Hot and humid, chance of rain. We only got a few spatters in the late afternoon yesterday, but it was certainly hot and humid.
I left the house late in the day to do my errands, but came back shortly. Puppy was a bit lethargic after his shots and I didn’t want to leave him alone too long. When I got home, he was out of the crate and bopping around so that was a relief.
Since I was home, and heavy trash/ green waste pickup is today, I took down some of the trees and branches along the back fence. In the 13 years we’ve been here, the small ornamental trees have gotten pretty big, and I’ve been thinning them out over time. I took one out, and one double trunk on another, plus a double trunk on a third. That opened up room for the remaining trees to grow more symmetrically and to impinge on the power and phone lines less.
Then I had to drag all that stuff out to the street. I was pretty well soaked in sweat, but since I had the electric chainsaw out, I cut down the orange and grapefruit trees too. They were not coming back, even as zombies. I’ll have to pull the stumps later.
Got that cleaned up, cleaned myself up and the my wife and I actually went out to dinner. We ended up on the patio of a neighborhood “brewhouse” place, the kind of place with 40 beers on tap and a limited menu of ‘bar food’. It’s modern versions of bar food, but basically tacos, burgers, and fries, with a couple of salads and apps. Had a nice burger and a mediocre beer. Non-alcohol beer so, yeah, mediocre. Several menu items were ‘out of stock’. There were people out and eating, but it wasn’t crowded by any stretch. Seemed completely normal, and not one mask.
That’s quite a contrast to the Goodwill Outlet, where the cashier asked me if I thought they’d close the city down again for the new covid. Houston raised the ‘covid threat level’ back to orange. I wasn’t aware they’d lowered it, the electronic billboards on the toll road still had ‘red’ messages playing. FWIW, I don’t think they CAN close the city down again. The commie Emergency Manager Judge can stomp her feet and ‘demand’ whatever, people aren’t going to do it.
That doesn’t mean that WE shouldn’t do some prudent planning and prepping though. Anything can happen and the more TPTB feel their grip slipping, the more they’ll double down and squeeze harder. The monkey wrench gang might come out to play, or ham fisted .gov might start messing with stuff. Or outside factors might take their turn, who knows? I know I’ll feel better with stacks of stuff.
So keep stacking, we’re only getting started….
nick
Up and at it, out of bed and in chair. Broke down last and asked for something for the pain so I could sleep. OxyContin, helped with sleeping. This morning is therapy. Got a look at the incision. Probably 8” long, looks like 25 staples. The upper thigh muscle is really sore and tender. Another OxyContin this morning. Blood sugar is high thus an insulin injection. My blood sugars always high. Hoping to home today and nap. Two hours sleep on Wednesday, maybe fours tonight.
Disney’s 360 circle vision theater still amazes me. All the large format projection does (and was related to my job for a decade) so I’m really impressed by what you can do with it on youtube.
The Baby Yoda streaming service has the new “Behind the Attraction” series as part of the publicity push for Disney’s “Jungle Cruise” movie. I only have “The Haunted Mansion”, but you might find the other episodes to be interesting.
There were people out and eating, but it wasn’t crowded by any stretch. Seemed completely normal, and not one mask.
The Post Office had signs back up in the lobby yesterday indicating that masks were required, but one older guy with an obvious “F*ck You” vibe was in line barefaced. The clerks didn’t dare say a word.
Of course, it isn’t that guy in line at the Post Office that keeps the mess going.
87F and sunny this AM. Cleaning service coming today, so I’m disrupted AGAIN on the one day I was SURE I didn’t have anything to do but go to my secondary and break stuff down.
With our old dog, he knew the ladies well enough, and I could trust him not to mess the house or run out the door. Puppy will need to be confined, and I can’t just leave him here while strangers move around him. That would drive him nuts for over an hour. I don’t even know when they plan to arrive, so I can’t decide if I need to ride it out here, or take him with me and just make that work somehow.
FFS, I need my days back.
n
Hoping to home today and nap. Two hours sleep on Wednesday, maybe fours tonight.
Here’s hoping they kick you out of that germ factory today.
