Cool and raining turning to hot and raining, or not. Because this is Houston. Yesterday was mostly nice, only getting wet late in the day. Rained and thundered most of the night though. There was so much lightning that I disconnected all my antennas. I don’t usually do that. I’ve got lightning protection on the HF vertical that is out in the open, and the others are all under a tree, which mostly should protect them from a direct strike. I have to get some lightning protection for them too, but it’s low on my list.
Spent the day doing small things, most of which actually advanced a project or two along. Back and neck were improved, so I didn’t want to re-trigger anything by going crazy with the work.
In the evening, the kids rented and re-watched the movie they saw in the theater the night before. It was called Pitch Perfect, and it is hilarious. It’s full of very funny side comments and ‘throwaway’ lines, rude humor, and it is not politically correct. I kept wondering how they could get away with some of the stuff they did. Part of it is they shot it 7 or 8 years ago and the snowflakes weren’t in control. For the rest, I think they did it without a lot of studio oversight or interference. The sequels look equally funny, the second grossing even more than the original did, and wikipedia calls it a cult hit. Watch the trailer, and you’ll know if it’s for you. I was very surprised and laughed so hard I was crying. They kept almost the whole team together for the sequels, and I think that shows too. The music is pretty good too, if you are a child of the 80s it’s like the AM radio soundtrack of your life.
Today’s toil will depend on weather. All the usual stuff needs doing. So I’ll do some of it. And some will slip some more.
The garden continues to produce tomatoes in large number. My wife gave away a couple of bags already, which is why I usually only plant a couple of plants, any more and you have far too many fruits. I think the cooler start to the season has helped, as well as getting them in the raised beds instead of pots, or it could be the coffee grounds added to the soil, or that I finally got the soil in good shape, or it could just be the universe laughing in my face… In any case, my stuff languishes, my wife’s stuff looks like a jungle.
The peach tree never flowered, the apple is filling in, and the frozen citrus are definitely d. e. a. d. dead. That is a kick in the gonads, after all the effort that has gone into them, and the fact they were just starting to produce.
Farmers throughout history have learned the same lesson- one bad event and you lose your crop, and then, if it’s all you have, you starve. Even if your garden is doing great, and you have green thumbs, you still need stacks of food. And you need to be ROCK SOLID in your skills and knowledge long before your life depends on it. So start practicing, and keep stacking.
nick
“A hospital in Houston is being sued for mandating its employees to be vaccinated for Covid-19 as a condition for employment. The lawsuit, filed by attorney Jared R. Woodfill on behalf of 117 employees at Houston Methodist Hospital, marks the biggest lawsuit filed by employees of a medical facility in the age of Covid-19.”
I’ve wondering when this was going to happen.
I posted earlier in the week that OSHA classifies side effects from workplace-mandated vaccines as “reportable”, opening the door to the lawsuits.
I think I’ll get a second interview. I hope it’s in person. Questions were a mix of tech and creative thinking questions. My skills are stale, I was forthright and we discussed viability. The discussion was encouraging. Not going to get my hopes up as there were two other applicants.
Wherever I’ve worked with a titled DBA on the payroll, their responsibilities are usually less technical and more about carrying the institutional knowledge of the table structures in their head.
Even if it is written down somewhere, the documentation is out of date. Always.
They can always send you for Oracle training to learn to type scott/tiger. I’m not sure what the Microsoft equivalent would be off the top of my head.
If your organization is Oracle-based, they’re looking at a platform shift to cut costs anyway. Everyone will need fresh skills in the new system.
I kept wondering how they could get away with some of the stuff they did. Part of it is they shot it 7 or 8 years ago and the snowflakes weren’t in control. For the rest, I think they did it without a lot of studio oversight or interference.
The “Zombieland” sequel is worth the time not so much for the movie itself as the sly social commentary made possible because the writers had to project what society would be like if rewound to the late 2000s and then stopped. Sony must have been involved because they envisioned big things for the franchise, but they looked the other way.
Sadly, the flick fell through the Covid and Impeachment cracks when released in Fall 2019.
Good luck on your interview, Jenny!
The sequels look equally funny, the second grossing even more than the original did, and wikipedia calls it a cult hit.
When your kids are a little older, find Anna Kendrick in “Scott Pligrim vs. The World”. She seemed to be cast in every wanna be “cult” film appealing to the teen demographic made at the time on the expectation that “Scott Pilgrim” would be huge.
