Sunny and clear, probably, and warm. Three days without precip according to the national high level map. Yesterday was nice, even hot in the sun, but cool in the shade. Just on the edge of too much humidity.
I took a break from grandma and the kids and finished cleaning and reloading my Ranger. Since I had everything out, I figured I’d vacuum and sort. I put the more ‘survival’ stuff in a tub, and re-org’d the rest. At some point I want to build some plywood organizers but that will have to wait. I got everything back in that I wanted to, so far. Then another project jumped up and down demanding attention too.
My extended cab Ranger has “suicide” doors. A few years ago they failed, like all of them do. The cables that go from the handle to the latch have a plastic end and that end gets soft and crumbly. Once that happens, you can’t get the doors open without a pliers. I bought some milled aluminum replacements from a guy on ebay who has a little mini-business making and selling them. But, the instructions said it took 2 hours and I just never got around to it.
So yesterday I finally did. I was able to work around a step that involved drilling out rivets and save a bunch of time and effort. I spent about two hours on the first door and 45 minutes on the second. It would have been even less time, but I broke a part and misaligned another, and that took 15 minutes to work around. I’ve finally got that project off my list, and I’ve got 4 working doors on my truck again. I also found a bunch of stuff that should go on ebay.
Once again, circumstances dictated that I do projects that I otherwise just wouldn’t do yet. And with the time and hassle of getting the truck repaired, I will lose some other time I’d have been working the list. I tells ya, it’s always somethin’.
Today I have to get mom to the airport, make my repair appointment, arrange some sort of rental, as I can’t be without a car for a week, AND do all the normal things. Tuesday is a child’s birthday, and we’re having a sleepover for one, with dinner and treats, and cake, so I’ve got that to organize too. It’s a great life if you don’t weaken, right?
The wide world continues to be violent, unpredictable, and full of hazards. So keep stacking.
nick
60Fand 94%RH this am. Yuck.
Woke coughing. Feel like I’ve got a baseball caught in my throat. Otherwise feel fine.
n
“Writing on his personal blog earlier this month, Foster revealed that a formal statement was imminent over the dispute, saying “the irritating imbroglio with Disney, which you may have read about, is moving rapidly toward a mutually agreeable conclusion.””
The current execs in charge of Lucasfilm need to go. They got lucky with Baby Yoda and the pandemic providing an excuse for the ongoing problems at the theme park attractions.
Looks like the “‘Black Panther’ is the best movie ever made … unless you are a racist” meme has run out of gas.
Anthony Hopkins, an old white man, took home Best Actor last night over the Academy making a BLM posthumous statement with The Panther himself.
Not that the awards really matter anymore, but I can understand “Nomadland”. It isn’t a film people will study 50 years from now, but it is a nice piece of work. Watch cold and try to figure out who is one of the real life nomads and who is an actor.
Obviously Francis McDormand. It gets tough from there, however.
Walking through the Columbia Group’s concessions at Tampa Airport last month, I was struck by the menu for the hamburger counter, a subset of their Goody Goody Diner selection, featuring the “No fiction here” Royale With Cheese.
(Grow up in Tampa, and you’ll recognize the Goody Goody name. Killed by condo developments but not forgotten)
Almost 30 years and people still reference/study/watch “Pulp Fiction”.
I did not watch the academy awards and quickly changed TV channels this morning when the news anchors started fawning all over themselves over the awards. I have zero desire to hear anything that those hollyweird’0s think of themselves or the world. Apparently this was the most diversified awards ever which leads me to the conclusion that the awards are biased based on ethnic background or skin color. I suspect some of the people that voted cast their vote for a rgb(0,0,0) actor or actress to attempt to prove they are no racist. “I’m not racist, I voted for a rgb(0,0,0) person”. That is how Black Panther won in a prior year because as a movie it was just a CGI inspired confusing waste of time.
I really need to find my rgb(0,0,0) lawn jockey statue and mount it in my neighbors yard.
That is how Black Panther won in a prior year because as a movie it was just a CGI inspired confusing waste of time.
The Academy attempted to create a special “Best Popular Film” award for “Black Panther” the year it was eligible but pulled the category at the last minute before the nominations were read.
My guess is that they were afraid that SeaOrg would engineer a ballot rigging for Tom Cruise and “MI:Fallout”.
Arguably, “MI:Fallout” made a more interesting statement for race relations.
I did not watch the academy awards and quickly changed TV channels this morning when the news anchors started fawning all over themselves over the awards.
We watched the DS9 rerun last night.
I ran “Nomadland” a few weeks ago.
Is that where you cough in a gender neutral sort of way?
It’s a cough that acknowledges 10K years of systematic oppression of others, don’t make me mansplain it to you. Indeed, my whole live must be built on a pile of skulls, and not a pile of skills…
n
-I note that FF doesn’t have “mansplain” in its dictionary, yet.
