
speaking of going back in time, here’s a post from Mr Lynn:
LIKE A FREAKING PROPHET!
I remind you guys that I found that empty bucket with the hole in the gamma seal lid, and 20 pounds of cornmeal and sugar missing…..
n
Maple Bacon Donuts
After that stuffed turkey, with bacon covered donuts for dessert, go here for a snack:
http://www.heartattackgrill.com/phone/index.html
🙂
Can’t quite eat free, but that burger looks pretty good.
I wonder if they’ll deliver.
LIKE A FREAKING PROPHET!
I remind you guys that I found that empty bucket with the hole in the gamma seal lid, and 20 pounds of cornmeal and sugar missing…..
No, No, No, I ain’t no freaking prophet ! God says to stone any prophet who makes a SINGLE mistake. And God knows that I have made many, many, many mistaken prophecies. Just ask the wife.
BTW, I am sorry for your loss. 20 lbs of cornmeal and sugar is not cheap. Nor was the container. And now you have some fat rats to take out.
I have four of those plastic pails from Augason, all stored inside my bug out place in a climate controlled area. No rats, yet. I will not be buying any more LTS using the plastic pails.
“Papadopoulos Must Go Directly to Prison, No Delay, Mueller Tells Judge”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/papadopoulos-must-directly-prison-no-155623304.html
Never, never, never talk to a federal officer. They can turn things around and get you on a process error. I regret every time that I have done so. I have talked with the FBI, the CIA, and testified in a FTC antitrust pretrial action that forced the offending party to settle with the FTC. Never again.
“Elon Musk’s latest venture: selling bricks in Los Angeles”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-apos-latest-venture-223319591.html
How many businesses does this guy own ? I am beginning to wonder if being the CEO of Apple would constrain him too much. And yes @greg, he would take care of that pesky excess cash problem that Apple has.
I have four of those plastic pails from Augason, all stored inside my bug out place in a climate controlled area. No rats, yet. I will not be buying any more LTS using the plastic pails.
I’ve written before that I’ve seen holes which grove rats in FL gnawed through cinderblock in order to get at the returns desk in the back room of the grocery store I worked at in the 80s.
[snip] Never, never, never talk to a federal officer. [snip]
Unless accompanied by a very sharp defense attorney, and bring your own tape recorder, too. It drives them bonkers.
It’s going to be a different kind of Turkey Day this year. We have, for the last 10 years or so, had T-day with the neighbors. We go over there. For Xmas they come here. I get the turkey and ham, discount from working at the grocery store…. we make stuffing and gravy, and they do the brown-n-serve rolls, salad and desert.
It works out. He has grumbled about “being a leech”. I toss back that if I thought he was a leech, we wouldn’t be doing this at all, so, just chill man, work gave me a 20# bird and we need your help to eat the darn thing.
This year, he’s in a snit about something. I don’t know what. So much for that.
And then an uncle died. 80. I’ve never met the man, or any of the other folks but one, ain’t driving to Kansas City. So it’s just me and the dogs for a few days.
The turkey has thawed enough in the fridge to have soft spots. We’ll cook it next week. No big deal.
It’s going to be buttered brown and serve rolls with turkey and gravy next week. I’m trying to not drool on my keyboard. 🙂
[snip] Never, never, never talk to a federal officer. [snip]
Ask Martha.
Even then say nothing, nada, zero, zilch, refuse to speak other than to state your name. Only speak to answer questions while on a witness stand in a court of law. Only answer the questions with single words if possible. Volunteer nothing. Federal officials are not your friend.
A friend of mine, best friend of 28 years who passed away, was needing a background check as he was heavily involved in the nuclear program in Oak Ridge, which part I do not know and he did not offer. Federal agent came to my place of work to interview me as a reference. It went OK until the officer started to delve into my background, started to ask some questions that I thought were a little too personal. I told the agent to stop as those questions were none of his business. Shortly thereafter the interview ended.
How many businesses does this guy own ? I am beginning to wonder if being the CEO of Apple would constrain him too much. And yes @greg, he would take care of that pesky excess cash problem that Apple has.
God forbid they return any of that cash to the shareholders. Though, to be fair, Cook pays a dividend where Jobs did not.
Most of us here probably have shares, either directly or indirectly through 401(k) and pension plans.
Well hooray for me. Just fixed a piece of test equipment. It’s worth $75 as parts or repair, and ~$400 – 500 running…
Took a bit of googling and found the answer in the Eevblog forums. Simple fix with deoxit spray on a multipole selector switch. Seems to be fine now.
n
Hurricane report, day H + 6 weeks:
First, a geography lesson. If you look at a map of Bay County, the area west & south of the bay is known to locals simply as “The Beach”. Everything else, more or less, is simply “In Town”, although the very eastern parts of the county, specifically Tyndall Air Force Base and Mexico Beach, are usually spoken of separately. The beach was protected by the bay, didn’t get damaged nearly so badly as the areas just to the east of the bay, and has sprung back to life much more quickly.
The county is still ravaged, although it is slowly being repaired. Electricity has been restored to > 97% of customers who can safely receive power. That phrasing is crucial, because for example if your mast (the upright pipe from the meter box, where the line from the street comes in) is damaged, they will pull the meter. Until you get a licensed electrician to repair it and sign on the dotted line, they will *not* re-connect you. And of course, licensed electricians are in short supply, charging a premium, and will be booked for the foreseeable future. That doesn’t even consider the more involved repair jobs to come, and all the new construction to replace the damaged homes & businesses. There are also still a lot of power crews here from the sister companies of the local major electric utilities (Southern Company). The job of rebuilding the grid in the eastern edge of the county is going to take a long time. Essentially every pole, foot of wire, and transformer is going to have to be replaced. It might be a great time to go ahead & put those services underground, but that’s a very expensive undertaking. Unless they get a waiver from Florida’s Public Service Commission, they are legally obligated to use the lowest up front cost method, which is the above ground installation.
