Sat. Sep. 4, 2021 – week flew by as fast as money leaves my wallet

By on September 4th, 2021 in gardening, prepping, WuFlu

Another day forecast to be hot and humid, and we’re still in the zone for thunderstorms. Yesterday was interesting. Started cool, stayed cool-ish until noon-ish. Sunny the whole time. Then when I finally committed to putting stuff that shouldn’t get wet in the back of my open pickup truck, the sky opened and the water fell… a whole lot of it in a short time.

I wasn’t the only one fooled. The flippers across the street chose yesterday to replace the roof. They got the old roof off, and then we got 2 1/2 inches of rain. They were working late to get the new roof on.

I managed to drop off 5 big black bins to the auctioneer and he’s still ok with getting more. He is the first one who really meant it when he said he’d take a bunch of stuff. And I’ve got a bunch more to give him.

Today I’m sleeping in as much as I can. Time to do a bit of catching up on sleep. This falling asleep during the day is stealing too much of my day.

Also time to be thinking about a fall garden planting. On top of everything else. My cabbage still hasn’t developed. One got a head that was tennis ball sized, but it has been shrinking. The other is still loose leaves. I thought I’d see how they did before committing to a whole patch. Last time I did that, I lost them all.

Lots of home stuff to do around the house, and I hope to get to my secondary for more clean up, and auction stuff. It’s always something.

Better get started.

Which is good advice if you haven’t been prepping. Stack it high!

nick

89 Comments and discussion on "Sat. Sep. 4, 2021 – week flew by as fast as money leaves my wallet"

  1. Greg Norton says:

    “Dems Eye National Plastic Tax”

    Do the dumbocrats have anything to talk about other than proposed new taxes ?

    A plastics tax would raise money at the expense of the sections of TX and LA that produce the feed stock. That’s the real point.

    The Congressional staffers probably saw the same news reports I did last week. The media wanted a gas shortage for labor day so they kept running stories in various outlets about the importance of the petrochemical industry in the areas affected by the hurricane.

    Petrochemicals. Plastics. Red States. That’s a Bingo!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ugpg8XruhVk

    Politics. Sen John Kennedy from Louisiana is up for reelection in 2022 after he opposed certification of Biden’s election, and the Texas Governor’s Mansion is one serious power outage away from being in play.

    All right, all right, all right!

    Which reminds me — Football season starts today at UT with a home game, and McConaughey will be there there in his orange suit. Masks are recommended. Vaccinations not required, but those presenting proof of the jab will receive a voucher for free popcorn, soda, or bottled water.

    Like anyone there will be drinking water. Ok, maybe a few.

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  2. Greg Norton says:

    No jab necessary to attend UT Football games, but the crowd going in to hear “WAP” at the Austin City Limits Festival on October 1 is still expected to arrive at the gate with vaccination cards or test results in hand.

    https://www.aclfestival.com/safety

    Oh, sure. That’s going to happen.

    Of course, the free water/soda incentive would be even less effective at ACL.

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  3. ech says:

    On the other hand, if it IS a created frankenstein of a bug, who knows what will  happen.  It might not gradually get more transmissible and less virulent like natural bugs.

    I think that’s a very, very low possibility. Escaped from a lab doing gain of function research? Probably. Designed? No. We just don’t know enough about viruses to do that. Yet.

  4. Nick Flandrey says:

    77F abd 99%RH at 9am. Didn’t get to sleep very late, but I’ve got stuff to do so I guess that’s ok. I feel better for getting those extra hours.

    Daughter 1 is doing her first 2 hours of gainful employment today. She’s going to be a “mother’s helper” and help watch the neighbor’s little ones while they are all home. Time flies.

    @ech, I’m of the ‘escaped while doing research’ camp myself. There are too many coincidences involving timing, the people involved, and location, as well as the history of those things there.

    n

  5. SteveF says:

    Designed? No. We just don’t know enough about viruses to do that. Yet.

    That’s what they want you to believe…

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  6. pecancorner says:

    Mostly Cajun blog:

    Today in History, Sept 4, 1882 – “Thomas Edison flips the switch to the first commercial electrical power plant in history, lighting one square mile of lower Manhattan. This is considered by many as the day that began the electrical age. Edison’s DC system required a powerplant on almost every block because at the time there was no way to step up voltage for transmission of power for long distances. It took alternating current, AC, to put electricity in everybody’s homes and businesses. That would be Tesla and Westinghouse.”

    https://mostlycajun.com/wordpress/?p=52247

  7. drwilliams says:

    “They got the old roof off, and then we got 2 1/2 inches of rain. They were working late to get the new roof on.”

    If you don’t have a rain plan, you shouldn’t be roofing.

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  8. Greg Norton says:

    Today in History, Sept 4, 1882 – “Thomas Edison flips the switch to the first commercial electrical power plant in history, lighting one square mile of lower Manhattan. This is considered by many as the day that began the electrical age. Edison’s DC system required a powerplant on almost every block because at the time there was no way to step up voltage for transmission of power for long distances. It took alternating current, AC, to put electricity in everybody’s homes and businesses. That would be Tesla and Westinghouse.”

    My daughter kept singing “Electric Love” from “Bob’s Burgers” the entire time we were at the Edison home and museum in Fort Myers.

    I don’t think the staff was hip to the reference. That was a pretty dark chapter in Edison’s life.

    “So he electrocuted animals, so what?! As if everyone here’s so perfect!”

  9. drwilliams says:

    @Nick

    If one strain got released “accidentally”, then who knows what other “accidents” they have in the wings.