-I feel the urge to sit with my knees apart while coughing
This touches on and pretty much sums up my feelings on the MN trial, with the exception of the attempted cancellation of the Coroner…
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/04/wayne-root-stop-lying-derek-chauvin-trial/
My best wishes to you and your wife, Harold.
You’re way off. WOKE is an acronym: White is OK Everywhere.
The way things have been going, I’m OK with embracing that.
“That sentence is a bit more revolutionary than it might seem. The three new iMacs, which are priced at $1,299, $1,499, and $1,699, respectively, do not differ by memory (8GB) or by CPU core count. Apple calls the M1 an eight-core, and it nominally is. But it’s better understood as a 4+4 CPU architecture, with four high-performance CPU cores and four high-efficiency CPU cores. The only difference between the M1 you get at $1,299 and the one you get at $1,699 is a single GPU core.”
Interesting.
8 GB memory. No upgrade path. Apple accelerates the trend towards manufacturing disposable PCs.
I thought they were supposed to be “green”.
Just like “racist” has been redefined so that only white people can be racist, due to the power we (supposedly) wield, “green” means sourcing from “green” suppliers, not the old meaning of not causing pollution.
I grew up poor in a civil war in a country with almost no non-white people. I was aware of 3 such people in my high school. Not much opportunity for abusing my white privilege there.
They are – from the green flowing in. Nothing else matters to corporations, no matter what crisis of the moment they claim to support.
Coughing has slowed considerably. I just blew out the whole house without a cough, and there was lots of dust in the air too.
Looking at cars online, there is one that might work in Sugarland… One in Rosenburg.
n
I did not watch the academy awards and quickly changed TV channels this morning when the news anchors started fawning all over themselves over the awards.
We watched the DS9 rerun last night.
I ran “Nomadland” a few weeks ago.
You can watch Nomadland on http://www.hulu.com for as a part of the regular subscription right now. I watched the first 30 minutes a week ago and might finish it someday. It was very well done but depressing.
Bruce Sterling’s “Distraction” book paints a vivid view of the dystopic USA in 2044 where half of the population live in RVs to keep from paying property taxes. They move the RV from Florida to Texas and back every six months to keep from paying state income taxes.
https://www.amazon.com/Distraction-Bruce-Sterling/dp/0553104845/
Coughing has slowed considerably. I just blew out the whole house without a cough, and there was lots of dust in the air too.
Looking at cars online, there is one that might work in Sugarland… One in Rosenburg.
n
For you or for me ? I think we are looking for very different vehicles but I could be wrong. I am looking for 120K to 150K miles. I would think that you are looking for 50K to 100K miles.
Good luck. I have tried to buy two old Expeditions now that were both sold before I got there.
Another foolish decision – that attempting to flee when the police try to serve arrest and search warrants is the logical choice. If he’d cooperated most likely he’d still be alive, albeit in a 6×9 cell…
“Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed Brown, a 42-year-old Black man, while carrying out search and arrest warrants Wednesday. The warrants related to alleged cocaine and methamphetamine possession and distribution, Carolina Public Press reported.”
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/26/990842420/elizabeth-city-n-c-declares-emergency-before-release-of-bodycam-video-of-shootin
@hick; in case you hadn’t heard about this shortage:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/21/travel/rental-car-shortage.html
Hopefully you have rental car coverage on your auto policy.
Not quite the convertible sports car they were hoping for…
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/rental-car-shortage-hawaii-tourists-u-haul-trucks/
You can watch Nomadland on http://www.hulu.com for as a part of the regular subscription right now. I watched the first 30 minutes a week ago and might finish it someday. It was very well done but depressing.
I read the book, which was even more of a downer.
“Nomadland” was like “The Florida Project” except without any one performance on the level of Willem Defoe as the hotel manager.
A lot of movies which make it to theaters right now are depressing.
“Building Mobile Apps at Scale: 39 Engineering Challenges”
https://www.mobileatscale.com/
“The missing guide for building large, iOS, and Android native apps -with the challenges and common solutions across the industry.”
“The PDF book is free thanks to book sponsors. Also available as paperback, epub and on Kindle.” The PDF is free until May 31.
He was the chief architect of the Uber app. 200 freaking software engineers, groan.
I read his blog using push email.
https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/
Wow, not much diversity at Uber software development if the picture is typical.
https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/my-unforgettable-uber-ride/
@nick; in case you hadn’t heard about this shortage:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/21/travel/rental-car-shortage.html
Hopefully you have rental car coverage on your auto policy.
Yes, but as we learned in Florida last month, the rental car coverage does not include the roadside assistance coverage in most cases so if you are not a AAA member, consider taking the option at the counter. The charge for the jump start *done by the same contracted company as AAA uses in Orlando* was $55.
We paid a *lot* for the week’s rental in FL, easily double previous trips through the same airport for about the same amount of time, the last being just three years ago.