I saw on the local Faux News last night that our local ISD has decided to partially appease the teachers’ unions and female Dem swing voters in this tech hub suburb. Never let a crisis go to waste.
https://www.fox7austin.com/news/round-rock-isd-to-offer-virtual-learning-option-for-fall-2021
I recently witnessed our middle school scraping out all of the physical barriers installed in the classrooms last year, and I’m sure the scene was repeated all over the district at that level as well as all of the high schools. Otherwise, my bet would be that the virtual learning would be offered at all levels.
Of course, this means that virtual learning will probably still be in effect during primary season next Spring.
All right, all right all right.
Plus, Dell -er- Williamson County will probably get its own Congressional seat in redistricting.
Ok cleaning service due between 1030 and 11. Good. I can just work on home stuff and keep the dog company. Then I can head out.
n
did I mention yesterday that the neighbor texted that the roof had been inspected by the buyer and his agent, and was found to be fine, and “up to code?” How you would know that without being able to see the underlayment or the nail patterns is a mystery to me but they all profess to being happy with the work. hooray for him.
Flipper across the street has pulled 4 big 30yd dumpsters out of the house so far. He’s got plumbing happening inside today and irrigation/drainage outside.
Grip can tighten too…
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/564195-pressure-mounts-for-desantis-in-florida
“Anything can happen and the more TPTB feel their grip slipping, the more they’ll double down and squeeze harder.”
Grip can tighten too…
The Republicans in Florida hold all three branches of state government which puts them in the driver seat through redistricting this Fall and probably well into the Spring Legislative session.
Desantis got lucky this Spring, but the list of potential challengers is laughable. The Dems through the Graham family under the bus to achieve Andrew Gillum’s “historic” bid for Governor, and Val Demings is going after Little Marco.
Former Governor Charlie Crist is a failed RINO Governor who sold out the state’s insurance reform attempt to Warren Buffett and may have put the homestead exemption on shaky constitutional ground. Even the Dems don’t trust Charlie and aren’t happy that his Congressional seat may go back to being a “safe” Republican vote.
Desantis has a problem, but this is a big test for the bigger chair. 16+ months is a long time.
Home.
@ray, don’t get complacent in a familiar environment! You are still have a massive injury to heal. I found I would just do stuff by habit that I really shouldn’t have done, because I was at home and not somewhere that emphasized my status.
It’s great you are home though, if nothing else because you can finally get some good sleep.
n
That’s actually a really good bit of advice. I’m going to remember that. Hope you get well soon Ray!
(Perhaps he should ask the physical therapist for positions or things he should NOT do. Like roller skating… 🙂 )
Went early to dinner last night at Woolgrowers, the favorite, a Basque resturant. OK it’s not all real Basque but based on boarding house food that was server to the sheep hearders from that region. Very good, very popular and usually crowded but we went arly and it was Thursday so not so bad.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/wool-growers-restaurant-bakersfield-2
When I first went in I thought maybe Slim had come north for the good dining and cold PBR.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_04vA-fthR2nGx_ofWhRNPAwp5mWxXVR/view?usp=sharing
Nice guy and he and his wife were there for his birthday as we were for my wife’s.
Interesting the filet mignon and beef brouchette were listed as market price. I didn’t chech the bill to see what I paid for fm but it was inline for past meals there. Maybe a little higher. Pickled tounge now an extra instead of included. We ordered of course but at $10 a plate I can do better to $12 a pound at the Italian deli. Inflation strikes again.
Wife joins the 7 oh club and our new friend was doing 71.
Ray, next is a run around the block by next week.
Desantis got lucky this Spring, but the list of potential challengers is laughable. The Dems through the Graham family under the bus to achieve Andrew Gillum’s “historic” bid for Governor, and Val Demings is going after Little Marco.
“threw” not “through”
Still, the Dems dropped the ball in Florida and will be out of power for a while. I figure Andrew Gillum’s “Party At Kitty And Studs Redux” soiree the first night of quarantine wasn’t a surprise, but all the party leadership cared about was the history. Once Gillum signed the FL Supreme Court nominations at midnight on Inauguration Day, the Dems wouldn’t have cared what he did for the rest of his term.