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  10. Nick Flandrey says:

    PSA has some great Labor Day deals. And what better way to ‘celebrate’ commie day than to buy an American gun?

    https://palmettostatearmory.com/daily-deals-new.html

    n

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  11. SteveF says:

    Took the girls to a county fair yesterday. Including driving we were gone almost twelve hours. They certainly got their (my) money’s worth from the unlimited rides wristbands, ate lots of junk food, narrowly avoided cow poop when we were checking out the animals before the livestock shows*, and spent -ugh- lots of time looking at useless junk at the sellers’ booths. Typical fair day, in other words. Weather was about perfect and I had my Kindle and a wad of cash so it wasn’t too bad from my perspective. Pretty well needed a pitchfork to get them into the shower because they were so tired.

    * The non-daughter girl had never been close to a cow and had never petted a horse except when she rode one a few years ago. -scoff- City folk…

    Slightly related: The school’s orientation night was a couple days ago. For the first time I met the father of one of my daughter’s other classmates. He’s a working farmer with enough dairy cows to keep a small, family operation busy, so he’s never had time to come to school functions. As we chatted, one of the other dads, whom I’ve known for five years, joined in and brought up that I put myself through engineering school, that I started a business, that I did exciting things in the Army, and that I could probably kill everyone in the building with a paperclip. (Bah. As if I’d need the paperclip.) I nipped that nonsense in the bud by stating that I really admired the farmer because, despite all of the above plus in effect being a single parent, I’m too lazy to be a farmer. Anyone who can keep a small farm going deserves lots of praise. Got a laugh out of the guy.

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  12. drwilliams says:

    “Right now, the medical establishment is doing the equivalent of a doctor who, when he concludes that you are in the early stages of a sinus infection, sends you home without any antibiotics and, instead, tells you to return when you’re septic. When it comes to COVID, we’re all told to go home and get back to the doctor when we’re on the verge of dying and interventional medicines will no longer work.”

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/09/two_utterly_fascinating_facts_about_covid.html

    I direct your attention to the table showing IFR (infection mortality rates):
    For ages 0-19, it is 0.0027, or 1 in 37000
    For ages 60-69, it is 0.549. or 1 in 180 ( roughly 200 times higher)

    The table does not show data for older people, but we know the IFR continues to increase.

    I have a modest proposal:
    Pick a day. Send medical teams to the White House, The House of Representatives, the Senate, the FDA, and the CDC. Each accompanied by a team of FBI agents with a pile of blank search warrants and one of those judges that has ordered the economy to shut down.
    Have each person fill out a declaration, signed and witnessed, listing any medications they have been prescribed for Wuflu exposure, and the physician who prescribed them.
    Anyone refusing gets a signed search warrant and goes to the blood sample line, as do a random 20% of the signees checking the “none” or “I don’t know” boxes.
    Copious amounts of video, and all results made public.
    FBI to visit every named physician with a records preservation order.

  13. drwilliams says:

    @Nick

    “PSA has some great Labor Day deals. And what better way to ‘celebrate’ commie day than to buy an American gun?”

    Buy more ammo?

  14. drwilliams says:

    @SteveF

    “Anyone who can keep a small farm going deserves lots of praise. ”

    x1000

    ADDED: x2000 for dairy farm

  15. Nick Flandrey says:

    Ammo of course, but you need the bangstick first.

    n

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  16. JimB says:

    Ammo of course, but you need the bangstick first.

    Ammo of course, but you need MORE bangsticks first. FIFY.

  17. drwilliams says:

    “That didn’t happen just once,” Hoover claimed. “It happened on every single one that came out of that airplane. It happened on every single one of them. They would release the salute, and he would look down at his watch on every last one, all 13, he looked down at his watch.

    https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/09/usa-today-fact-check-on-biden-checking-his-watch-during-fallen-soldier-transfer-collapses/

    Daniel Funke, the USA Today “fact checker”, rushed to Biden’s defense, claiming that he only checked his watch after the ceremony. After the full video came out, the paper was forced to retract, although their “fact checker” played the victim card on Twitter, rather than man up and admit he “Funked” up.

    The real fact is that Biden only checked his watch once, and then twelve times he forgot that he did so.

  18. drwilliams says:

    @JimB

    I’d say more high-capacity magazines, but YMMV.

  19. Nick Flandrey says:

    I too have thought it was strange that there were no treatment plans short of the hospital being promulgated.

    I’m glad others are raising the question. Funny that it’s taken so long.

    n

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  20. Nick Flandrey says:

    Dometic are the kings of the alternatively powered fridges and freezers, and they are having a 15% off sale this weekend.

    https://www.dometic.com/en-us/outdoor

    If you have the cash, they’ll meet the need.

    I’ve got a bunch of the 12v car beverage coolers that use thermoelectric cooling. Some of them were relabeled dometic. The new market is flooded with chinese versions of questionable longevity, but they are widely available used at estate sales and yardsales. I recommend that everyone have one if they can find one cheap. If nothing else, they are great for the car while traveling.

    n

  21. JimB says:

    I’d say more high-capacity magazines, but YMMV.

    Belt fed. Skip the whole magazine capacity issue.

  22. drwilliams says:

    Waiting for a good ceramic barrel…

  23. JimB says:

    I’ve got a bunch of the 12v car beverage coolers that use thermoelectric cooling. Some of them were relabeled dometic. The new market is flooded with chinese versions of questionable longevity, but they are widely available used at estate sales and yardsales. I recommend that everyone have one if they can find one cheap. If nothing else, they are great for the car while traveling.