“SCOTUS to take a Second Amendment Case.”
https://gunfreezone.net/scotus-to-take-a-second-amendment-case/
“Court to take up major gun-rights case”
https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/04/court-to-take-up-major-gun-rights-case/
“Over a decade after it ruled that the Second Amendment protects the right to have a handgun in the home for self-defense, the Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide whether the Constitution also protects the right to carry a gun outside the home. The justices’ announcement that they will take up a challenge to a New York law that requires anyone who wants to carry a gun in the state to show a good reason for doing so sets the stage for a major ruling on gun rights in the court’s 2021-22 term.”
“The law at issue in the case, New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Corlett, is similar to gun-control measures in other states. To receive an unrestricted license to carry a concealed firearm outside the home, a person must show “proper cause” – meaning a special need for self-protection. Two men challenged the law after New York rejected their concealed-carry applications, and they are backed by a gun-rights advocacy group. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit upheld the law, prompting the challengers to appeal to the Supreme Court.”
“After considering the case at three conferences, the justices agreed to weigh in. They instructed the parties to brief a slightly narrower question than the challengers had asked them to decide, limiting the issue to whether the state’s denial of the individuals’ applications to carry a gun outside the home for self-defense violated the Second Amendment. But the case nonetheless has the potential to be a landmark ruling. It will be argued in the fall, with a decision expected sometime next year.”
Yup, this scares me too. And New York State will probably vacate the law in question to try to get SCOTUS to walk away.
Haven’t been to a theater in over a year and don’t really miss it.
And don’t recall the last movie we saw – watching streaming series for the most part with a big pending list.
“The missing guide for building large, iOS, and Android native apps -with the challenges and common solutions across the industry.”
It has been a painful 14 year learning curve for the industry.
Steve Jobs foresaw the nightmare and tried to push the iPhone out without third party compiled apps, but competing with Blackberry and Symbian required releasing an SDK.
I never looked at Blackberry development, but Symbian was a joke of an API that no one took seriously.
Blackberry later committed security suicide.
You can watch Nomadland on http://www.hulu.com for as a part of the regular subscription right now. I watched the first 30 minutes a week ago and might finish it someday. It was very well done but depressing.
I read the book, which was even more of a downer.
“Nomadland” was like “The Florida Project” except without any one performance on the level of Willem Defoe as the hotel manager.
A lot of movies which make it to theaters right now are depressing.
Dad and I have seen a couple of neat movies this year.
1. The Last Vermeer
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8337320/
2. Tenet
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6723592/
“Some Houston Methodist Employees Say They Are Ready to Be Fired Rather Than Get the COVID Vaccine Now”
https://www.houstonpress.com/news/houston-methodist-employees-get-a-covid-shot-or-get-gone-11558237
“Houston Methodist made headlines at the end of March when the hospital chain’s CEO Dr. Marc Boom made the call to require all of his employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to keep their jobs. It was the first major hospital system in the country to announce it would make the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory. Even before making that move, the hospital offered $500 bonuses to any employee who demonstrated proof of vaccination.”
“The overwhelming majority of Houston Methodist’s workforce have complied with the policy so far: 84 percent of the hospital chain’s 26,000 employees had gotten at least one vaccine shot as of Tuesday, according to Houston Methodist’s Director of Public Relations Stefanie Asin.”
“But not all Houston Methodist employees are on board with being told they have to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, including Bob Nevens, the hospital chain’s Director of Corporate Risk and Insurance, and Jennifer Bridges, a Houston Methodist nurse in Baytown.”
“Nevens told the Houston Press he’s on track to be fired at the end of the month because he won’t get vaccinated, while Bridges said she has no plans to take a coronavirus vaccine before the hospital’s June 7 deadline for all employees to have received at least one vaccine shot lest they be fired, and is working to rally support from her coworkers and the public to get Houston Methodist to reverse course.”
Eventually all jobs will require the vaccine.
A friend of mine just spent two weeks in the hospital with the covid and then a week in rehab. He is 40.
“Census: Texas gains Congress seats, Calif. loses first time”
https://apnews.com/article/census-congressional-districts-7dd29f02c7d68038920c7e1a23f842a1
“Those shifts have largely been westward. Colorado, Montana and Oregon all added residents and gained seats. Texas was the biggest winner — the second-most populous state added two congressional seats, while Florida and North Carolina gained one. States losing seats included Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.”
Texas +2
Florida +1
California -1
New York -1
Montana +1 really ?
Oregon +1
Colorado +1
Eventually all jobs will require the vaccine.
It will depend on the state and the employer.
I’m not going to get the shot without a reason. If forced, I will take the J&J shot because the clotting deaths which forced the pause have all been women under 50, and I’m in neither category.
My job is 100% remote right now. The only reason I can imagine a shot being necessary for me in the next year is if the Feds and the airlines impose it for air travel.
Just watched live the launch of the ULA Delta IV launch vehicle. I worked on the Delta II, but not on the III or IV.
“Those shifts have largely been westward. Colorado, Montana and Oregon all added residents and gained seats. Texas was the biggest winner — the second-most populous state added two congressional seats, while Florida and North Carolina gained one. States losing seats included Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.”