Pedo-plugs:
Biden Tells Little Girl She Looks ’19 Years Old’ Sitting ‘Like a Little Lady with Her Legs Crossed’
plugs is a sicko. The kids father, a Veteran, should have told him off right then and there. Maybe have a pushup contest behind the White House.
Do you mis tRump yet, dirt people?
Too many doobies:
Matthew McConaughey Promotes Universal Masking: ‘No Data that Says It’s Harmful’
He should team up with Butto. I’m sure they would take Texas by storm. We could be Kalifornia in two years.
When did Amazon start requiring submission of photo ID and bank statements in order to sell used books on a onesey-twosey basis through their market?
Gotta think about that one.
I jumped through the EBay hoop of allowing them to access a bank account for payments, giving them the sacrificial account I keep at the credit union in WA State waiting for the next attempted shakedown for cash from the Chinese relations, but the privacy problem with Amazon requiring more than just a credit card is much bigger than EBay.
I have a couple of probability theory books left over from the last job — purchased with my own money — if anyone is interested. Free to a good home.
At one point, I was trying to solve our problem with counting axles using treadles (those “strips” across the road) through application of probability theory, in particular looking at Markov Chains, but management was still pretending the Music Ed major could do my job on that particular road so the fix wasn’t high priority as far as I was concerned. Ultimately, the customer walked away — partially because of the axle counting problem!
My brother was set decorator, spent a few months in Baton Rouge filming it on the college campuses and locations around there. He said that Rebel Wilson (“Fat Amy”) was just as funny in real life as in the film. She also ad-libbed a few of the funnier lines. As for being rude, the original draft for the screenplay was rated R, but the studio was looking for a bigger audience so the writer (from “30 Rock”) and director (“Avenue Q” on Broadway) toned it down.
The scene where Anna Kendrick’s character tries out for the Bellas by doing the “cups song” was her idea. She had seen it on You Tube and learned to do it herself. She has a Broadway musical background (Tony nomination at age 12) and is a huge nerd.
He should team up with Butto. I’m sure they would take Texas by storm. We could be Kalifornia in two years.
People are over masks. Even without vaccines, the chances of catching the virus from going maskless at Lowes were always practically nil. If the music venues and what passes for “culture” in Austin reopen successfully this weekend for the Legislators to celebrate another successful term — of accomplishing very little — without cases/deaths moving much, masks will be done in another month in the state.
Who in Texas doesn’t believe that Matthew McConaughey is a stoner? Remember the Lincoln commercials? That may play well on I-35 and parts of Houston, but that image will be trouble elsewhere. The Dems want to *win* statewide. Badly.
Plus, the California money people pulling Robert Francis strings would not be thrilled with getting involved with “Rooster” and the rest of the McConaughey clan, including the brother’s first born child Miller Lite and daughter Olympia (after another, mostly forgotten, beer brand).
I could see them running McConaughey as a Republican to make trouble. In Texas, party declaration for voter registration does not restrict the primary ballot as it does in other states. However, in a given election year, if a voter opts for one party’s ballot over another, they are considered to be voters in that party for the rest of the year, and the affiliation is publicly searchable.
(Private search databases used by employers for background checks such as HireRight capture *everything* anymore. I saw my party affiliation listed when I asked to see the results with the new job. To be fair, it was accurate.)
Jenny’s admission
Got me thinking about the difference between a big ego and an inflated one. A big ego is confident and doesn’t mind being wrong because an error means there’s something new to learn. An inflated one is presumptious and fears mistakes as a threat to self-worth.
Whether her skills are up to the task is an open question, but the fact that she openly said, “I know my stuff but here are my limits” points to a big healthy ego.
I see the contrast in medicine all the time and the easiest way to spot the difference is curiosity. I once posed a question to a doc about something or other and she cheerfully said, “I dunno”, ran out of the room and grabbed a book. (heh, that was the Dark Ages). OTOH, another doc wouldn’t prescribe me a rather innocuous but obscure medicine and spent more time bluffing away his ignorance than looking it up.
Best of luck, Jenny!
For those unfamiliar with the antics of the McConaughey clan. Arguably, “Rooster” is more qualified to run for Governor, having built a business from zero.
