Hot and humid. One last hurrah for summer? Global warmening come to kill us all? You be the judge! In any case, it was hot and humid yesterday too, hovering around 100F in the afternoon (and in the sun.) It was still 83F at midnight, but there was a nice breeze and the giant fusion fire in the sky was roasting someone else, so it was quite pleasant waiting for the puppy to do his business before bed.
I spent the day mostly doing cleaning around the house and organizing ebay items. I did ship one book, and picked up d2 for our special time. That was cut short by last minute shopping for birthday gifts. This is the opposite of prepping btw, but I was super slack getting ready for the birthday. My wife came home and we went out for dinner with the kids. Had a nice meal and came home. It was almost like we weren’t in a pandemic at all, or about to kick off WWIII or CWII…
While shopping, we actually went to the mall. I tried. I went to a freestanding jeweler, but they stopped carrying what d2 wanted, and I couldn’t find the sunglasses my wife asked for. The jeweler (Jared) was buzzing people in individually and had removed display areas. They looked like they had a lot fewer items on display and at least one fewer area. The “kid cove” where they used to have a tv and couch was being used for storing cardboard boxes.
We hit the Macy’s at one end of the mall, and there were more staff than shoppers. I did find the sunglasses though, so that was a plus.
We drove around to the other side of the mall to find a Pandora store, and look at a gift shop d2 finds amusing. The mall was pretty empty. Some stores had a few people in them. The Pandora store was limiting the number of people in at one time. We only went in there, and a kitschy gift shop. Stock at the gift shop was THIN. One or two ‘faces’ for each item. LOTS of space between displays. One item per hook and still lots of space. Prices are nuts. $16 for a novelty wine bottle stopper? I don’t think so. Two employees working.
The Pandora store had 3 or 4 saleswomen and a manager working, and everyone was occupied when we walked up. (Pandora has nice inexpensive jewelry and especially charms for their charm bracelets. It’s an easy default gift to get another charm.) The store was looking SHABBY. There were boxes stacked in one corner. It’s designed with much the same aesthetic as a an apple store, so the wear and tear was a bit shocking. Lots of smudges and hand print dirt in wear areas.
The other stores we walked past had a lot of empty space in them and they weren’t overflowing with stock. Either they let stock run down, or they aren’t getting refreshed. Macy’s was stocking displays while we were there, but even they looked a bit sparse and spread out.
The restaurant, Pappadeaux’s Seafood, was pretty busy for a Monday night. There were empty tables but people were in groups of 4 and up, some with 8-12 people. It was maybe 2/3 occupied tables. LOTS of staff working. Food was great, but there were no off menu specials at all, and they were steering diners to one side order (green beans). They didn’t bring their signature bread until my wife thought to ask. There were only 4 lobsters in the tank, but three sold while we were there. Prices seemed high to me, even by my road warrior/per diem standards. It’s a nice comfortable, kinda dress up place, but $78 for a steak entree is nuts. NOT a white tablecloth place. Portions are large, you get a lot for your money, but dang. Two apps, 3 adult dinners and one child, 2 fake beers, two margs, and tax and tip had us over $230. For comparison, Jack in the Box for us 4, combo meals with add on shakes, was $78 iirc, so maybe $200+ for a nice date night dinner out isn’t so much out of line after all.
Frankly I don’t see how people can afford to eat fast food at all, and certainly not as a staple. And unless someone else (like your company) is paying, IDK how your “ordinary Joe” can afford a nice dinner out. We had a $75 gift card and it was still expensive.
Not the way I’d have chosen to spend the day and evening, but it wasn’t my birthday.
Things don’t look good out there. There is “stuff” but not as much or as much variety. Prices seem high, and headed higher. I’d say ‘do your holiday shopping NOW, just in case.’
And stack all the things (that you can get.)
nick
Eating out is expensive. We had friends once, who ate out for every single meal. Their kitchen was literally bare, except for drinks. Crazy.
77F and 97%RH this morning.
I’m still burping my dinner from last night…and I’m full.
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/peter-schiff-buy-less-pay-more
n
Measles is an extremely contagious infectious disease; around 9 out of 10 people who are close contacts and who are not protected will become infected following exposure to measles virus. As of September 20, 2021, CDC has been notified of 16 confirmed cases of measles and 4 cases of mumps among Afghan nationals and U.S. citizens, recently arriving from Afghanistan and continued vigilance is needed. In addition to MMR vaccination, CDC recommends that evacuees are also up to date on vaccinations for varicella, polio, COVID-19, and seasonal influenza.
I’ve posted before about the Measles pandemic in SW WA State and Portland a year prior to Covid. Lots of theories float around concerning the origins, but the one I tend to believe is the outbreak originating in the Eastern European and Russian immigrants brought in by the Apostolic Lutheran cults in the area.