What the Republicans in Florida have managed to pull off across the last two elections is putting themselves in a position to redistrict without a Dem Governor or the FL State Supreme Court having majority Democrat seats for the first time in the state’s history.
Val Demings is probably gone at a minimum. If you see her face on TV more as of late being the voice of moderation, that’s the reason. Hers was a special seat created by the FL Supreme Court ordering the district redrawn in 2016.
The voters in Miami saved the Republicans the trouble of purging Donna Shalala.
Three of us got the first Pfizer jab today at an H-E-B (my other twin daughter got her first one two weeks ago). We are all still conscious after six hours. I wasn’t planning on getting one yet, but schools and Unis are opening up and calling us like crazy for on campus programs. Since most of those institutions are ProgLibTurd commie run, I imagine vax records will become mandatory.
Wife was making her macaroni salad recipe yesterday and one of the ingredients is beets (it’s a thing??), which we usually have on hand as fresh or vac sealed, but had neither. She did find a can in the back of the pantry which she used instead. While taking stuff out to the recycling bin I noticed that the can was stamped “Best by Dec 2016.” I asked the wife about it and she said yeah, I saw that, can looked fine so I opened it and the beets looked and smelled fine so I used them. Unintentional prep saved the day!
“Millions of People Are Skipping Out on the Second Dose of Vaccine”
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2021/04/25/millions-of-people-are-skipping-out-on-the-second-dose-of-vaccine-n1442632
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that at least 8 million Americans who received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine have failed to return for the second dose. Both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require two doses about a month apart for the full immunological effects to take hold.”
“About 8 percent of people are not taking their second dose, double what the rate was in February. Then, the cause was a limited supply that created bottlenecks in some regions of the country. But public health authorities are concerned because while one dose of vaccine offers some protection, two doses are needed to create a robust immune response to protect the body from one of several variants of COVID-19 that have been discovered in other countries.”
I have been wondering about this. I am saw a report that the first shot of Pfizer is 80% effective for an unknown period of time. The second shot takes you to 94% and a longer period of time.
I usually don’t get the yearly flu vaccine, and I usually don’t get the flu. So was ambivilent about the Covid shot. When I did get the yearly flu vaccine, I had minimal reactions to it (slightly sore arm).
But, wife was more concerned than I was, and some family members are similarly concerned, so we both signed up for and have recieved both of the two Pfizer shots.
No side effects for either of us, other than a slightly sore spot at the injection site.
My health status for reference: Type 2 diabetes (well controlled with Metfornim; current A1C is about 7.0, doc is happy), HDL/LDL cholesterol levels OK (Pravistatin), sleep apnea (caused by weight; for over 10 years using CPAP), occasional afib (controlled by drugs; probably caused by sleep apnea).
I take a multivitamin, vitamin D-3 supplement daily, full strength aspirin daily. Just started taking fish oil (1000 mg x 2 daily) and folic acid (400mcg x 1 daily), as both of those have had positive results for heart health and stroke prevention in latest studies. I am overweight (258 lbs, 6’1″), but slowly reducing that with lower carbs and less added sugar (down from 275 in last 3 months)
I am not sure that I understand the reluctance to get the vaccine. Seems to me a generally good idea for 99% of people. Yes, bad news if you are the 1%. But so is accidental death due to driving.
I suspect that will become the case, especially for travel to foreign countries such as Europe. As for India, based on the squalor I have seen on The Amazing Race the only good option for India is LEAVING. Same goes for a lot of other countries.
According to my German friends Germany is on really severe lockdown. All unnecessary shops are closed, basically anything but food, no restaurants, only one household member is allowed to meet one member from another household, curfew between 2100 and 0500.
Around here the mask mandate for my county is gone. No masks required at sporting events, number of attendees determined by the organization. So high school basically has no limits. And no one in the stands are wearing masks.
The number of cases is dropping but the media and local officials are trying their best to still make the situation look horrible. Basically keep their power hold over people. Most people are over it and will take things as they come. Living is more important than cooped up scratching their ass.
Not to worry. COVID-21 (or 22) is currently in development. Not necessarily the virus, but the plan of government control of businesses and individuals.
It will be interesting to see the cause of the death on the MIL’s death certificate. We were asked if we wanted COVID-19 to be on the certificate as that provides money from FEMA to assist in the burial. We said no, as that smacks of being dishonest. The lady at the funeral home responded “well it is free money”. I am certain the FSA would take advantage, even from the families of gunshot victims. As Pournelle stated “The demand for free good is infinite”. He is 100% correct.
Covid has definitely had an effect on the population but not a horrendous effect. The USA peak excess deaths was 85,528 so far for 2021 (first week in Jan 2021). Given that 60,000 people per week in the average year, that is not a huge increase like I would expect for a pandemic but it is 40+% increase. Horrendous would be 300% increase, and society changing would be 1,000+% (my personal SWAGs).