Pain is the moderator. I could not even reach down to tie a skater shoe. I cannot drive for six weeks.
Welcome home Mr. Ray! If you have any Oxy left over, I can send my address.
For those about to go under for surgery, via The Daughter.
https://reallifecomics.com/comic.php?comic=july-23-2021
Dilbert: Standup Zoom Meetings
https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-07-23
Trust Wally to mess up the simplest thing.
“Report: SEC talking to Texas, OU for months behind A&M’s backs”
https://www.chron.com/sports/college/article/Texas-Oklahoma-join-SEC-secret-talks-AM-Aggies-16334920.php
Reportedly the vote will be 13 to 1 to admit Texas and OU to the SEC. The one NO! will be TAMU.
Trust Wally to mess up the simplest thing.
The Wally at the last job never turned on his video in Zoom.
He lived in a new development in South Austin, an overpriced stucco shack bought as an “investment”, so I don’t think the issue was network speed.
Can someone please explain the kerfuffle over Ben & Jerry’s ice cream? Oh wait. You Ain’t Gonna Get No Ice Cream! Greg was right.
“While Still Bussing Illegals Into The Country’s Interior, DHS Extends Non-Essential Travel Restrictions For Law-Abiding Americans To Canada And Mexico”
https://100percentfedup.com/while-still-bussing-illegals-into-the-countrys-interior-dhs-extends-non-essential-travel-restrictions-for-law-abiding-americans-to-canada-and-mexico/
““…in the last 6 months over a million illegal aliens casually walked into the country unwelcome, untested, and unchecked…””
I am beginning to think that we live in a huge gulag. More are coming in but we cannot leave.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jKhGHxO-woc&t=28
Can someone please explain the kerfuffle over Ben & Jerry’s ice cream? Oh wait. You Ain’t Gonna Get No Ice Cream! Greg was right.
Ben and Jerry sold out to Unilever decades ago but pretend to still be relevant through stunts like announcing that they will attempt to pull their ice cream from Israeli stores.
That isn’t going to happen, realistically. Unilever could placate the hippies by shifting the product under another one of their brand names, but if the market exists in Israel, the ice cream will be sold.
“While Still Bussing Illegals Into The Country’s Interior, DHS Extends Non-Essential Travel Restrictions For Law-Abiding Americans To Canada And Mexico”
I am beginning to think that we live in a huge gulag. More are coming in but we cannot leave.
We looked into going across the border a few weeks ago. The “essential only” travel restriction for entering the country at land crossings only applies to non-US citizens, but we didn’t want to push things too far, particularly with Abbott making noise in the area that week.
Briefly: Mexico doesn’t care. Pay the $1 and you’re good. The US will allow any citizen to return without restrictions, but you will need a Passport or Passport Card.
More kabuki.
El Disco didn’t seem to have any problems getting their vans across from Nuevo Progresso to stock their US store when we stopped.
And both sides of the political aisle have nutters.
Nope. I can good prices here on the street.
I really don’t understand why people abuse Oxy. I feel no different other than pain being less.
I really don’t understand why people abuse Oxy. I feel no different other than pain being less.
I tried antidepressants to try and deal with my GTE jobs in the late 90s. To me, the meds seemed to have more of a clarifying effect than a buzz.
As soon as the medication reached a therapeutic level in the bloodstream, a voice kept popping up in my head.
“Greg”
“Yeah?”
“Your job sucks. That’s your problem.”
“Tell me somthing I don’t know.”
“Your (female) manager and the (female) QA manager are getting busy in the file room right now.”
“Wha? … [door opens, the two individuals in question walk out] … Say, I think you you’re right, mystery voice.”
“America loves lesbians. Baba Booey.”
I stopped the pills not long after that. I switched to spending my days reading the “User Friendly” comic archives.
“New York public defenders cause hell to freeze over”
https://gunfreezone.net/new-york-public-defenders-cause-hell-to-freeze-over/
“I highly encourage you to read the whole thing.