    Reminds me of the days before AC was common in cars, and even for some years after, when I used to drive long distances. I would put a saturated and lightly squeezed-out washcloth in a plastic bag. It made a refreshing face mop. Also handy for hands sticky from snacks. I thought I was living the luxurious life. Someone look up asceticism. 😡

  24. JimB says:

    Waiting for a good ceramic barrel…

    Not necessarily full auto, just plenty of rounds. Remember: one shot, meat. Two shots, maybe. Three shots, no meat.

  25. MrAtoz says:

    Three shots, no meat. long pork wearing armor.

    FIFY

  26. Nick Flandrey says:

    Signs of the times.

    In recent days, Joe Biden has been encouraging officials all over the country to impose extremely strict vaccine mandates. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin is insisting that “no one should be forced to get a jab”…

    “Vaccination is the main weapon against the spread of the virus. Importantly, no one should be forced to get a jab. Pressure, where people may lose their jobs, is even less acceptable. People must be convinced of the need to get the vaccine,” he said.

    When even Vladimir Putin is significantly less tyrannical than the guy that is running your country, you have got a major problem on your hands.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/7-examples-show-how-completely-and-utterly-insane-our-society-has-become

    n

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  27. Nick Flandrey says:

    Watched the newest Hitchhikers Guide last night with the kids. We’ve read the books with them over the last couple of months. Littlest was incensed that they’d made changes from the book, especially that they’d added things. She really liked the books.

    I thought it never quite clicked. Zooey Dashell never really did it for me. Lord Flashheart/Zaphod was pretty good, and how they dealt with the two heads thing worked, Alan Rickman as marvin was inspired.

    While slick, it didn’t look like a feature film budget to me.

    3 of 5, cute but not tops.

    n

    I’ll have to find the original BBC show and share that with the kids so we can compare and see how different productions made different choices.

  28. Nick Flandrey says:

    Paypal has quietly added the ability to use your crypto that is in your paypal account as a payment source… I wonder if they convert to cash, or if they transfer the coin (when the vendor accepts crypto.)

    n

  29. pecancorner says:

    Reminds me of the days before AC was common in cars, and even for some years after, when I used to drive long distances. I would put a saturated and lightly squeezed-out washcloth in a plastic bag. It made a refreshing face mop. Also handy for hands sticky from snacks. I thought I was living the luxurious life. Someone look up asceticism.

    Oh yes! My grandparents, who took us on vacations and short trips, didn’t have A/C in their car until late 60s, and that was exactly what my grandmother did. She had a separate color for each person and would hand them out periodically as we drove down the road. When they got a little dry, we’d re-wet them with a squirt from the cooler full of ice water – which was what we drank on the road. No buying pop. And, they always carried a picnic lunch.

    More memories …. my grandfather kept a WWII mess knife and a salt shaker in the glove box. During watermelon season, he’d often buy one from a roadside seller, then pull off at the next picnic area or even under a shade tree, and cut into it. We’d eat our fill and leave the rest for the animals. If there were cattle or horses in the field next to us, he’d toss the rind over to them.

     

  30. JimB says:

    Littlest was incensed that they’d made changes from the book…

    If I were a little tin god, I would only allow movies to be made first. Then, if desired, the writer could publish the script as a book.

    Then we would hear, “Oh, I read the book, but it wasn’t as good as the movie.” Heh.

  31. JimB says:

    @pecancorner, ah, simpler times.

    I still remember some scenes from my parents driving from MI to CA in 1948 when I was 3YO. Lots of picnic stops, very few restaurants. Sometimes a break under a shade tree. Almost all two lane roads. Those were long days, but we appreciated all destinations, even if just lunch.

  32. drwilliams says:

    I read the novelization of “Star Wars” before the movie came out.

    The story was so bad that I had no desire to see the movie, and didn’t for years.

  33. CowboySlim says:

    The real fact is that Biden only checked his watch once, and then twelve times he forgot that he did so.

    When playing and listening to music on my watch, I check it every time that I want to switch artists/albums.

  34. lynn says:

    @Nick

    If one strain got released “accidentally”, then who knows what other “accidents” they have in the wings.

    The Omega Covid that kills half of human life on the planet.

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  35. SteveF says:

    The Omega Covid that kills half of human life on the planet.

    Can I pick the half? I have a few ideas…

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  36. Nick Flandrey says:

    Our own people got sloppy in Maryland a couple years ago, so I don’t have any doubt that the chinese, who are careless by nature- being more focused on appearance than substance- would have accidents. They didn’t build all those plague field hospitals out of charity or good will.

    n

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  37. Nick Flandrey says:

    BTW, got plenty hot today. I cut the front lawn in the shade, at about 80-95F and went around back to clean up and organize my outdoor food shelves. I started getting light headed, and it’s 105F in the sun. I’ll let the buckets and bins dry while I do some inside stuff for a while.

    n

    Oh, child 1’s first gainful employment went well. She liked the kids and the little boy only stripped to underpants to run around. He’s four, so I expected full frontal…
    n

  38. Nick Flandrey says:

    Found a “like new” 3 disc set of the anniversary cleaned up and remastered Hitchhiker’s Guide on ebay for ~$13 delivered. Ordered.

    It already shows as shipped.
    n

  39. lynn says:

    “Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture” by David Kushner
    https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155/?tag=ttgnet-20

    A standalone book, no sequel or prequel. I read the well printed and well bound trade paperback published by Random House in 2004.

    Id Software was founded with no outside money in 1990 by several programmers working at Softdisk, John Romero and John Carmack principally among them. It was a totally shoestring operation with them borrowing their employer’s computers over the weekends to create their first PC game, Commander Keen. John Carmack wrote the game engine and John Romero wrote and directed the game storyboard and characters. They released the game as shareware through the Apogee game publisher.

