Cold, and wet. [39F and 99%RH]
I know, I bring it on myself. Working with the kids is FUN. Seeing them ‘get’ a concept is great. Coming up with ideas that work, and that help their understanding is pretty cool too. Plus, being in the school gives me insight that I couldn’t get from outside.
I still have a full day. Two pickups on opposite sides of town, and a sale that is over an hour south. The sale has hobby machine tools, a CNC router, ham gear, and a ton of stuff that is related. The guy had money and toys. (the brand new epilog laser engraver, with every option, sold before the sale, so at least I won’t be trying to convince my wife that I need a $10K laser…) I suppose I really don’t need to be buying, but the time to buy is when you see it.
Lots of driving today, once I leave the house.
n
Misleading headline of the day:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7688673/Shocking-moment-BMW-driver-jumps-sidewalk-crashes-father-son-Manhattan.html
Headline SHOULD have read,
“Unfortunate moment when son of career criminal gets caught up in his father’s business.”
No description of the suspects, but pretty clear video…
n
Headline SHOULD have read,
“Unfortunate moment when son of career criminal gets caught up in his father’s business.”
No. “America Cries Out For Regulation of BMWs”
In Florida, you learn quickly to give BMWs with a Florida A&M “Rattler” license plate a wide berth, especially if the driver is female.
LOL!
“In Florida, you learn quickly to give BMWs with a Florida A&M “Rattler” license plate a wide berth, especially if the driver is female.”
LOL!
‘Tude on four wheels. AKA license plate frame and a “Rattler” plate? Fuggedaboudit.
If they’re my age, they’ve had that “A Different World” theme playing in their heads for 30 years.
Back when I worked at GTE and the layoffs started rolling before the Verizon buyout -er- merger, one A&M grad in my group checked herself into the Charter hospital in town for a couple of months just to avoid termination. The company still waited for the clean bill of health from the shrinks and then fired her.
Sadly, quoting the Charter commercials became a running gag in our group afterwards. “If you don’t get help at Charter …”
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/us-born-woman-who-joined-isis-not-american-citizen
“US-born Alabama woman who joined ISIS is not an American citizen, judge rules”
“While in Syria, she had a child with an ISIS fighter who was later killed.”
“She has since apologized for her actions and said she wishes to return to the U.S. In February, Muthana said she wanted to come home even if it meant facing charges. Her passport was canceled in 2016 under the Obama administration.”
Besides that, isn’t joining a foreign army one of the ways to lose your USA citizenship anyway ?
Of course, if that was the case then the movie “Secondhand Lions” would not be so awesome.
Freefall: radiation shielding
http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff3400/fc03357.htm
I learned more about radiation than I ever wanted to learn. Consequently, I have forgotten it all now.
And the ship’s AI needs to be disciplined.
Besides that, isn’t joining a foreign army one of the ways to lose your USA citizenship anyway ?
She isn’t exactly a poster child for the concept of a “melting pot”. What exactly was her family’s visa status for that year?
Birthright citizenship is going to end us as soon as a Prog becomes President and decriminilizes being in the country without a visa. The world’s Number One Sons will show up en masse.
In the OPT diploma mill I laughingly call my grad school experience, I heard stories from the Freshers that made me estimate that they all knew at least a dozen individuals, friends/family/etc, who also had the money to travel to the US and look for work/school but were denied visas since they didn’t already have employer sponsors or school acceptances worked out in advance. Figure about 40 in my graduating class multiplied by 12 related to one mediocre state school alone on an annual basis.
And everyone worries about Mexicans. Geesh.
The Swan Eaters: the wagon has been TARDISed
https://www.gocomics.com/swan-eaters/2019/11/15
In non Dr. Who terminology, the inside of the wagon is way bigger than the outside of the wagon.
In the OPT diploma mill I laughingly call my grad school experience, I heard stories from the Freshers that made me estimate that they all knew at least a dozen individuals, friends/family/etc, who also had the money to travel to the US and look for work/school but were denied visas since they didn’t already have employer sponsors or school acceptances worked out in advance. Figure about 40 in my graduating class multiplied by 12 related to one mediocre state school alone on an annual basis.
So in other words, you are advising to buy real estate and apartment complexes ?
Gotcha. Already started.
BTW, they will have trouble finding jobs unless the work visa (different from a residency visa) requirements are also removed.
“Roger Stone, confidant of Trump and WikiLeaks connection, found guilty on all seven counts”
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/roger-stone-found-guilty-all-seven-counts-n1082326
“The GOP operative was charged with making false statements, obstruction and witness tampering tied to his pursuit of Russian-hacked emails in 2016.”
Ok, Trump needs to pardon this guy. He was stupid, is stupid, and will be stupid again. But, that does not deserve any time at all in a federal prison. These are all process crimes with very tricky prosecutors looking to trip him up.
Keep your mouth shut and never talk to a federal / state / county / city / constable police official. They will trip you up every time.
So in other words, you are advising to buy real estate and apartment complexes ?
Gotcha. Already started.