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm
The second shot takes you to 94% and a longer period of time.
Not to worry. COVID-21 (or 22) is currently in development. Not necessarily the virus, but the plan of government control of businesses and individuals.
I hope not. And I suspect that general populace of the USA would tell the powers that be to go pound sand. Covid was sold to us as a 3% death rate but it has a 0.3% death rate. Most of the people I know feel like they got snookered.
My concerns are the experimental nature and emergency FDA approval. I read plugs is offering the unapproved AstraZeneca to Mexico, Canada, etc. We may sprout a sixth finger in two years. LOL.
I also read Pfizer is working on a COVID pill that may be ready later this year. If that works, Bob’s your Uncle.
I suspect that “ech” will chime in about this for clarification of that statement.
My concerns are the experimental nature and emergency FDA approval. I read plugs is offering the unapproved AstraZeneca to Mexico, Canada, etc. We may sprout a sixth finger in two years. LOL.
I also read Pfizer is working on a COVID pill that may be ready later this year. If that works, Bob’s your Uncle.
Johnson & Johnson isn’t as experimental as the other two, but it is still a fairly novel approach for vaccines used in humans. The technique is similar to the rabies vaccine for animals.
I’ll get that one if I have to choose my shot.
I hope not. And I suspect that general populace of the USA would tell the powers that be to go pound sand. Covid was sold to us as a 3% death rate but it has a 0.3% death rate. Most of the people I know feel like they got snookered.
The code that generated the model which predicted 3% was discredited last summer, but Trump kept believing Fauci.
Fauci should retire.
If they really want me to get a “vaccine” for a “pandemic disease”, they can mail it to me, I’ll take care of it, and I’ll mail them paperwork back to them. If it’s good enough for voting, it’s good enough for phony-baloney experimental “vaccines”.
SIX FINGER – SIX FINGER MAN ALIVE, HOW DID WE EVER GET ALONG WITH FIVE
Anyone over about 65 might remember that,
“Tesla posts record net income of $438 million, revenue surges by 74%”
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/26/tesla-tsla-earnings-q1-2021-.html
“Tesla reported record net income of $438 million during the quarter, as well as earnings of 93 cents per share on $10.39 billion in revenue.”
Wow.
“In its earnings release, the company said it has weathered chip shortages that have plagued the auto industry in part by “pivoting extremely quickly to new microcontrollers, while simultaneously developing firmware for new chips made by new suppliers.””
How did they do that so quickly ?
I think that those that died directly from the virus, or those whose death was hastened by it, might have a different outlook if given the opportunity.
That would certainly improve my typing skills.
1.Grimdark:
Marcus Pelegrimas, Blood Blade (6 sequels)
Charles Stross, The Atrocity Archives (10 sequels)
2.Vaccines
mRNA are not vaccines as traditionally defined. They are experimental, to the extent that most medical insurance will not cover any adverse reactions. The logical pushback to vaccine requirements would be asking the employer “Will you cover medical expenses, etc. for adverse reactions?”
3.Model
The 3% was not peer-reviewed, and the idiot Brit Ferguson who put it out had a bad track record with two previous models .
One critic wrote in 2006:
“the models were not fit for the purpose of predicting the course of the epidemic and the effects of control measures. The models also remain unvalidated. Their use in predicting the effects of control strategies was therefore imprudent.”
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/484622-expert-behind-covid-19-shutdown/
Likewise, the “model” used by the idiot governor of Minnesota, whose death toll in senior care facilities is second only to Killer Cuomo, was a lashup by a trio of inexperienced grad students working over a weekend.
Fauci needs to be retired, Soviet-style. Some other national “science” advisors that should have sounded the alarm should never work again.
4.Excess deaths
The U.S. curve has already crossed–deaths are in deficit. Be interesting to see what the integral is in twelve months and whether the deficit of deaths in the co-morbidities is close to the deaths due to the Wuhan lying Chicom coronavirus. Sadly, the excess deaths due to teen suicide will have no offset.
And those who died directly from any of the “vaccines” might like to weigh in on the safety testing performed before release and on the quality and verity of information given to the public.
I have a shovel and an acre of forest which has very few people going through it. Just sayin.
I’ve been pointing that out for a while. Yes, there were excess deaths for a while last year. The “deficit deaths” late 2020 and all of 2021 will roughly cancel that out. Except, as noted, for the suicides and the deaths caused by inability to get to medical care, deaths hastened by inability to get exercise and sunlight, and so on. Plus something I haven’t seen mentioned except by myself: first-world medical care is wholly dependent on wealth. The world economy and the US economy in particular have been wrecked, with the loss of trillions of dollars of wealth. What will the long-term effects be of reduced ability to pay for medical interventions and medical device research and new drugs?
5.”Most of the people I know feel like they got snookered.”
Fauci and CDC lies are documented.
MIT just ripped the lid off the mask kabuki.
