Hot and humid. Yup. Really.
Tuesday was a bust for me. Got very little done. I did a bit of work on my client’s issues, but nothing got resolved or ready for the next step. It was too hot to work in the yard/driveway/garage. Even my wife said I should stay in the house. I know. Shocked me too.
I finally heard back from one of my auctions, and he wants me to hold off bringing in any more until after the 21st. So that’s a couple of pickup loads that won’t get shifted this week. Still haven’t heard from the other about the pickup load for him.
I’ve got a pick up today that I was hoping to combine into one of those other trips, but I can’t put it off any more. And I’ve got another auction for some gubs that I’m actually having trouble getting invoiced for. Can’t pay until I get an invoice, but there is a problem with the accounting in the system they use, and it won’t invoice me. They have a bunch of legacy code in their site, and some of it is buggered. I know it’s their smart boys who effed it up, because all the links that don’t work are http://www.classic.currentwebsitename.com and the links that DO work don’t have the ‘classic’ prepend. Someone borked their ongoing support big time. Unfortunately for me, one of the workflow things is me clicking on an ‘agree’ button that no longer works. Until that happens the workflow is stuck and I can’t pay for my items. Their support people are at the “please try the ‘lost password’ tool…” stage. Sent them screenshots, so maybe it will get resolved. If you run an ecommerce site, you better make damn sure the payment workflow works.
So sleepy Joe finally picked a running mate. Strange bedfellows. No idea how it’s gonna play to the masses. I hope they can’t overcome the BLM and rioting and the rampant socialism and that people are finally waking up to the consequences of the previous decades of supporting those policies. No one likes to take ownership of their mistakes so if TPTB give them a way to avoid facing the fact that they voted for the clowns that created the problems they’ll take it, while still doing what they’ve always done. THIS time for SURE!
It should be clear to anyone paying attention that things are going the wrong way. It should also be clear that with as long as it took to get here, getting away from here won’t be quick either. Rome fell but the people still lived there, and people STILL live there. We’ll do the same. Of course it won’t be recognizable to us when we do get to the other side. It’s already not the country or world I grew up in.
I need to take some clear and decisive actions. That will make me feel better. Maybe FINISHING some of the ongoing projects and getting out of my chair will help. I should try it and see.
There’s a long row to hoe ahead of us. Think about what will make it easier for you and the ones you love, then start working on that. Stacking won’t hurt…
nick
Turns out that the hospital is putting my FIL in the COVID unit since he has pneumonia. And they are pumping him full of antibiotics. Turns out he is 206 lbs now, not 216 lbs. Almost a 100 lb drop in the last year.
If he does not have COVID then they will move him into a regular hospital room. Then he can have one visitor again so the wife is planning on running up there at that point. It is a crazy world that we live in now.
Right now, the hospital gets a larger check from the government for a suspected Wuxu Flu case than they would admitting him for pneumonia. The payola is part of the reason that the case statistics are so wonky.
We caught the tail end of a story on the news the other night showing the UT Southwestern building in Dallas. We know all about the rackets in that place from my father-in-law’s transplant experience. Even the nuns running the overnight visitor housing “wet their beaks”.
wow, slow start today
n
The temperature here in UK is at record-setting levels (34+ degrees C, 93 F) and has been for the last 6 days. My Pocketlab Weather says 47% RH. Both of which are far too high for my taste. Yes, I know I’m a wimp by Houston standards, but remember, we’re 20 degrees further north, and we don’t expect this.
G.
In 1998 we had over 100 days in a row with the same forecast: Highs in the low to mid 90’s. Chance of afternoon thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 70’s overnight.
Central Florida forecast doesn’t change much. We only have 2 seasons, summer and not summer.
Of course, there’s the old saying, “Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get.”
G.
HA!
https://hmstypicallydefiant.blogspot.com/2020/08/this-makes-me-laugh.html
Turns out that the hospital is putting my FIL in the COVID unit since he has pneumonia. And they are pumping him full of antibiotics. Turns out he is 206 lbs now, not 216 lbs. Almost a 100 lb drop in the last year.
If he does not have COVID then they will move him into a regular hospital room. Then he can have one visitor again so the wife is planning on running up there at that point. It is a crazy world that we live in now.