Telecom is still a problem. Most people’s cell phones are working (I have one, but it’s essentially for emergencies only). But land line service, cable television, and internet service for most of the county is coming back to life very slowly. Again, it’s an enormous job, and the number of outside crews here to do the job pales in comparison to the number of electrical workers. My new employer is dependent on a freshly installed 1/2 meter dish for internet & phone service, and neither are up to snuff IMHO. Lots of crackling phones, and the net speeds cause me to start looking for the old handset hookup for a 110 baud modem.
The streets are still lined with huge piles of debris. The county government and municipalities have begun the job of hiring contractors to haul it all away, but I don’t think anyone has an actual firm grasp of how many million cubic meters of downed trees there really are. In many cases, including my front yard, the piles continue to grow, as property owners start working to clear the damaged but not yet downed trees. My front yard looks very different, as three large pines and an oak are no more. Still to come are two still standing pines on one side of my house, and one huge pine in the back yard that has to go. That one’s going to be a little extra work, because I told the tree guys that if they damage my lemon tree I’m not going to pay them.
One of the two hospitals in the county (the smaller, for profit one) is partially open; one of two patient floors only. My contact there says that every bed is full and they are putting quite a few people on “Hold for admission”status. The third floor still has a lot of repair work to do, after which they are going to turn their attention to more permanent fixes on the second floor.
She says that anyone who can make it to one of the hospitals out of town should do so post haste, a lot of people are leaving “against medical advice” to do just that because of the overcrowding. The larger hospital is reported to be closed until at least January, although it continues to provide ER & associated services at the main campus and the beach satellite location.
As of right now, food & fuel are easily available, except that many gas stations are still so damaged that they can’t open, and the same is true of many of the grocery stores in the eastern part of town. At present, the most pressing problems are traffic, housing, and office space. The people who’ve had to move out of damaged homes or apartments are competing for a place to live with all the repair crews. The only ready supply of places to lay one’s head is on the beach, where rents tend to be higher than the displaced were used to paying. (It’s very true, the poorer parts of the county did catch the worst of the storm; if Michael had hit 20 miles west the beach community would have been destroyed.) Rush hour is a real problem. There is one bridge back and forth over the bay, and like any bridge it’s a choke point. Coming home Tuesday night a wreck at the foot of the bridge turned what in other times would have been no more than a 15 minute drive into 60 minutes of big city style stop & go.
I wonder what the long term economic effects will be. Certainly, a lot of people are going to have to dig into their pockets to cover uninsured losses, which will of necessity crimp their spending elsewhere. (I’m in that boat, the insurance company gave me enough to replace my roof and do the tree work, but I can’t afford to replace the fence right now.) The repair crews are making good money, and of course are spending a decent % of it for living expenses. I know a guy who is the manager of a brand name pharmacy location on a very heavily traffic count corner. He told me that his November is up 80% over last year. The people who sell lumber, sheet rock, shingles, insulation, wire, flooring, etc are going to be moving a lot of product for a long time. The car dealers are advertising heavily, trying to tap the sudden demand to replace damaged cars. One good friend, who lives about 1/2 way between me and the Gulf, lost a car to a falling tree. He’s currently going back & forth with the insurance company.
Anyway, that’s probably a long enough post. As always, feel free to ask any questions, post comments, etc.
@pcb_duffer, thanks for the update. Make sure you have some “mental health time” yourself. It’s incredibly stressful to be in your situation and surrounded by all that.
It sounds like you are still/once again gainfully employed, which is good news.
There were debris piles here for a LONG time. After that, it took our solid waste folks almost the whole year to get fully back on schedule. It is incredibly heartening to have the debris piles finally gone.
You should see steady progress if you look for it. It’s important to look.
n
I’ve spent the last few hours reading thru all the old posts with the “Brittany” tag. LOTS of good stuff about prepping in those posts, particularly discussion of antibiotics and food, along with ham radio.
Painful to hear OFD chronicle his plans, and his pain and weakness, knowing the outcome.
Lots of RBT.
n
“Apple knows 5G is about infrastructure, NOT mobile phones”
https://www.cringely.com/2018/11/21/apple-knows-5g-is-about-infrastructure-not-mobile-phones/
“With Apple shares down more than 20 percent from their all-time highs of only a few weeks ago, writers are piling-on about what’s wrong in Cupertino. But sometimes writers looking for a story don’t fully understand what they are talking about. And that seems to me to be the case with complaints that Apple is too far behind in adopting 5G networking technology in future iPhones. For all the legitimate stories about how Apple should have done this or that, 5G doesn’t belong on the list. And that’s because 5G isn’t really about mobile phones at all.”
“Apple knows 5G is about infrastructure, NOT mobile phones”
Much of Texas barely has 3G service.
Wall Street wants the share price suppressed for some reason.
Much of Texas barely has 3G service.
Yup, that is going to change. The FTC is raising their rural internet subsidy requirement from 10 mbps to 25 mbps. AT&T is getting at least $10/month for each rural internet line in the USA for that reason. Shoot, it may be $20/month, I do not know.
Of course, SpaceX is putting together Starlink at $60/month and 600 mbps. If the BFR flies then I expect to see Starlink running by 2025.
Verizon is running facebook ads for home internet using 5g. 300 to 940 mbps speed. $70/month, $50 if you use their cell service.