The risk of being exposed to Covid-19 indoors can be as great at 60 feet as it is at 6 feet in a room where the air is mixed — even when wearing a mask, according to a new study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers who challenge social distancing guidelines adopted across the world.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/23/mit-researchers-say-youre-no-safer-from-covid-indoors-at-6-feet-or-60-feet-in-new-study.html
I’m very surprised that the study didn’t get quashed.
6. Montana
With over 1 million people, the state’s current at-large congressional district is the most populous in the U.S. and is second only to Alaska’s in geographic size.
Growing from one to two seats, Montana will go from being the least represented state in the union — with close to a million people in the single congressional district in 2010 — to the most well-represented. The state now has just over half a million state residents per representative after the 2020 census, significantly lower than the national average population per representative of 760,000.
https://apnews.com/article/montana-census-2020-747de9091fc5108e47dd5b97e06642a6
After rounding down for thirty years, now rounding up.
@SteveF
Plus something I haven’t seen mentioned except by myself: first-world medical care is wholly dependent on wealth. The world economy and the US economy in particular have been wrecked, with the loss of trillions of dollars of wealth. What will the long-term effects be of reduced ability to pay for medical interventions and medical device research and new drugs?
Most of those are trillions not going into the insurance companies, drug companies and medical care providers. The high cost of medical care in the U.S. pays for most drug development. It also pays for the Cadillac-level care that the indigent (including illegals) get by going to the ER. There are going to be a lot of papers written on the results of postponing treatment, including a lot of elective surgeries, and the results are very likely going to lean heavily toward showing a “lack of bang for the buck”. People go to the interwebz and find research that says that the cure being offered isn’t that great and pretty quickly we have empty wings at hospitals and they’re trying to charge an x-ray in ER at $5,000.
I usually don’t get the yearly flu vaccine, and I usually don’t get the flu. So was ambivilent about the Covid shot. When I did get the yearly flu vaccine, I had minimal reactions to it (slightly sore arm).
But, wife was more concerned than I was, and some family members are similarly concerned, so we both signed up for and have recieved both of the two Pfizer shots.
No side effects for either of us, other than a slightly sore spot at the injection site.
My health status for reference: Type 2 diabetes (well controlled with Metfornim; current A1C is about 7.0, doc is happy), HDL/LDL cholesterol levels OK (Pravistatin), sleep apnea (caused by weight; for over 10 years using CPAP), occasional afib (controlled by drugs; probably caused by sleep apnea).
I take a multivitamin, vitamin D-3 supplement daily, full strength aspirin daily. Just started taking fish oil (1000 mg x 2 daily) and folic acid (400mcg x 1 daily), as both of those have had positive results for heart health and stroke prevention in latest studies. I am overweight (258 lbs, 6’1″), but slowly reducing that with lower carbs and less added sugar (down from 275 in last 3 months)
I am not sure that I understand the reluctance to get the vaccine. Seems to me a generally good idea for 99% of people. Yes, bad news if you are the 1%. But so is accidental death due to driving.
Congrats on the weight droppage. I weighed 252 lbs this morning and would like to be 230 or less. Am 6’1″ also. Not much luck getting there so far, going to have to actually do something in order to make it happen.
I weighed 272 lbs back in 2004 and cut sugar and bread out entirely to drop down to 232 over five months. I liked 232, was a good weight for me. And then Thanksgiving happened and pie made my sugar cravings go wild. Slowly went back up to 250 over the next couple of years and just been hanging there since then, gain 5 lbs, lose 5 lbs.
We have a lot of anti-vaxxers here in Texas. Maybe a quarter of the population. All of the big vaccine sites are claiming that they are in walk-in status since last week. Many people were thinking about getting the J&J but since it got pulled off the market they are in a holding pattern.
“A.F. Branco Cartoon – Land of the Freebie”
https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-land-of-the-freebie/
“Equality is everyone having the same opportunities vs Equity, everyone having the same outcome. Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2021.”
I am not sure that I agree with this. If it is true then we are hosed.
“In its earnings release, the company said it has weathered chip shortages that have plagued the auto industry in part by “pivoting extremely quickly to new microcontrollers, while simultaneously developing firmware for new chips made by new suppliers.””
How did they do that so quickly ?
Arm is a design licensed by many manufacturers. Even Intel has a license.
Plus, embedded Linux. We used the realtime patch at my last job, but, given the hardware capabilities, it really wasn’t necessary. I used to be able to build a cross compiler from GCC source in an afternoon.
Note the “ruh-roh” paragraph:
Net profit reached a quarterly record of $438 million on a GAAP basis, and the company recorded $518 million in revenue from sales of regulatory credits during the period. It also recorded a $101 million positive impact from sales of bitcoin during the quarter.
They lost $181 million making cars. Use your beer money to invest.
@RickH, what kind of platform do you use for your wife’s power chair on your Highlander ? And what kind of power chair ?
My wife is tired of pushing our daughter around in a wheelchair. She wants to get her a power chair and put it on a small platform on the back of her Highlander. Attached to the hitch ?