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/matthew-mcconaugheys-brother-explains-why-he-decided-to-name-his-children-after-beer
of accomplishing very little
—MUCH better when they don’t! They aren’t getting rid of laws, and regulations, they’re adding to the stack <---which is one place I think that's a BAD idea 🙂 n
@jenny, absolutely best of luck!
n
Not mentioned in the article but would be interesting to know is if there is a union involved or these are ‘at will’ employees. Also are annual influenza vaccines required? This, I would think, is being mandated for patient safety given the risk of asymptotic transmission of Covid.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/05/joe-biden-flirts-little-girl-virginia-speech-love-barrettes-hair-looks-like-19-years-old-legs-crossed-video/
–this is just too weird, even if it’s not flirting, how in the hell is it appropriate?
n
“This, I would think, is being mandated for patient safety given the risk of asymptotic transmission of Covid. ”
— according to the CDC, for whatever that’s worth, having the vaccine won’t/doesn’t prevent you from infecting others. All the other hygiene and infection control in the hospital are supposed to do that.
–OSHA’s mandate is to protect the worker, not the customer so any argument that relies on that gets dismissed.
–even without a union, they still have rights under the law and there are limits on what employers can demand. And while I’m generally on the employer side in those sorts of disputes, the workers have some leverage here, as there is high demand and low supply of healthcare workers at the moment. Does the employer require any other vaccines with temporary and emergency authorizations? What does the employment contract say about it?
n
Ah Zerohedge, never change.
Also, “…a highly focused planet…” ??
If we don’t get into space mining, we risk using up all the easily accessible resources and losing the chance to get into space mining… or at least that’s what I’ve been thinking for a while.
n
From the Governor’s newletter–
–That’s a lot of fentanyl, just in Texas, and just what they stopped.
n
–some other good seizures.
The video looks pretty damning.
–just because of the times we live in, I’ll note that there are some weird things in the video, like the bright white name placard in front of FauxXi. Just looks really odd.
click thru the links in the article for the video
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/fauci-2012-gain-function-research-worth-risk-lab-accident-sparking-pandemic
n
I’m sure plugs will continue with the Obola Doctrine and not fire anybody. Unless they lean right of center. FauxXi needs to go, but plugs won’t fire hime. FauxXi is a lying mofo and should have been canned long ago. Almost a half million dollar salary. Highest paid goobermint employee. Why can’t he be fired immediately?
He should get the same treatment as the dog – locked in a car with no water sitting in the blazing sun.
We are in the early stages of thinking about getting a new dog. Kids are starting to ask if we can. My wife and I are actually more reluctant than the kids. I still look to see if the water bowl is full every time I walk thru the laundry room…
One of my wife’s work contacts has a litter of chiweenies (chihuahua/dachshund mix – which is what our little guy looked like but wasn’t actually). Friend from work with a litter to get rid of is ALMOST serendipitous enough to satisfy me that it’s what the universe wants from me. Haven’t pulled the trigger yet though.
My wife has decided that Lily, our 2 year old, is a Schnaupin, a Schnauzer / Pinscher mix. Very energetic, very loving, very skittish, very intelligent, 26 lbs with no fat. Not the miniature, doies not back a lot.
He should get the same treatment as the dog – locked in a car with no water sitting in the blazing sun.
At least for an hour or two.
The cop-killer cop should be locked in a hot car wearing a fur coat, for the length of time between him closing the car door and the time the dead dog-cop was found. If he survives that, send him to prison for life.
If he doesn’t get a lifetime prohibition on owning pets, the judge should be locked in a hot car.
My old vetrinarian friend said dogs’ heavy coats act as insulation and protection from biting insects, with the exception of fleas and ticks. We don’t have fleas here in the desert, and ticks stay in the mountains. He said to not clip the coat shorter than natural unless there is tar or some other matting. The main exception is poodles. Dogs only sweat through the pads of their feet, and of course panting. The worst coat for sun heat is a short dark color.
None of our dogs seemed to mind heat, with the exception of an abandoned Doberman who adopted us. He knew to stay in the shade. Sure wish we could have kept him, but our dogs would not accept him. About the same time, a neighbor wanted him. Win-win: they got a wonderful pet, and we got to visit him for the rest of his life. What a dog! Dobies have a bad reputation with some people, but they are smart, protective, and loyal.
xkcd: Astronomy Status Board
https://xkcd.com/2469/
You gotta start somewhere.
Explained at:
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2469:_Astronomy_Status_Board
I believe Heinlein used an eye-for-an-eye punishment scenario in one of his novels, Number of the Beast. Strange book.
Try Pursuit of the Pankara, EdH. Taking into account that it was a first draft (or at least hadn’t been edited) I liked it much better than NotB.
Huh, OK, I will. Read most of his stuff, tho the autobiographical book was a slog.