    Then came the Castle Wolfenstein: Spear of Destiny game. Then the first version of the Doom game. Then the network version with teams of up to four gamers. Then the first version of the Quake game. And the teams of up to sixteen gamers called Deathmatch. And millions and millions of players. Each new software game was incredibly innovative, speedy, and released to great praise.

    All in all, Id Software appears to have been a huge death march with the people working 100+ hour weeks on a constant basis. Programmers will know what I mean by that. That is why their Deathmatch software was so good, the company itself was a preparation for that.

    BTW, I was amazed to find out that that Doom and Quake were actually written on the NextStep computers. I had no idea that these games were not written on PCs.

    My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    Amazon rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars (1,144 reviews)

  40. paul says:

    New truck has a cabin air filter set up… jicky… squeeze in the sides of the glove box for access (which just seems to be begging for a fun filled event of shattering glovebox plastic) and grope around by feel to find the filter door.  JUST what I want Bubba at the oil change place to be messing with.  Never.

    It’s two filters, about 4×8 inches each. Slide one out, poke around to get a grip on the other and slide it over and out.

    Pretty flimsy filters.  But who cares about filters other than keeping leaves and such out of the blower?  I suppose something like a window screen, like both of our tractors have in front of the radiator, is too simple.

    I looked at the filters.  Just a couple of mud dauber wings, pure white otherwise.  I’m pretty sure they are factory.

    Off to Rock Auto.  Four sets of the cheap version (that look exactly like what the truck has) cost all of $25 with shipping.  As much as I drive, I’m set for 20 years.

    New truck is a 2019 Nissan Frontier.  Four door.  4×4.  V6.  Auto climate.   Loaded.  It’s missing the ashtray and lighter in each door.  Just turned 24,000 miles.  They traded it in for a Chevy so they could pull a camper.  It has everything other than power seats left and right, leather, moon roof, and heated mirrors.  None of which I care about.

    It has the Deluxe fabric upholstery.  Shrug.  Penny jumped right into the back seat and what hair she shed brushed off.

    The fancy sound system has  a sub-woofer.  Kind of thumpy sounding to me.  I’ll get to playing with that eventually.  Rockgate-Fosworth?

    Meanwhile, it’s so quiet I can hear the crickets in my ears while going 70 mph.  The back-up camera is sorta kinda of cool.  I don’t want to get hooked on that.  The back-up sonar is an unknown.   I need to back up to a tree or something.  Front sonar would be nice… just saying.

    Not a fan of the car insurance going up $50 or so a month.  But I’ll get over that.

    But…. reading on the web?  The complaints seem to be “lack of storage space”.  Yep, the back seats are so tight a folded t-shirt “there” interferes.  I’m impressed.  Oh, and “lift kits” seem to be a thing but parts from the big Nissan truck bolt right on.  Otherwise, no real complaints.  Not at all like reading about the Chevy Colorado or anything else.

    That’s what I’ve been up to.

    Oh.   Finally replaced the battery on the Mahindra.  The cheapo 1 year warranty  battery is not a thing at Wal-Mart.  Shrug.

     
    I did sit in a Chevy Colorado. Yeah, no thanks..

  41. lynn says:

    “That didn’t happen just once,” Hoover claimed. “It happened on every single one that came out of that airplane. It happened on every single one of them. They would release the salute, and he would look down at his watch on every last one, all 13, he looked down at his watch.

    https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/09/usa-today-fact-check-on-biden-checking-his-watch-during-fallen-soldier-transfer-collapses/

    Daniel Funke, the USA Today “fact checker”, rushed to Biden’s defense, claiming that he only checked his watch after the ceremony. After the full video came out, the paper was forced to retract, although their “fact checker” played the victim card on Twitter, rather than man up and admit he “Funked” up.

    The real fact is that Biden only checked his watch once, and then twelve times he forgot that he did so.

    Every single fact checker out there, especially Snopes, lies. They all have agendas.

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  42. RickH says:

    @paul

    Congrats on the new Frontier truck. Neighbor got one a few months ago, also used, but he really likes it.

    I’ve got a bit of envy for that truck. But the purchase of the used 2019 Highlander last year is apparently the limit of new (or newer) car purchases for me, especially if a monthly payment is involved. According to SWMBO, who really dislikes monthly car payments. It’s the primary driving vehicle, although maybe 2-3 times a week for shorter trips, and then the long trips to the grandkids in CA and UT every few months.

    My 2nd car is a 2007 Toyota Camry. Has 149K miles on it, still runs well, only issue is a torn area on driver’s seat. Some good quality seat covers will fix that, if I get around to it.

    But I don’t drive it that much. Since moving here to WA 7 years ago, it’s literally only been driven to church on Sundays. (And last year, not much of that because church was cancelled due to the cooties.) Last tire inspection at Discount Tire showed one tire is 10 years old (which surprised the DT guy – “You don’t drive this much, do you?”), but still has good tread, as do the other tires. Might need to replace it anyhow due to age.

  43. drwilliams says:

    @SteveF

    “Can I pick the half? I have a few ideas… ”

    Like channeling John Campbell?

  44. lynn says:

    Reminds me of the days before AC was common in cars, and even for some years after, when I used to drive long distances. I would put a saturated and lightly squeezed-out washcloth in a plastic bag. It made a refreshing face mop. Also handy for hands sticky from snacks. I thought I was living the luxurious life. Someone look up asceticism.

    Oh yes! My grandparents, who took us on vacations and short trips, didn’t have A/C in their car until late 60s, and that was exactly what my grandmother did. She had a separate color for each person and would hand them out periodically as we drove down the road. When they got a little dry, we’d re-wet them with a squirt from the cooler full of ice water – which was what we drank on the road. No buying pop. And, they always carried a picnic lunch.