“In its earnings release, the company said it has weathered chip shortages that have plagued the auto industry in part by “pivoting extremely quickly to new microcontrollers, while simultaneously developing firmware for new chips made by new suppliers.””
How did they do that so quickly ?
Arm is a design licensed by many manufacturers. Even Intel has a license.
Plus, embedded Linux. We used the realtime patch at my last job, but, given the hardware capabilities, it really wasn’t necessary. I used to be able to build a cross compiler from GCC source in an afternoon.
I just realized that since the Tesla does not have an internal combustion engine, it does not have to be certified by the EPA. I have heard that the EPA emissions certification process can take months or years. Especially when you “cook” the code a little bit (see Bosch / VW).
That means that the vehicles with internal combustion engines are fairly well hosed since the EPA is inside their development loop.
Do you really think that the Ford engine management system uses Embedded Linux ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_EEC
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_on_embedded_systems
@Lynn
We got a used power chair (Jazzy, no longer made) and a Hamar power lift (similar to this, ours is older https://harmar.com/vehicle-lifts/al500/ ) from someone who didn’t need it anymore. We paid $1500 for both of them (used) about 8 years ago.
Our medical insurance paid for another powered wheelchair that we have. Doctor stated it was needed; prescribed it, I guess. The 2nd one sits in the garage, and needs new batteries (2) – you have to keep the batteries charged up or they die. Have never gotten around to replacing the batteries (they are about $80/each) as the Jazzy has worked OK.
The powered lift just requires 12v connector (two prong). We got a long cable that runs from front battery to the back, routed above the skid plate.
But the 2019 Highlander you have has the trailer wiring adapter built in. It’s inside the left rear wheel area, accessable through a panel by the third row (behind the fuel release cover on left side rear panel). The Toyota OEM hitch assembly package comes with the box that you connect to the pre-wired plug inside that area. The built-in connector is just 12V and ground plus the brake-turn signal wiring. I think the kit just has the 4 prong trailer plug, and the 12V is not in that plug and kit. (I got the wiring diagram of that box somewhere around here…in the video, the harness stuff starts about 9:30.)
But even though the Toyota wiring harness is only 4 plug (no 12v wire) I think you could easily tap into the 12v (fused) line in that spot and run a suitable cable to a 2-prong plug that you mount to the 4-wire trailer plug that is installed. I had the Toyota dealer install the hitch and wiring kit as part of the deal when I bought my 2019 Highlander last year. Whole thing genuine Toyota parts.
I saw a good installation video for the process : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yk2ew8njPM . Includes part numbers. Shown is a 2016, but that’s the same 3rd generation as the 2019. Good video, even just for orientation. Using the Toyota hitch is better, as it doesn’t look ‘hanged on’ – plus better ground clearance than 3rd party ones. You can get third-party hitches and harnesses (etailer.com is one place), but I like the looks of the Toyota OEM.
You know who else likes beets…Hitler. Also Sauron.
The Murderbot Diaries, by Martha Wells.
Up to book #4 in the series, in a day…
To which the response would be:
1. You’re employed at will, don’t let the door hit you as you leave.
or
2. Please see page 27 of your employment/union contract. Medical Dept is on the 2nd floor. If you don’t cry they’ll give you a lollipop. (And if this isn’t covered, first fire your head of HR.)
No mention (that I saw) in the linked article as to mask type and fitment. A properly fitted N95 would be a lot different than some cloth carp stitched by grandma down the block and worn so loose fitting that it keeps slipping off your nose. Need to control all variables in an experiment if results are to be fairly compared.
@Lynn
We got a used power chair (Jazzy, no longer made) and a Hamar power lift (similar to this, ours is older https://harmar.com/vehicle-lifts/al500/ ) from someone who didn’t need it anymore. We paid $1500 for both of them (used) about 8 years ago.
Thanks ! I have forwarded to the wife.
I especially like things done by the dealer since they usually do not do crazy things like splicing the wiring and then using masking tape to fix the damage instead of wire nuts and electrical tape.
So if it rains, which it occasionally does around here in the Houston area, the whole mess gets wet. Fun, fun, fun.
@lynn
You might keep an eye on Craigslist and FB marketplace in your area. I found this one with a quick search on CL https://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/hab/d/granbury-mobility-scooter-and-electric/7312717238.html . (I forget where you live)
WRT beets, I had some success growing them. I add one or two to beef stew in the crockpot, along with turnips and onion, and potato. Gives a nice rich color to the juice, and a sweetness that works real well for me. I’ve always got a few cans or a jar of pickled beets around. They just say “summer” to me.
”
“How did they do that so quickly ?”
–they don’t have a huge installed base, and as software/valley guys, they don’t care if they break backward compatibility, or if they invalidate any previous testing.
–wrt hitches, we went with after market for my wife’s Honda oddysee and it scrapes on the ground backing out of the driveway. I don’t think it looks particularly bad, but it is LOW.