Right now, the hospital gets a larger check from the government for a suspected Wuxu Flu case than they would admitting him for pneumonia. The payola is part of the reason that the case statistics are so wonky.
My father-in-law (FIL) does not have Covid-19 so they have moved him into the regular hospital. The antibiotics are already working and he is speaking now. My nephew stayed with him until midnight last night which was awesome. He can now have one visitor per 24 hour time period. My sister-in-law is going to see him today and my wife will be going up later today or tomorrow, she has yet to decide.
Solano County, California (halfway between Sacramento and San Francisco), was similar in having only two seasons. Warm and dry or cool and wet. On the plus side, you could plan any Summer event you wanted and there was a 100% chance it would not rain..
I’m glad he is recovering, Mr. Lynn. Here’s to a full recovery in the near future!
“Change Change Change” by Sarah Hoyt
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2020/08/12/change-change-change/
“So, who had “Atlantis rises” on their 2020 bingo card?”
“No, no. Sit. Don’t go scouring news sites. That I know of, it hasn’t happened yet. But would anyone really be surprised? How many of us have gotten used to shaking our heads and going “D*mn it, 2020.””
And 2020 ain’t over yet. The days after the federal election are promising to be sparky no matter who wins.
“CNN: Biden May ‘Step Aside’ for Kamala Harris”
https://neonnettle.com/news/12291-cnn-biden-may-step-aside-for-kamala-harris
Well, that was predictable.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
My father-in-law (FIL) does not have Covid-19 so they have moved him into the regular hospital. The antibiotics are already working and he is speaking now. My nephew stayed with him until midnight last night which was awesome. He can now have one visitor per 24 hour time period. My sister-in-law is going to see him today and my wife will be going up later today or tomorrow, she has yet to decide.
Good news.
It is awful that hospitalization is how your wife gets to see her father. Is he in a VA place?
Travel isn’t terrible right now. Housekeeping at hotels stay out of the rooms, but that wasn’t a problem for us. Just avoid big crowds where people are getting their drink on — there is a lot of creativity devoted to getting around the Governor’s order about the bars right now.
It is awful that hospitalization is how your wife gets to see her father. Is he in a VA place?
Travel isn’t terrible right now. Housekeeping at hotels stay out of the rooms, but that wasn’t a problem for us. Just avoid big crowds where people are getting their drink on — there is a lot of creativity devoted to getting around the Governor’s order about the bars right now.
No, my FIL is in a regular hospital. It is 50 miles to the nearest VA hospital so my wife had them take him to the hospital down the street from the nursing home. He is really frail and just cannot take any handling.
My wife called her cousin to ask about the procedure of using a non-VA hospital. Her cousin is VA disabled also, he took a Viet Cong grenade in the chest in Vietnam and survived the nightmare. He said just notify the VA within 72 hours and all is ok. Her cousin spent a year in and out of the VA hospital in Temple, TX in 1968 ??? recovering from the grenade. He could not get rid of a low grade infection and kept on getting readmitted to the VA hospital. He is 75 now and still has serious issues with that.
If the wife goes up then she will stay with her sister. Her father’s house is hot right now as the A/C is broken due to blown out card. It has one A/C compressor and two coils / thermostats inside. Cheap but prone to problems. The first card the A/C guy replaced was the wrong card so he has ordered the other card.
Yeah, my wife was in Dallas just two weeks ago to pick up her sister for her uncle’s funeral in Abilene. They went and waved at their father through the nursing home window.
What the Actual F?
n
My wife called her cousin to ask about the procedure of using a non-VA hospital. Her cousin is VA disabled also, he took a Viet Cong grenade in the chest in Vietnam and survived the nightmare. He said just notify the VA within 72 hours and all is ok.
Trump spends money on the VA and the patients. I think the appeal for him isn’t so much political as it is that additional spending there gives visible results pretty quickly.
The Temple VA pork did keep our local Congresscritter in office during the last election cycle, when MJ Hegar went after him with CA money. The irony is that “Doors” is a patient in the system, having been seriously injured in a crash in Afghanistan.
Which reminds me — I haven’t seen a single new MJ Hegar Senate commercial since she had to beat back climbing poll numbers for Royce West heading into the runoff a few weeks ago.