My wife treated members of the cult when things got bad enough that individuals would break with their leaders’ distrust of the outside world to seek care. One of the Measles hot zones was in the waiting room of the clinic where she worked, on Valentines Day morning, 2019. Yeah, schadenfreude — I *despised* my wife’s WA State employer — but still unusual given the normal patient demographics.
I imagine that the Afgan immmigrants have similar rates of vaccination and mistrust of people outside their immediate community.
Frankly I don’t see how people can afford to eat fast food at all, and certainly not as a staple. And unless someone else (like your company) is paying, IDK how your “ordinary Joe” can afford a nice dinner out. We had a $75 gift card and it was still expensive.
Pappadeaux (and the other Pappas Group restaurants) were definitely an expense account restaurant pre-Covid, but $78 for a steak entree is out there. I assume the ribeye is the menu item in question, but chateaux briand for two would be in that range pre-Joe Bux largess.
Also — another seafood chain getting killed on the cost of free bread and undertipping of the wait staff.
I’ve posted before about the Measles pandemic
And, yes, it was a pandemic. Two pediatric cases popped up in Hawaii that originated in Portland.
Parents put knowingly put their kids on the plane sick — a sign of things to come a year later, but herd immunity to Measles exists and countered the FOMO-driven stupidity with that outbreak.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-10010295/This-chamber-helps-divers-beat-bends-stop-dementia-cancer.html
–so when Micheal Jackson did it it was so outre’ as to be a sign of insanity, but now it’s just “oh this might actually help with a wide range of things, including GETTING OLD.”
Which iirc is the exact reason MJ did it.
n
(makes you think that the conspiracy theories that the rich have access to crazy life extension and enhancement med tech in exclusive swiss spas might not be so far out after all….)
Did I mention that my cheap neighbor’s chimney is visibly tilting? The neighbor with the new roof and new owner? It’s getting worse so I knocked on the door. There has been a lot of hammerdrill and concrete busting noise from there for weeks and now I know why…
They removed the whole fireplace and chimney to the ceiling. They appear to have forgotten that it extends above the ceiling, or that it weighs a LOT and is now only held up by friction and wedging into its opening in the roof.
They have also stripped out the entire central part of the house to the point where they are busting up terrazzo flooring that was under everything else and is original to the house. They don’t have permits for a gut remodel.
And given that this guy is ok with the cheapest and shoddiest work, the plumbing and electrical will be terrifying.
n
addded- I zoomed my camera view out a little bit so I can see when it collapses…
(makes you think that the conspiracy theories that the rich have access to crazy life extension and enhancement med tech in exclusive swiss spas might not be so far out after all….)
Gates has looked like he’s circling the drain for a few years. My wife swears something is really wrong with him … well, beyond the “reading week” trips to Pedo Island.
If Gates suddenly starts looking “tanned, rested and ready”, then there might be something to the life extension treatment like “blood boys” that Peter Thiel supposedly uses (and lampooned on “Silicon Valley”).
$78 for a steak entree is out there.
–huh, I just d/l their menu for the location we ate at last night, and it is different from the one I had in the restaurant. I don’t see the steak I saw last night…and the prices don’t look as bad in the light of day. Wonder why? In fact the oysters look cheap on the d/l’d menu. Well, as cheap as $2 each oysters can look.
n
More detail from the Health Alert message.
–124K PEOPLE?? F me that’s a lot more than we were led to believe.
n
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10011335/Gang-members-smuggled-100-worth-KFC-locked-Auckland-city-battles-COVID-outbreak.html
— some info I wasn’t aware of (because you don’t see what you don’t look for) in the article.
n
The last couple of articles very slyly had dosing information embedded in them. This one says a couple of times that it’s safe in proper doses, has long history of use, is approved for people, etc. SOMEONE is making sure that the info gets out there. Make of that what you will.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-10010537/Livestock-feed-stores-reporting-shortages-ivermectin.html
n
And plugs is spreading them around the FUSA. Add in 1,000’s of Haitians and COVID looks like a picnic party.
I’ve alway wanted to vacay in Oz and NZ. Not right now, though.
Hey, plugs:
US to Require COVID-19 Vaccinations for Arriving International Travelers
Yet, let the unwashed masses come over the border willy nilly.
This is why the USA is the Former USA. All for votes.
Yes, Brookley. We lived there for one very long year before we moved to Texas in Summer of 1973.
–huh, I just d/l their menu for the location we ate at last night, and it is different from the one I had in the restaurant. I don’t see the steak I saw last night…and the prices don’t look as bad in the light of day. Wonder why? In fact the oysters look cheap on the d/l’d menu. Well, as cheap as $2 each oysters can look.