The Black Attorneys of Legal Aid caucus, Bronx Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, The Franklin County Public Defender, Monroe County Public Defender’s Office, St. Lawrence Public Defender’s Office, Oneida County Public Defender, The Ontario County Public Defender’s Office, Ontario County Office of the Conflict Defender, and Wayne County Public Defender, all got together to write this amicus brief to the Supreme Court calling the NY gun licensing requirements oppressive, corrupt, racist, and unconstitutional. Which it absolutely is.”
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21014995/bronx-defenders-brief.pdf
Nice. I thought that Heller said that one could carry around a gun in any state but I guess that I cannot understand English.
Or roller coasters.
Actually they want it out of stores in the Occupied Territory…
We believe it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). We also hear and recognize the concerns shared with us by our fans and trusted partners.
We have a longstanding partnership with our licensee, who manufactures Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in Israel and distributes it in the region. We have been working to change this, and so we have informed our licensee that we will not renew the license agreement when it expires at the end of next year.
Although Ben & Jerry’s will no longer be sold in the OPT, we will stay in Israel through a different arrangement. We will share an update on this as soon as we’re ready.
https://www.benjerry.com/about-us/media-center/palestine-statement
It’s just transitory, right Joe?
“If current trends persist, there will be a carryover of inflation to next year. At the appropriate point, we will quantify how much of a carryover will be there.”
Recall, we noted just days ago that automaker Stellantis’ CEO said he could see inflationary pressure “very clearly”. His exact words were: “I see the inflationary pressure very clearly. I see inflation coming from many different areas.”
Days before that we wrote about how paint company PPG, who supplies to major manufacturers like Ford and Boeing, is raising the prices of its paint and coatings solely as a result of “inflation in raw material and logistics costs”.
PPG’s CEO commented earlier this month: “What we’re obviously studying now is the need to be out with a third set of price increases. Inflation is across-the-board, it’s obvious and customers don’t have a lot of good ways to counter the argument that we need to have price relief.”
And it isn’t like PPG is just a localized business experiencing a one-off in costs: the company is in more than 70 countries and is still “feeling the pinch from the prices of oil, freight and distribution going up and raw materials running scarce”.
Chief Executive Officer Michael McGarry continued: “I’m not seeing this as transitory. This work-from-home phenomenon is going to lead to additional wage inflation, because people are going to have the opportunities to figure out where they want to work.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/whirlpool-ceo-says-company-about-run-face-first-1-billion-inflation-costs
Who’s got the marshmallows? (No need to jump the line folks – MB the latest to announce going all EV by 2030)
While somewhere a Tesla is spontaneously combusting with nary an acknowledgement from Elon Musk, GM is once again recalling some of its Bolt EVs – for the second time this year – due to a potential fire risk.
On Friday the company announced that two Bolts had caught fire without impact recently and that at least one of the two was related to the battery and happened despite the owner getting a fix from a previous recall, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The recall includes all Bolt EVs from 2017 to 2019, encompassing 68,000 vehicles. 50,925 of those vehicles were located in the U.S. and they have batteries that are produced at LG Chem’s Ochang, South Korea, facility, the report notes.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/gm-issues-second-recall-year-chevy-bolt-after-battery-fires
“Mirror Dance (Miles Vorkosigan Adventures)” by Lois McMaster Bujold
https://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Dance-Miles-Vorkosigan-Adventures/dp/0671876465/?tag=ttgnet-20
Book number eleven (in chronological order) of an eighteen book space opera series. However, some people call this a military science fiction series. There are several other books and short stories in the Vorkosigan Universe. This series won the Hugo and Nebula awards for best series in 2017. Also, several of the individual books in the series have either won awards or been nominated for awards. This book won the 1995 Hugo award for best novel, back when Hugo awards meant something. I have read this book at least twice. I reread the well printed and well bound used MMPB published by Baen in 1995 that I just rebought on Amazon, the book is not available new in any printed format. I have rebought the rest of the books in the series in various formats, mostly MMPB.