    Cooking hot dogs in tin foil on the intake manifold.

  45. JimB says:

    Last tire inspection at Discount Tire showed one tire is 10 years old (which surprised the DT guy – “You don’t drive this much, do you?”), but still has good tread, as do the other tires. Might need to replace it anyhow due to age.

    Replace it. Tires made in the last 30 or so years lack sufficient antiozonant to last more than a few years. It depends strongly on conditions. The recommendation is six years max life, and there have been suggestions to make this mandatory. It is in Germany, I think, but then Germans. We have all seen shredded tires, and most of them are probably due to underinflation, but I have had a couple shred with normal inflation. Slow speeds, too. The only tires that claim to last are some of the RV special models that make that claim.

    Gotta go, maybe more later.

  46. paul says:

    Last tire inspection at Discount Tire showed one tire is 10 years old (which surprised the DT guy – “You don’t drive this much, do you?”), but still has good tread, as do the other tires. Might need to replace it anyhow due to age.

    Now for crazy. As I understand the story, someone took their Jeep to Discount Tire for the usual rotation last month. Discount Tire decided the tires are too old at 6 years  to rotate/balance… and “you gotta buy new tires”.

    Lots of “bullsit, put my tires back on the rims” noise because the date code was on the inside of the tires.  A case of “put the black side of the tires outward”. Er, and well, he left with new tires. For free.  Because is “safety”. Cheapo bottom of the line tires. He’s like whatever… he’s not planning to do another Jeep Jamboree.

    Just odd.   No wine or beer involved in the telling of the story.

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  47. SteveF says:

    Like channeling John Campbell?

    The science fiction guy? I don’t get the reference, not being familiar with him pushing either genocide or eugenics. OTOH, it’s not like I’ve read every one of Campbell’s editorials in Analog. Plus, today has been very busy with only brief breaks, so my mind isn’t fully on that topic.

  48. pecancorner says:

    As I understand the story, someone took their Jeep to Discount Tire for the usual rotation last month. Discount Tire decided the tires are too old at 6 years to rotate/balance… and “you gotta buy new tires”.

    The local Discount Tire has a sign up to the effect that they will not service tires more than ___ years old. Maybe 6 years, I don’t recall. I thought it would be an annoyance… but since I didn’t buy the free rotation and balancing when I bought our last tires from them, I would have to pay somebody anyway.

  49. drwilliams says:

    @SteveF

    Sixth Column is perhaps the Robert Heinlein story that has least stood the test of time:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_Column

    but for the time it was pretty mild

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIuKsmxO6qQ

    ADDED:
    A better treatment of the history of the novel:
    https://wilcfry.com/reviews/books/heinlein-robert/sixth-column/

  50. Nick Flandrey says:

    I’ve had tires that were too old just “come apart” while driving. I made it almost to Austin, slowed down on a one lane road with no shoulders and deep ditches, turned the corner onto a bigger road with proper shoulders and no traffic, and it just flung itself apart.5 minutes earlier and I’d have had a real problem. As it was, changed the tire, went on my way.

    I run “used” tires on my pickup, but I don’t run the old Conti tires that were the full size spare in ford trucks for years anymore because of the aging issue. The set I have on now were take offs for a rim and tire upgrade.

    n

  51. Greg Norton says:

    Found a “like new” 3 disc set of the anniversary cleaned up and remastered Hitchhiker’s Guide on ebay for ~$13 delivered. Ordered.

    Don’t forget the game. The Infocom *.dat file to play the game the old school way used to be available from the BBC web site if you dug around, but I haven’t grabbed a copy in years.

    If you can find the *.dat, Cygwin and most Linux distros have Frotz.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/cqmWf7n7tcy9Hb76H8BYTv/about-the-game

    The BBC miniseries is still the gold standard for a “film” version of “Hitcchikers”. Just keep in mind that the books, miniseries, and radio program are all different.

    The DVD transfer is pristine on my copy, but I may have bought a PAL DVD from Amazon.co.uk. Home video rights are complicated in the US since Bill Murray (!) held the film rights for years.

  52. dcp says:

    “Oh, I read the book, but it wasn’t as good as the movie.”

    Best example I know of for that is The Milagro Beanfield War. Poignant and funny, with beautiful NM scenery. Worth seeking out, IMNSHO.

    The book was a set of three, all horrible tedious reads. It was easy to identify the few good bits that had been used in the movie.

  53. Nick Flandrey says:

    Those reviews of the book kill me. Shocked by people using racially charged nicknames for their enemies? In 1941? Retire to your fainting couch sister… and stop your apologizing for the author. “Shamefully” didn’t notice there were no blacks at all in the book? Why would you notice unless you had your SJW scorecard? They weren’t even counted in Gallup polling until the mid or late 60s. Lucky there wasn’t some gratuitous Stepin Fetchit routine in the middle.

    The list of fiction with no blacks in it is longer than the list with blacks. Any in Agatha Christie? Bobbsey Twins? Tom Swift? Doc Savage? Ok, maybe some in Doc Savage, but I bet they were cannibals or had a bone thru their noses. Did Churchill moan about the plight of the blacks in his History of the English Speaking Peoples?

    Bah. 13%

    n

  54. Nick Flandrey says:

    Cooking hot dogs in tin foil on the intake manifold.