–wrt powering a chair lift, isn’t there a 12v power point in the rear of the vehicle? Wife’s minivan and my Expy had one.
n
@Nick
On the Highlander, there’s a 12v line coming directly from the fuse box, so no other things on the circuit. It goes to the location behind the fuel filler inside access door (provides quick access to open the fuel door if the remote latch doesn’t work).
There’s a square Molex (?) type connector built in that connects to the trailer plug controller, I think in the middle at the rear (the video referenced shows it at 9:30 on). You could easily tap into that and wire up a 2 prong connector like this one https://amzn.to/3xq9klG which I bought because of some minor damage to the 12v line I removed somewhat forcefully from the previous Highlander. I’ve got the trailer hitch wiring diagram around here somewhere (comes with the Toyota controller thing).
Or you could go to your local RV repair place and have then run an insulated power cable from the front. Mine is connected directly to the positive battery post, with an inline 30A fuse.
I just realized that since the Tesla does not have an internal combustion engine, it does not have to be certified by the EPA. I have heard that the EPA emissions certification process can take months or years. Especially when you “cook” the code a little bit (see Bosch / VW).
That means that the vehicles with internal combustion engines are fairly well hosed since the EPA is inside their development loop.
Do you really think that the Ford engine management system uses Embedded Linux ?
No. Visteon probably built something proprietary with IBM for the PowerPC.
Tesla has a really complicated system for running the batteries. The EPA may be involved there.
VW had a bullseye on their diesel engines because they weren’t playing the horse pee game, and a 70 MPG turbo diesel commuter car was in the pipeline … until it wasn’t.
The EPA may regret what they did one day. With their new electric car factory in TN, VW is learning its way around the US crony capitalism antics, just like Airbus in Mobile did after getting burned on the tanker deal.
Or it may get in the way and deteriorate your scores…
“Rick: Is there any way to get rid of some/all of the CRLFs in the Blockquote? I end up spending more time deleting blank lines than typing… BTW The first character in this sentence is an at sign. Must have been scared to death by the TEXT edit functionality. Similar thing happened with the backslash.
@marcelo, as I understand it, there are a couple of different things that ‘massage’ the text. There is a site template that does things like change all the fonts to the site font, replace single ‘ apostrophe with ‘ single quotes, and remove excess white space. There are some text formatting things happening in the comment post box and editor too, with allowed and blocked html. Thirdly, there is a tool that appends the amazon affiliate link to any amazon link…
And they will battle with each other, and themselves, particularly if you go back and forth between the ‘text’ view and the ‘visual’ view (with one stripping out the html, and one inserting it WYSIWYG.)
In other words, it comes down to training the user thru trial and error and it mostly works most of the time.
I like the additional html (far beyond what most blogs allow in the comments) and we all use the ‘blockquote’ which might actually be the FOURTH element that mungs the text and html in the comment as it strips out html that would normally be allowed, so as to fit in the style that ‘blockquote’ uses.
for such a simple looking site, there is a lot of text manipulation and some parsing going on.
n
@ed, is that a recommendation for the Murderbot series? It looks interesting on goodreads…
n
@lynn from way up thread….
I found the Expy in sugar land and Rosenburg for me. There are a lot fewer EL versions out there.
I called about one, and while a 2017 with 80K isn’t that out of line, it’s been sitting on their lot since November. A close look at the carfax shows he put 24K miles on in 9 months! There was another BIG chunk of mileage went on a while later too. IDK what the guy was doing, maybe running Uber from Lake Livingston to the airport in Houston? or running drugs into Montana… and to make it even more sketchy, he starts out getting oil changes every 5K, then every 8-10k, then goes more than 20K between changes– at least as reported to carfax. Now he COULD have been doing them himself, or used a mom and pop, but if he really didn’t change the oil, that’s bad. That engine needs on-schedule oil changes. The sales girl who called me back about it confirmed that the oil change question and the bursts of high miles usage were in fact what was keeping it from selling.
The other one I had questions about the warranty (the dealer offers only 3rd party) but also told me something new… the sales guy said for about $1700 it could be ‘certified pre owned’ and then you get a Ford warranty that was much longer than the aftermarket one. I will explore that a bit more as I prefer to deal with Ford on issues.
n
have I mentioned that I love carfax? And I love being able to see the original window sticker to see what is really on the vehicle (only seems to be available for some vehicles.)
@lynn
You might keep an eye on Craigslist and FB marketplace in your area. I found this one with a quick search on CL https://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/hab/d/granbury-mobility-scooter-and-electric/7312717238.html . (I forget where you live)
Thanks. Dallas is 300 miles north of here. Granbury is 250 miles northwest of here.
I live in the Houston Metropolitan area out in Fort Bend County. No city. We are served by the Richmond, Texas post office.
have I mentioned that I love carfax? And I love being able to see the original window sticker to see what is really on the vehicle (only seems to be available for some vehicles.)
Carfax is freaking awesome. But it does miss some things.