Even if a large number of cities, counties, and states weren’t already technically insolvent due to pension obligations, the property taxes are going to go up because Number One parents vote for the school bonds which the ISDs use to build stadiums, performing arts halls, and IB schools.
The San Antonio drive time talk host had a caller last week talking about the new $70 million stadium which Katy just approved. HOK architecture for everybody!
BTW, they will have trouble finding jobs unless the work visa (different from a residency visa) requirements are also removed.
The visa system is gamed by the big companies now.
Trump should pardon Stone and state at the signing that he’s doing it because federal prosecutors have declined to bring charges against Dems who have done worse.
Even if a large number of cities, counties, and states weren’t already technically insolvent due to pension obligations, the property taxes are going to go up because Number One parents vote for the school bonds which the ISDs use to build stadiums, performing arts halls, and IB schools.
That means that rents are going up also. Big time.
Jerry Pournelle’s Chaos Manor site has an announcement about new books, plus a link to a podcast discussing those books.
You’ll find it here: https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/announcing-new-books-from-jerry-pournelle/
The San Antonio drive time talk host had a caller last week talking about the new $70 million stadium which Katy just approved. HOK architecture for everybody!
That was finished two years ago:
https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2017/08/17/photos-katy-isds-new-70m-football-stadium-ready.html
June 2020 can’t get here fast enough! 🙂
“new $70 million stadium which Katy just approved. HOK architecture for everybody!”
–that means $70M for the arts, and my wife tries to skim a significant (to us) chunk of that off the top….. those boondoggles put food on my table and will put my kids thru school 🙂 Meanwhile, I’m buying 3D printers for $100 from the district that spent $40K on it.
Lean back and learn to profit from the decline!
n
Status on the new used house:
1. the new triple pane windows are installed and very very quiet – had ambulance go by and could barely hear it
2. the front shower is being rebuilt from a 34 inch by 34 inch shower to a 38 inch by 60 inch shower for the disabled daughter and her shower chair (50% complete) – tiling the walls today
3. the house interior is being painted 100% – turned out somebody painted the oil based paint wood areas (baseboards, closet boards, kitchen cabinets) with a latex paint. The latex paint has been sanded off and all wood repainted white. The ceilings have been repainted. The walls are next.
4. the house exterior will be pressure washed, two exterior doors replaced, several boards replaced with Hardie board, and painted white next
5. replace most of the carpet
6. thinking about replacing four of the 10 ft by 12 ft wide panels of the driveway, $5,000 but needs it and requires a week of no driveway access for demo, form building, and dry out (one panel is in six pieces, already tried concrete raising – that fixed three other panels and sidewalk)
Move in somewhere around Dec 10. Maybe.
Just call me Mr. Cash Flow. Who needs stinking savings ?
Back from the kid’s house. Turns out the pipes are insulated. He never looked. Grrr. Found out after I crawled under the house. He thought the pipes were not insulated because he had no water one very cold day, actually several days of cold. In my mind there is no way the pipes under house froze with insulation and the heat from the floors above. All his faucets were not working. I am guessing the problem was out at the meter box which is more exposed to the cold than his pipes. Meter is only about six inches below grade, in a box, with vents to the world, and the meter surrounded by that cold air.
I did find an electrical splice just sitting out in the open, wires twisted together, no wire nuts. Obviously put in after the house was built. Code violation and a safety issue. So I went back under the house, installed an electrical box, strain reliefs, and proper wire joining with wire nuts. What kind of idiot does those kinds of connections?
Sore from the four trips under the house. One trip was because I forgot the non-contact electrical tester so son could turn off the proper breaker. Grrr.
That means that rents are going up also. Big time.
Sure. Then teachers, cops, and firefighters can’t afford to live in the communities and taxes go up to give them raises or pay commuting costs and …
–that means $70M for the arts, and my wife tries to skim a significant (to us) chunk of that off the top….. those boondoggles put food on my table and will put my kids thru school Meanwhile, I’m buying 3D printers for $100 from the district that spent $40K on it.
Lean back and learn to profit from the decline!
The local ISD (Round Rock) got their butts kicked trying to sneak a bond issue vote for stadiums and PACs out on a Saturday morning two years ago. Ever since then, everything they do gets put under a microscope, but the voters will get tired of having to be vigilant as they’re priced out of the local housing market.
Prince Andrew has been a naughty boy.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50431163
Arguably, the best episode of BBC’s “Sherlock” to date is “A Scandal in Belgravia”.
Life imitates art. Or maybe the writers knew something.
Best 90 minutes of TV I’ve seen in the last decade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thioJtXLPFU
“The San Antonio drive time talk host had a caller last week talking about the new $70 million stadium which Katy just approved. HOK architecture for everybody!”
That was finished two years ago
The caller made it sound like he just learned about the stadium. Frogs in boiling pots.
My wife just taught 3800 patients a hard lesson in what happens when their doctor is priced out of the local housing market. Strictly theoretical, but my rule of thumb is that we must qualify for our current mortgage, identical terms, on our house at its 2014 price on her salary alone, as we did five years ago. I don’t even ask to qualify for the house at what the county appraises it for currently.