    –IIRC there were whole cookbooks devoted to cooking on the engine while driving…
    n

  55. lynn says:

    @SteveF

    Sixth Column is perhaps the Robert Heinlein story that has least stood the test of time:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_Column

    but for the time it was pretty mild

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIuKsmxO6qQ

    ADDED:
    A better treatment of the history of the novel:
    https://wilcfry.com/reviews/books/heinlein-robert/sixth-column/

    I don’t care about the supposed racism. I love the book.

    And I like Farnhams Freehold, even with the black cannibals.

  56. JimB says:

    I saw the genuine Stepin Fetchit (not that there were imitations?) in the mid 1960s in a small Midwest bar-restaurant. He was very good, but I don’t remember much of the show. Live entertainment is always my preference.

  57. JimB says:

    –IIRC there were whole cookbooks devoted to cooking on the engine while driving…

    There were. I knew people who did this, but never tried it myself. I always liked drive-ins on a nice day.

    NOT drive-throughs. Hate them for some reason. Would rather go inside. Usually faster these days.

  58. drwilliams says:

    @Nick

    Those reviews of the book kill me. Shocked by people using racially charged nicknames for their enemies? In 1941? Retire to your fainting couch sister… and stop your apologizing for the author. “Shamefully” didn’t notice there were no blacks at all in the book? Why would you notice unless you had your SJW scorecard? They weren’t even counted in Gallup polling until the mid or late 60s. Lucky there wasn’t some gratuitous Stepin Fetchit routine in the middle.

    The list of fiction with no blacks in it is longer than the list with blacks. Any in Agatha Christie? Bobbsey Twins? Tom Swift? Doc Savage? Ok, maybe some in Doc Savage, but I bet they were cannibals or had a bone thru their noses. Did Churchill moan about the plight of the blacks in his History of the English Speaking Peoples?

    Bah. 13%

    The left has been in charge of our schools for decades, and we have two generations that have no knowledge of history and most of the third generation back has very little.
    As a result their opinions on anything historical are worthless, and most of their opinions not much better. Proof of their temporary success sits unimpeached in the White House.

  59. lynn says:

    Cooking hot dogs in tin foil on the intake manifold.

    –IIRC there were whole cookbooks devoted to cooking on the engine while driving…
    n

    My mother-in-law could have written one. They drove from Texas to upper state New York (Chenago Falls) ever summer. 1,600+ miles each way. They always drove straight through. My wife hated driving her dad’s old three on the tree pickup since the camper top made it so heavy and hard to start in first gear.

  60. lynn says:

    I’ve had tires that were too old just “come apart” while driving. I made it almost to Austin, slowed down on a one lane road with no shoulders and deep ditches, turned the corner onto a bigger road with proper shoulders and no traffic, and it just flung itself apart.5 minutes earlier and I’d have had a real problem. As it was, changed the tire, went on my way.

    I run “used” tires on my pickup, but I don’t run the old Conti tires that were the full size spare in ford trucks for years anymore because of the aging issue. The set I have on now were take offs for a rim and tire upgrade.

    n

    I am giving myself some new Michelins for my 2019 F-150 4×4 for Christmas. Only 18,000 miles to date but the sidewall on the right front tire has come off in three places which is disconcerting.

    The wife’s blowout on her 2019 Highlander Bridgestone tire with 17,000 miles on it earlier this week was a little unnerving. And the new tires have not shown up yet at Sam’s Club. Yes, we are replacing all four tires.

    ADD: I am wondering if my holey tire will pass inspection ? I have to get inspected before Oct 31. And I am driving the 1,000 mile triangle on the last week of September, Rosenberg (Houston) -> Dallas -> San Antonio -> Rosenberg.

  61. Ray Thompson says:

    I am giving myself some new Michelins for my 2019 F-150 4×4 for Christmas. Only 18,000 miles to date but the sidewall on the right front tire has come off in three places which is disconcerting.

    I got 84,000 miles on the factory tires on my F-150. Still a few thousand miles of tread left on the tires. Changed out because the tires were six years old. Even wear all around. I went with Michelin. Found that Michelin runs a couple of different tire lines in the factory. Top line goes to dealers and independent shops. Second line goes to places like Costco.

  62. lynn says:

    “Current Version: 16.10b
    Serial Number: dont@use.commercial
    Computer ID: 594202413
    Password: 0722 3755 4129 7733 7716 0818 4814 8302 0675 0961 0083 2267 2541 4771 0361 2925 2368 3639 6326 1705 2115 7746 3528 0222 3294 3388 6537 9536 9475 4031 1632 3114 9700 5703 6887 0280 9893 1606 1822 0514 3861 0945 3625 6520 8629 1985 0473 9717 9152 1470 3782 7217 9820 1582 9792 3094 4510 6002 7460 1834 1497 6783 5524 9117 8224 1448 4537 9911 9403 6461 0983 6251 0931 9501 9693 0790 8543 7030 9894 1817
    Time and Date: Sun Sep 5 09:09:41 2021
    Directory: C:\PROGRA~2\DesignII
    Current File: (Untitled)
    Command Line: “C:\Program Files (x86)\DesignII\DESWIN.exe”
    Registered Owner: XXXXXXXX@gmail.com
    ERROR: The password does not decode properly !!!
    This computer is located in: Seoul, 11, Korea, Republic of,”

    I wonder if these people who have hacked my software realize that I am collecting their information and saving it for the future ? I am not sure what for but, I have it. I have successfully sued two businesses here in the USA using this info and gotten money out of them, five figures each time. One of them is now a very loyal customer. One of them was prosecuted by the FBI and went to federal jail for a few years since he was reselling my software (fraud !).

    Writing and selling our software is how my employees and I feed our families. I take this very seriously.

  63. lynn says:

    I am giving myself some new Michelins for my 2019 F-150 4×4 for Christmas. Only 18,000 miles to date but the sidewall on the right front tire has come off in three places which is disconcerting.