“CNN: Biden May ‘Step Aside’ for Kamala Harris”
https://neonnettle.com/news/12291-cnn-biden-may-step-aside-for-kamala-harris
Well, that was predictable.
It worked for Governor Kate Brown in Oregon. She was unelectable running on her own the first time. Though, in that situation, Governor Kitzhaber wasn’t suffering dementia but instead was facing the possibility of indictment.
Plugs just needs to stick around long enough to fire the Federal prison tailor sewing up the orange suits with the nametag “H. BIDEN”.
If Plugs is that bad off, however, what happens if he doesn’t make it to Inauguration Day?
If he doesn’t make it to December, the House and Senate decide, one vote per state in each chamber IIRC, which could get into some interesting permutations of President and Vice President along with some really ugly politics.
If Plugs is that bad off, however, what happens if he doesn’t make it to Inauguration Day? `
What happens if Plugs does make it to it to Inauguration Day ?
Can you imagine the acceptance speech ? That thing, that thing !
If he doesn’t make it to December, the House and Senate decide, one vote per state in each chamber, which could get into some interesting permutations of President and Vice President.
I think that the USA should split the elections of the President and Vice President, just like Texas split the elections of the Governor and Lt. Governor after Reconstruction.
This sort of thing wouldn’t happen if we repealed the 2nd Amendment and seized all of the guns.
This sort of thing wouldn’t happen if we repealed the 2nd Amendment and seized all of the guns.
I cannot tell if you are serious or not.
If you are serious, how are you going to get the illegal guns from the criminals ?
Are you going to search people’s attics ? Are you going to dig up their yards ?
And how are you going to get 2/3rds of the House and Senate to agree with your repeal of the second amendment ?
And how are you going to get 3/4ths of the States to agree with your repeal of the second amendment ?
It is awful that hospitalization is how your wife gets to see her father.
It is time that the Governor relaxes the rule of no nursing home visitors. I told her to write a letter XXXXX email to Governor Abbott. We need to allow one visitor per day to a nursing home inhabitant with temperature checks and masks.
The amount of mental damage to the nursing home inhabitants is amazing in my FIL’s case which is severe after five months of no visitors (started March 12 !) . Not even his girl friend of 15 years could visit him. Not even his two daughters of 62 and 65 years of age. None of his four grandchildren who are 25 to 37 years of age (no young children !). Talking over the phone is just not the same.
Sarcasm has its time and its place!
Normally I’d say that’s “all the time” and “every place” but, damn, that one’s close to crossing a line.
It is time that the Governor relaxes the rule of no nursing home visitors. I told her to write a letter XXXXX email to Governor Abbott. We need to allow one visitor per day to a nursing home inhabitant with temperature checks and masks.
Most of the exposure problems at nursing homes have come from the barely-above-minimum-wage hands-on staff. With the exception of the (typically absentee) medical director and a handful of LPNs to do certain procdures, that means most of the caregivers, sadly.
And, unfortunately, all it takes is one moron among visitors, and as this situation has demonstrated, the country has a lot of those.
Letter. The Governor’s staff members have to spend time with those by law.
Sarcasm has its time and its place!
Perhaps @RickH could implement a sarcasm tag? 😉
“Polls Show Climate Change Issue Going Down In Flames Amid Pandemic”
https://climatechangedispatch.com/polls-show-climate-change-issue-going-down-in-flames-amid-pandemic/
“An AP-NORC poll released last year found that 68% were unwilling to foot even a $10 increase in their monthly electricity bill to combat global warming.”
““Was there any amount Americans were willing to pay to combat climate change? Yes, one dollar,” said the Cato Institute analysis. “Fifty‐seven percent (57%) of Americans would be willing to pay $1 a month fee in their electric bills to combat climate change.””
“Given a list of nine policy initiatives that could “fight global warming or help the environment generally,” the Harris Poll found that only one drew majority support: 51% supported “tax credits or rebates for greater energy efficiency in buildings.””
““Moreover, 13% of all respondents say the government should do nothing to improve the environment, a stance that rises to nearly one in five of all survey takers in the South,” said Mr. Johnson.”