Lord Mark Vorkosigan has managed to deceive the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet into believing that he is Admiral Naismith and has set into motion a series of events that are breathtaking. As Lord Mark took one of the warships to Jackson’s Whole, the real Admiral Naismith arrived at the fleet and then took off trying to catch up. And gets there just in time to take a needle grenade in the chest.
Vorkosigan Saga (Chronological) by Lois McMaster Bujold
https://www.goodreads.com/series/98254-vorkosigan-saga-chronological
1. Dreamweaver’s Dilemma
2. Falling Free
3. Shards of Honour
4. Barrayar
5. The Warrior’s Apprentice
6. The Borders of Infinity (The Mountains of Mourning, etc)
7. The Vor Game
8. Cetaganda
9. Ethan Of Athos
10. Brothers in Arms
11. Mirror Dance
12. Memory
13. Komarr
14. A Civil Campaign
15. Diplomatic Immunity
16. Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance
17. CryoBurn
18. Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen
My rating: 6 out of 5 stars (yup, six stars)
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (320 reviews)
Who’s got the marshmallows? (No need to jump the line folks – MB the latest to announce going all EV by 2030)
The pieces are still Tyler Durden cowardice on ZeroHedge.
Mainstream car mags are impulse purchases in airports or SuperCuts reading anymore. The car journalists aren’t going to touch The Real Life Tony Stark until the Cybertruck lays an egg. Even then, it will depend in Tony is still useful to the agenda.
Mary Barra at GM is another off limits exec, probably more important than Tony.
Most people will be driving what the car journalists deride as “motorized skateboards”. They just don’t know it yet.
My favorite User Friendly strip ever…
http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20110802
n
Basque food, I probably ate at that place if it was open in the late 90s. I did some work for Shell? one of the oil companies there. Largest concentration of Basque people outside of ?Spain?
I remember it being good food, but nothing beyond that. Chatted with the waiter, nice kid.
n
Today’s project was to install running boards on the 2019 Highlander. I wanted a full flat-black set without chrome, to match the black exterior paint colors (which actually has little sparkles of dark blue in the paint that can only be seen up close in direct sunlight).
After digging around the interwebs, I found this set : APS iBoard Black Running Boards Style Custom Fit 2014-2019 Highlander Sport Utility 4-Door (Nerf Bars Side Steps) 6in Wide Aluminum at $250.00 https://amzn.to/36UGE8z . I chose this because of the full black color (no shiny trim), the 6″ width, and it included the mounting brackets and hardware (some running boards require the extra purchase of the hardware at a higher total cost).
I did some additional research, finding several installation videos that were helpful in understanding the installation. It was ordered via the Zon, and the tall skinny box came via UPS, which included all the parts neatly packed in plastic along with a 5-page instruction sheet.
I installed it this morning (and into the afternoon). Took about 3 hours, as I worked slowly and carefully. The instructions said to do the passenger side first. Finishing that, I did the drivers’ side, which didn’t take as long.
Turned out quite nicely. Wasn’t very hard to do; watching installation videos first a couple of time, and then carefully reading the instructions all the way through before starting the process was helpful. A clean garage floor out of the sun (temps today only mid-70’s) along with a scrap piece of carpet for comfort helped.
A hot shower to relax some not-usually-used muscles completed the install.
Got back from working at my secondary location. Showered and went out to eat with the wife. Went for Thai food, as the kids don’t like spicy. Little hole in the wall place, great rep among the mommie mafia. Well deserved rep. Fantastic food.
Perfectly spiced, very nice flavors.
We were the only ones there, one pickup and one doordash pickup did come in. They closed at 8pm. Seems kinda early to me, but that is the new normal apparently.
n
“Israel says Pfizer Covid vaccine is just 39% effective as delta spreads, but still prevents severe illness”
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/23/delta-variant-pfizer-covid-vaccine-39percent-effective-in-israel-prevents-severe-illness.html
“Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine is just 39% effective in Israel where the delta variant is the dominant strain, according to a new report from the country’s Health Ministry.