    I got 84,000 miles on the factory tires on my F-150. Still a few thousand miles of tread left on the tires. Changed out because the tires were six years old. Even wear all around. I went with Michelin. Found that Michelin runs a couple of different tire lines in the factory. Top line goes to dealers and independent shops. Second line goes to places like Costco.

    My Michelins from Sam’s Club have always lasted 40,000 miles or more. The tread on them is usually 3/4 inch or more. And I drive my vehicles like I stole them. I change them early because I do not like hydroplaning with all the rain we get around here.

    The Michelins that came on my truck from Ford had less than a 1/2 inch of tread on them. And there is less than a 1/4 inch of tread left now at 18,000 miles.

  64. Greg Norton says:

    BTW, I was amazed to find out that that Doom and Quake were actually written on the NextStep computers. I had no idea that these games were not written on PCs.

    NeXTStep offered OpenGL, which PCs of the era lacked. I doubt the level editor would have run on a DOS or Windows 9x machine, and Quake is as much about the level designs as the programming.

    NeXTStep and Objective C were huge on Wall Street at the time due to the ease with which a developer could put together a responsive GUI. By the time Apple bought out NeXT, I don’t think Jobs & co. made any hardware.

  65. Alan says:

    The local Discount Tire has a sign up to the effect that they will not service tires more than ___ years old. Maybe 6 years, I don’t recall. I thought it would be an annoyance… but since I didn’t buy the free rotation and balancing when I bought our last tires from them, I would have to pay somebody anyway.

    Most chain places will also not service tires with too little tread depth left. Happened to me a few years ago, tread was borderline still within DOT specs depending on how steady your hand was while holding the depth gauge. Guy wouldn’t budge seeing how he was looking to sell at least one, if not four new tires. Told him no thanks and found a ‘se habla espanol’ guy who was more than happy to take my money.

  66. Greg Norton says:

    Best example I know of for that is The Milagro Beanfield War. Poignant and funny, with beautiful NM scenery. Worth seeking out, IMNSHO.

    Robert Redford at the height of his creative powers. He wasn’t hot in Hollywood at that point because “Legal Eagles” failed to be the blockbuster expected by the studio, but Redford hadn’t lost his knack for picking collaborators or material.

    I thought “Legal Eagles” was fun even though it was obviously written for Bill Murray’s improvisation ability. My then girlfriend wasn’t impressed. Neither were Siskel & Ebert IIRC.

  67. drwilliams says:

    “I come from a mixed race background”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSh5voSUhrs

  68. drwilliams says:

    If anyone knows someone on a browser development team, pass a suggestion along:

    Add a PRINT JUST THIS FUKCING PAGE button.

     

  69. RickH says:

    Re: tires:   I’ll probably head down to Discount Tire soon to replace tires on the Camry. I like their service, and their prices, and the tires I”ve gotten there have lasted as advertised.

    I always get their “Best” rated ones, making sure that the ratings are xxx/A/A – one of the things I look at when I compare tires. Another is sound level ratings.

    The local store has Michelins, which have been good for me in the past. And they are in stock, so don’t have to wait for them.  No-pressure sales – they are busy enough that if you want to come back later, that’s OK with them.

    The prices I looked at when this discussion was started were cheaper than Sam’s. Lots of Discount Tires in TX.  Michelins in stock, cheaper than Sams – works for me.

    As for ‘holey’ tires, I’d replace them (much) sooner than later. Discount Tire usually has a six-month-no-interest deal going. Plus other cash-back incentives.

    Get the tires before Christmas – there’s already Christmas decorations in the stores, so you can count it as a Christmas present.

  70. Greg Norton says:

    Watched the newest Hitchhikers Guide last night with the kids. We’ve read the books with them over the last couple of months. Littlest was incensed that they’d made changes from the book, especially that they’d added things. She really liked the books.

    The Sky productions of Terry Pratchett’s books, made by The Mob (I’m not kidding about the group’s name) are very faithful to the books, possibly too much so with “Hogfather”.

    When you’ve moved on to Terry Pratchett from Adams — he’s the natural next step — find “Hogfather” and “Going Postal” on DVD.

    The Mob also made “The Colour of Magic”, but they took some liberties with that one, combining the book with the followup “The Light Fantastic”. And your kids might be disappointed that Rincewind, as portrayed by David Jason, is older than the book character.

    BTW, once you’ve watched the BBC “Hitchhikers” series, put the kids to bed and go watch the opening moments of “Good Omens” on Amazon Prime. If there is one production team who could make a new “Hitchhikers” work, it is that group of people … and make sure Francis McDormand is available to channel Peter Jones.

    I don’t know if you would consider “Good Omens” to be age appropriate.

  71. Nick Flandrey says:

    Add a PRINT JUST THIS FUKCING PAGE button.

    –the dirty flockers hijacked the ctrl-p shortcut too. And I can’t find the setting for Always use the devices print dialog. Pretty sure it used to be there.

    n

    nb- and “Printliminator” has been broken for some time. That was one useful little add on.

  72. Nick Flandrey says:

    Hah! googlefu!

    Is it possible to set the “old” system print dialog by default or to instruct firefox to always print only the first page of the document by default?
    Chosen solution

    For now you can flip a pref on the about:config page to revert to the old print dialog.

    print.tab_modal.enabled = false

    You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can click the button to “Accept the Risk and Continue”.

    —tested and works!

    n

  73. drwilliams says:

    @Nick

    Thanks, but “Current Page” is grayed out.

  74. drwilliams says:

    @Greg

    Best to get hard copies of the old Pratchett productions before they get BBC’ed into trans-woke festering garbage.