I am not even willing to pay the $1 / month fee in my electric bill.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
The hospital determined that my wife’s father is aspirating most of his food. That is, his food was going into his lungs rather than into his stomach. The nursing home and the wife have been working on this for several years now, getting him to eat small bites and swallow constantly but he does not have the presence of mind anymore to concentrate on eating properly. He is incredibly weak now and cannot eat anything so the hospital is putting in a feeding tube. We are getting close to heroic measures in my book.
My wife has talked with the VA and they have OK’d everything for now at the public hospital. They do not want to transport him to the VA hospital, maybe because of COVID fears. It is a 50 mile hike and her father is incredibly weak, might not make it.
The wife’s older sister is with him now. She has medical power of attorney. The wife has general power of attorney for him.
I have been urging the wife to get guardianship of her father but she does not want to do that due to daddy issues. Sigh. She tells me what to do all the time now.
End of life decisions can be rough. We did it nine months ago for my mother. Not an easy choice and you will question yourself. I’m pretty sure it was the right time. Your wife and her sister need to do the same. It was a 2.5 year slide downhill for mom and at the end there was no real quality of life remaining. Hospice care lasted almost a month and no fun either but better than the alternative. Ninety-two years is a good run.
It is tough to let go. It is necessary to not think what is best for the decision maker, but what is best for the individual at the end of the life journey. When life becomes miserable, manifest with health issues, quality of life and all that, the decision is correct, in my opinion. Others feel differently. My entire family has made decisions known to the rest of the family that no heroic life saving measures will be pursued. Beyond making us comfortable, let nature take it’s course. Death is another part of life.
End of life decisions can be rough. We did it nine months ago for my mother. Not an easy choice and you will question yourself. I’m pretty sure it was the right time. Your wife and her sister need to do the same. It was a 2.5 year slide downhill for mom and at the end there was no real quality of life remaining. Hospice care lasted almost a month and no fun either but better than the alternative. Ninety-two years is a good run.
Yes. My FIL has been in a nursing home for six plus years now. His quality of life has been dropping consistently the entire time. He is 87 and his mental acuity is so bad that he cannot operate a cell phone now. My wife has to call the nursing home now, they send an attendant down to his room, they call my wife back, and hand his cellphone to her father.
The hospital tried to put the feeding tube up his nostril and down into the esophagus. He had some sort of seizure so they stopped. They are going to put the feeding tube into his abdomen in the morning. Like I said, sounds heroic to me. My SIL has worse daddy issues than my wife does.
Of no use and of no value, but I share your opinion. It is life support in my opinion. Providing breathing assistance is a comfort item, providing feeding is a heroic item. As is heart assistance, dialysis, etc. The body is shutting down. Let nature take it’s course. If there is no quality of life, there is no life.
And think that through before the crisis. Get agreement from the person the decision is about, then stick to your guns when the time comes and don’t keep Auntie “alive” for another year because you can’t bear to let go.
We have had death counseling, and one of the counselors emphasized that we should consider whether we are doing things to him, or for him. I think that is good advice.
AR500 Armor has a sale going on plates and carriers.
There is a lead time involved. Plan ahead.
n
Actually, there is a lot of precedent of a ‘sacrasm’ tag. Most often, it is an “[/s]” (with angle brackets, which are stripped out here) or “/s” at the end of the sarcastic remark. The reason for that is that you want to fool the reader into believing you are being serious (because you didn’t start with an ‘s’ tag, but then the closing’/s’ at the end of the sarcastic statement tells the reader your real intention.
The sarcasm tag is often used in online discussions. And it’s been around for at least a decade, according to some quick google-fu.
So, I think that everyone should use the sarcasm tag. It will be really helpful and will help with how we read commentary. /s
AR500 Armor has a sale going on plates and carriers.
There is a lead time involved. Plan ahead.
I assume that this is armor that you are talking about ?
https://www.ar500armor.com/testudo-general-issue-package-new.html
Have you ever lifted those plates ? They are 10 to 20 lbs each. My son wore 65 lbs of plates on his first trip to Iraq. Every day when they left the camp, those plates and their carriers were on them.