The two-dose vaccine still works very well in preventing people from getting seriously sick, demonstrating 88% effectiveness against hospitalization and 91% effectiveness against severe illness, according to the Israeli data.”
My 34 year old daughter is thinking about taking the J&J. Her Lyme doctor is advising to not take the Pfizer as there have been conflicts with the Lyme disease.
Be interesting to see how long it takes for apartment buildings and condos to ban EV. First in underground parking, and then in lots after an EV fired destroys a dozen adjacent cars and the fire dept closing the lot deprives a lot more of the use of their property. The resulting class action will name the apartment owner, anticipating that the EV owner’s insurance will get tapped out. Next will be any residential arrangement that puts a perceived unquenchable torch in close proximity to neighbors.
Tony Tesla will try to get legislation passed that will ban such restrictions, but will have few allies on either side of the aisle. The insurance companies will be jacking rates for the torch cars and trying to sneak limits to payouts for collateral damage into policies, providing verification of the problem. If legislation does get introduced, testimony from a burn victim with horrible scaring and stub fingers will bury it.
Dammit. Lost a long comment with the 500 internal error.
n
“with horrible scaring and stub fingers”
–comment was about a woman I worked with once. She was working as costumer/on set dresser on a musical theatre show. Some years before that, she was working the fryer at a fast food restaurant, and a co-worker thought it would be funny to dump a pitcher of ice into the hot fryer. If you don’t know what the result was, there are videos on youtube.
She had quite a bit of dexterity considering she might have had 6 or 7 joints left on each hand…
NEVER put water on a grease or oil fire. NEVER put water or ice into hot oil.
n
“I think the problem with the error might be if the first character of the comment is a ” quote mark.
–guess not, but the only thing I did, for the time it worked, after trying the comment several times, was add CRLRs before the first ” character
n
Be interesting to see how long it takes for apartment buildings and condos to ban EV. First in underground parking, and then in lots after an EV fired destroys a dozen adjacent cars and the fire dept closing the lot deprives a lot more of the use of their property. The resulting class action will name the apartment owner, anticipating that the EV owner’s insurance will get tapped out. Next will be any residential arrangement that puts a perceived unquenchable torch in close proximity to neighbors.
Tony Tesla will try to get legislation passed that will ban such restrictions, but will have few allies on either side of the aisle. The insurance companies will be jacking rates for the torch cars and trying to sneak limits to payouts for collateral damage into policies, providing verification of the problem. If legislation does get introduced, testimony from a burn victim with horrible scaring and stub fingers will bury it.
A lot of the new ten to thirty story buildings built in the last 30 years have parking for the first five to eight stories. Even though they have deluge sprinklers on every floor, having a 130 kwh battery go up might set off a dozen gasoline cars around it in a circle. That would be bad, very bad. Tens of millions of dollars in damage.
I guess that all that concrete around the I-beams is considered a fire break, but those electrical fires are HOT.
“I think the problem with the error might be if the first character of the comment is a ” quote mark.
–guess not, but the only thing I did, for the time it worked, after trying the comment several times, was add CRLRs before the first ” character
Which editor are you using ? I use the Text editor. Me and the Visual editor don’t like each other.
“with horrible scaring and stub fingers”
–comment was about a woman I worked with once. She was working as costumer/on set dresser on a musical theatre show. Some years before that, she was working the fryer at a fast food restaurant, and a co-worker thought it would be funny to dump a pitcher of ice into the hot fryer. If you don’t know what the result was, there are videos on youtube.
She had quite a bit of dexterity considering she might have had 6 or 7 joints left on each hand…
NEVER put water on a grease or oil fire. NEVER put water or ice into hot oil.
n
——————— worked that time, in the text editor. same exact paste as before. Mystery…
——————— and doing that paste into the visual editor gets the 500 error. There is def something in the text that borks the save and gets the 500 error.
Headed to bed. No barking from the puppy tonight, other than the normal quick yip or two.
n
I use them the opposite way they are supposed to be used because of the blockquotes…
I type the text in the visual editor, do one blockquote and then switch to the text editor to get embedded blockquotes and the end of blockquotes.
Works for me and am already used to the method.