  75. Nick Flandrey says:

    Oh, that’s subtle. It is greyed out and you still need to select pages, and enter 1 if you want the first only… hmm, why the F would they tweek that dialog? and how?

    n

  76. Greg Norton says:

    Best to get hard copies of the old Pratchett productions before they get BBC’ed into trans-woke festering garbage. 

    No, Sky made the Pratchett miniseries in questions, not the Beeb.

    “Hogfather is part of the Susan/Death/Albert story arc Pratchett started with “Mort”. Very female-empowerment centric, particularly “Soul Music”.

    “Going Postal” is an early, substantial role for Claire Foy, the actress at the center of the salary ruckus with “The Crown”.

  77. EdH says:

    I was talking to the tech who was pumping my propane at Costco yesterday. He also works in the auto shop and he mentioned that tires are starting to go up in price. As well as batteries.

    I do need a set of good light truck AT truck tires for the Dodge, it came with passenger tires, and I’ve already had several punctures. I think I was looking at the Toyo’s before the pandemic hit.

    The Ram has 20” rims, I’d go down to 18” or even smaller, with taller sidewalls.

  78. drwilliams says:

    @Nick

    I can use the mouse to make a selection.

    Is there some unobvious way to designate current page?

  79. drwilliams says:

    @Greg

    I have the dvd’s and have watched them.

    I was referring to the festering pile the BBC has made of The Watch (as well as Dr Who, etc). I have doubts about the future availability of anything. According to my “Turd in the Swimming Pool” principle, contamination spreads.

  80. drwilliams says:

    @EdH

    “I was talking to the tech who was pumping my propane at Costco yesterday.”

    Reminds me of the old joke about “pumping Ethyl”.

  81. Nick Flandrey says:

    Is there some unobvious way to designate current page?

    –not that I see, you can work around by looking at what page you’re on and printing on ly that page in the “pages” box of the print dialog, but it’s not as easy as just selecting current… but could you ever? If you aren’t in a paginated doc, or pdf, how would the print dialog know what the current page is?

    FWIW, I tried from print preview, went to a page on a long multipage site (DM) and clicked on the previewed page, and it still didn’t offer ‘current’. Of course once it’s paginated in print preview, you can see what page you want, and just print that page by number.

    n

  82. drwilliams says:

    @Nick

    Print dialog knows the number of print pages.
    The old dialog doesn’t display it, but the new one did.
    And as noted, I want the default to be printing one page.

  83. lynn says:

    BTW, I was amazed to find out that that Doom and Quake were actually written on the NextStep computers. I had no idea that these games were not written on PCs.

    NeXTStep offered OpenGL, which PCs of the era lacked. I doubt the level editor would have run on a DOS or Windows 9x machine, and Quake is as much about the level designs as the programming.

    NeXTStep and Objective C were huge on Wall Street at the time due to the ease with which a developer could put together a responsive GUI. By the time Apple bought out NeXT, I don’t think Jobs & co. made any hardware.

    Yeah, OpenGL was cool and did not come out on the PC until 3dfx released their graphics card in 1994 ???.

    Plus, we wrote software on Windows 92 XX 93 XX 94 XX 95 (I was an alpha tester for Mickeysoft). Was a horribly unstable environment if you made a programming error or the debugger ran out of memory. I rebooted usually once an hour. Now I usually reboot Windows 7 x64 Pro once a week to free up the 6 to 8 GB of ram that Winders cannot free up. Anything that interrupts your chain of thought is bad news.

    I was desperately trying to build a Win32 version of our calculation engine for Windows 95. I had it up and running with Windows 92 then Mickeysoft kept on breaking the Window handles, trying to get more than 64K Window handles for Windows 95. They never could get it work so that was a killer for Windows 95. People just did not know why their Windows 95 locked up all the time, it was because they ran out of Window handles. I would get a CD from Microsoft and nothing would run because they were trying another scheme to get more Window handles. I would go to the private MS BBS and so many people were already there and screaming.

  84. lynn says:

    I was talking to the tech who was pumping my propane at Costco yesterday. He also works in the auto shop and he mentioned that tires are starting to go up in price. As well as batteries.

    I do need a set of good light truck AT truck tires for the Dodge, it came with passenger tires, and I’ve already had several punctures. I think I was looking at the Toyo’s before the pandemic hit.

    The Ram has 20” rims, I’d go down to 18” or even smaller, with taller sidewalls.

    Lets see, there is 10 to 20 pounds of plastic in a tire. And with the new plastic tax of 20 cents per pound, that is another $2 to to $4 per tire.

    My truck came with 20s on it but somebody else had wanted them and switched to the 18 inch chrome rims and 18 inch tires. Exactly what I wanted and I demand the $1,500 for the 20s off the asking price. They gave it to me.

  85. MrAtoz says:

    Tell me again why plugs took in Afghan refugees:

    Afghan refugee evacuated to Fort Bliss not thrilled by previous night’s dinner selection

    Fcuk you very much.

  86. Nick Flandrey says:

    Portland is considering BANNING all Texas imports over their abortion law: City slams ‘unconstitutional’ new legislation and plans emergency resolution to ban services and goods from the Lone Star state

    Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is considering banning all goods and services from Texas until the Lone Star state reverses its abortion ban
    Wheeler is also considering not sending city employees to Texas on business

    –wouldn’t that be un Constitutional? Pretty sure the States can’t restrict trade between them…
    n

  87. MrAtoz says:

    –wouldn’t that be un Constitutional? Pretty sure the States can’t restrict trade between them…

    Get’em with the Commerce Clause.

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