I made the mistake of picking up his and his buddies plate bag when they got off the bus from March AFB in 2006. 130 lbs of plates. Nearly ripped my arm out of my shoulder. My son ran over, said “Dad, dont do that”, and grabbed the bag from me. He already had a front pack and a back pack on plus his M249. About 200 lbs of stuff. Marines are pack mules.
“Designed by AR500 Armor® in Phoenix, Arizona, Manufactured to our strict quality standards in Vietnam.”
I find this statement to be a little strange given our past history in Vietnam. Having military equipment manufactured in Vietnam seems … ironic. Maybe too many of my relatives fought in Vietnam and made me a little sensitive.
We have had death counseling, and one of the counselors emphasized that we should consider whether we are doing things to him, or for him. I think that is good advice.
The wife talked with him today on the phone after the first attempt failed. Her sister is with him now. He agreed to try the radiology approach in the morning where they guide the feeding tube with a xray machine. I am not sure if they talked him into it or if he actually wants it, but, not my decision.
The wife is running up to Lewisville, Texas in the morning to see him for the first time in six months. 300 miles from Rosenberg, Texas through Houston and through Dallas to Lewisville. I did figure out a way to drive around Houston so we don’t go through north Houston “shudder” anymore.
Ha. When I was getting in shape leading up to being fed into the Special Forces program (before I lost my slot to bureaucracy and politics) I was trotting around with an 80-pound backpack, plus web gear, helmet, and rifle. That was the “if you’re awake, that’s what you’re carrying” load and what a couple Green Berets advised me to practice with, and build up to more. Funny to think that that was a troop’s basic load 30 years later.
@lynn, You can get their soft armor for the same carrier.
It’s stiff, and takes getting used to, but better than bleeding out.
If you have the soft and hard, you can mix and match to the mission. Sitting in your car waiting to meet the guy who has TP at 10pm you might only want the soft in front, none in back… at 3 am on top of your TP hoard, you might want the hard plates front and back, and a ballistic helmet too…..
Or an undercover cut, or a different system.
I keep thinking that at some point they’ll outlaw civilian ownership of body armor.
And as I said, you’re not getting it in a hurry if you suddenly decide you need it.
n
(the crotch armor from the USGI set makes a pretty good soft plate, size L and XL would work for an adult and smaller works for kids. They also fit pretty well into a backpack or book bag. the best part is the crotch armor is cheap compared to the rest, as few people bother with it.) https://www.ebay.com/itm/Body-Armor-Interceptor-Groin-Protector-Ballistic-Panel-L-XL-Military-USMC-Gear/402314611496
added– holy cow, it’s gone up in price dramatically.
If you have the soft and hard, you can mix and match to the mission. Sitting in your car waiting to meet the guy who has TP at 10pm you might only want the soft in front, none in back… at 3 am on top of your TP hoard, you might want the hard plates front and back, and a ballistic helmet too…..
Hey, no talking about my TP hoard !
Actually, it is Bounty PT (paper towels) that are in short supply right now. Brawny is crap.
(the crotch armor from the USGI set makes a pretty good soft plate, size L and XL would work for an adult and smaller works for kids. They also fit pretty well into a backpack or book bag. the best part is the crotch armor is cheap compared to the rest, as few people bother with it.) https://www.ebay.com/itm/Body-Armor-Interceptor-Groin-Protector-Ballistic-Panel-L-XL-Military-USMC-Gear/402314611496
Where is the XXL version ?
That’s what she said! (Read it using Michael Scott’s voice from The Office…)
Well, I did my pickup, and made both my wife and kids smile with the arrival of stuff. Hooray me. Other than that it was too danm hot to do anything.
n
I also did my instacart shopping and managed to screw up both orders somehow, getting stuff I didn’t really want that was packaged very similarly to stuff I did want. And the guy pulling the order can’t read english. So more stuff for the freezer, yea! Not the stuff I actually wanted. Boo.
Ok space geeks, this is incredibly cool and not at all what I was expecting.
Departing Space Station Commander Provides Tour of Orbital Laboratory
https://youtu.be/doN4t5NKW-k
n
Ok space geeks, this is incredibly cool and not at all what I was expecting.
Departing Space Station Commander Provides Tour of Orbital Laboratory
https://youtu.be/doN4t5NKW-k
n
Nice gams!
For the record, it was sarcasm. 🙂