–why yes, they did. Soooopriiiiiiiiise!!!!!!!!!!!!
n
“Exo: A Jumper Novel (Jumper, 4)” by Steven Gould
https://www.amazon.com/Exo-Jumper-Novel-Steven-Gould/dp/0765370727/?tag=ttgnet-20
Book number four of a four book science fiction young adult series. Or is it a fantasy series ? I have read this book at least twice now. I read the well printed and well bound MMPB published by Tor in 2015 that I just bought new from Abebooks as my original book is packed. I had trouble getting books two, three, and four as they have not been reissued in trade paperback and their reprint runs have run out. I hope that there is another Jumper book or two in Steven Gould.
Would you like to be able to teleport ? I have always wanted to be a teleporter. I mean, it is the ultimate for a lazy man.
Davy, Millie, and Cent are all teleporters now. And the crazy violent people are still after them. So they decide to go where the crazy people cannot follow them. And, I really enjoyed the technical aspects of the book.
Warning: There are adult situations in this book (and in the series in general). This book has Girl Power ! as its theme and in a very good way.
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (388 reviews)
We braved the urban outdoorsmen downtown to hit the local anime show today. This was the first big show in Austin in nearly 15 months, but the crowd and show were very subdued.
No Pokemon on the dealer tables, @Nick.
Several of the dealers talked about being at Comicpalooza in Houston in July. It might be worth a look for pricing ideas on games and other pieces of nerd culture.
You need to know if your dog has a ‘single coat’ or a double coat’ before you groom them. We have both kinds in our current pack (four dogs).
https://www.thepishpadstore.com/dog-hair-coat-types-s/1959.htm
Yes, having the vaccine doesn’t protect others, but not having it raises your chances of being infected as the pool for the virus (and its variants) to find new hosts get smaller.
It’s the transmission from an unvaccinated infected asymptomatic health care worker to say a transplant recipient (for whom the vaccine may be ineffective) that would be of concern to the hospital.
As you say, depends if these are union workers (and if so, what their contract says) or ’employed at-will’ workers. As to the existing shortage of healthcare workers, I’d guess, with good PR, that the hospital execs will stand their ground.
You need to know if your dog has a ‘single coat’ or a double coat’ before you groom them. We have both kinds in our current pack (four dogs).
Is triple possible? Just kidding, that was a good article.
Our collies had very thick double coats. You probably know this, but there are several kinds of collies besides rough (Lassie.) One of ours looked like a tri color border collie, and the other looked like a fawn colored bearded collie. They were from the same litter at a neighbor’s, so different fathers were possible. We loved them anyway; they were just dogs, not purebreds.
The tri color was smart, attentive, loyal, and had a natural herding instinct. My wife called his sister the dumb blonde, but she (the dog!) was outgoing and just as protective. It was funny to watch them when shepherds used to herd sheep past our house twice a year. They really wanted to go herd them, but the result would have been a disaster because they had no herding training. They sure could run.
They were too energetic to be in the house, so lived in a large detatched garage with an outside run. I spent a lot of time in there, so they had companionship.
They needed daily brushing, but only got it every few days. We bathed and groomed them for years, but it was an ordeal. We finally started taking them to a neighbor who was very good. They were on their best behavior for her. She loved them as her own. Perfect arrangement. I swear I will never again have dogs with such maintence intensive coats, but they were beautiful. I’m prejudiced, of course.
I don’t think that’s the way it works. It’s not like an infected person who is shedding live viruses (for a broad definition of “live”, of course) sheds only a single virion which hunts with increasing desperation for someone, anyone, that it can infect.
As for the lawsuit against the Houston hospital group, some number of the plaintiffs have no contact with patients; they’re IT people and other admin staff. The hospital bureaucrats’ policy is, as such policies often are, one-size-fits-all.
I find it interesting how quickly the phrase “vaccine hesitancy” has burst into common usage.
That is not a phrase I’d heard a month ago.
n
I definitely think health care workers should be vaccinated against basically everything.
If you have caught a cold, the flu, COVID, or whatever – it is pretty normal to be infectious before you notice the symptoms. Health care workers have patients who are already ill or weak. The last thing those patients need is to get another illness on top of whatever they already have.
I’m on the lawsuit
Houston Methodist is non-union.
Brad’s opinion about what I should inject into my body has no value.
Due to our success at remote working, I have been informed that my team can work remote indefinitely.
So I am a remote “healthcare” worker in IT.
Methodist denied my request for a religious exemption.
I have been threatened with termination for not taking the “vaccine”.
I haven’t been closer than 6 feet to my coworkers, let alone patients, for over a year.