The local Faux News has been making a bid deal about a crab “shortage” recently. The filet stuffed with crab may have been the $78 steak and the online menu hasn’t caught up.
Most Per Diems don’t go above $50 for dinner with a lot of companies, and the Pappas Group in Texas caters to the high end business traveler crowd. I’d be surprised if any single entree exceeded that mark unless they were trying to discourage ordering the dish.
We’ve been inside a Pappadeaux once. The food was decent, but the service was distracted by the non-stop demands for bread from the surrounding tables who all seemed to have one person ordering a real entree and the rest eating the Greek salad.
https://www.askaprepper.com/36-pvc-diy-projects-for-your-homestead/
Fun stuff, PVC. Although, I thought it didn’t like UV much.
That’s sort of the default with Millennials and Gen-Z. They just go out to eat every meal (or, at least, every lunch and dinner) and budget accordingly. Of course, they’re the same generations that rent because they don’t want tied down with a mortgage and who are in no hurry to get a driver’s license or car. They want to live in a month-to-month rental, eat out every meal, have their dry goods delivered, and Uber everywhere they go. No mortgage, no driver’s license, no pantry.
Well, just had a long conversation with one of my electricity providers. I’m not just imagining it, or running the air more, my bill did double. A year ago I was paying less than 8c/KWH. I’m paying 18c this month and last. Two years ago I was paying 4c/KWH.
The company wants to move me to a fixed rate for 36 months at 8.6c/KWH. Normally I’ve resisted going to a contract because I only use power during a few summer months, the winter months I use barely any and so my bill averages out for the whole year. Getting what amounts to a 50% discount even for one more month of high usage will pay for a lot of low usage months, even if the monthly variable rate does fall below 8c again.
We also talked about the freeze and what they’ve been doing for their customers. He had one big customer with a $1.2M bill for the freeze. The customer had been saving money for 20 years on a variable rate, and just paid the bill. He’s got other residential customers that have thousands owed, one at $8K. They are negotiating discounts and payment plans wherever they can, and their stock price took a big hit, but customers can’t transfer providers until their bill is current… The company wants to get whatever they can and let the unhappy customers go.
FWIW, he’s in Arizona and pays 24c/KWH for his own residential.
n
Hahahahahaha:
Psaki: Migrants at the border don’t need to show proof of vaccination because they don’t intend to stay for long
Right, “they don’t intend to stay for long”. How can she say that an not be laughed out of the room. Oh, yeah, the majority of news orgs are ProgLibTurds. Don’t forget the Haitians. I guess they are just looking for free crackers on the plane ride back.
That’s sort of the default with Millennials and Gen-Z. They just go out to eat every meal (or, at least, every lunch and dinner) and budget accordingly. Of course, they’re the same generations that rent because they don’t want tied down with a mortgage and who are in no hurry to get a driver’s license or car. They want to live in a month-to-month rental, eat out every meal, have their dry goods delivered, and Uber everywhere they go. No mortgage, no driver’s license, no pantry.
Most of the Millenials and Gen-Z I’ve worked with in the last decade lived high lifestyles subsidized by parental cash flow and not their paychecks. At my last job, the young’n’s didn’t push back when saddled with “Wally” type Senior Developers because the income discrepancies didn’t quite click in their heads.
(One upside of being fired is that at least two young’n’s woke up to the antics of their respective “Wallys” and quit within the last year.)
Even with my generation, X-er, “Ferris Bueller” Class of ’86, we are the only couple we know among friends and family who bought both of our houses without help on the down payment.
👎🙄👎🙄👎🙄👎🙄
Seems like there’s a butthurt Millennial that likes the thumbs down button. 🙂 lol Disagree with me. That’s fine. I’m wrong frequently and fail to consider my points from other angles on a regular basis too. This is a blog and the comment section is just conversation. It’s not an academic or scientific journal. At least articulate WHY you disagree. Don’t just be a Debbie Downer lurker.
👎🙄👎🙄👎🙄👎🙄
Austin, TX printed houses:
https://inhabitat.com/an-entire-street-of-3d-printed-homes-in-texas-are-move-in-ready/
Chad, you just reminded me that there ARE up and down buttons, so it can’t be me.:-)
I figure that the people who stealthily downvote comments all have small, misshapen, and unsightly primary and secondary sexual organs and that the primary emotion they should evoke is pity rather than annoyance.
We never did decide if the downvote applied to the IDEA being expressed or the way it was expressed.
If someone comments that they don’t like pedos in the priesthood, and you don’t like pedos in the priesthood, are you downvoting pedos in the priesthood or are you downvoting the DISLIKE expressed about pedos in the priesthood?
Or do you dislike people talking about pedos in the priesthood? Or you just don’t like the topic?
That’s why one of the social platforms didn’t have a dislike button for so long. Can’t tell what it really means.
That’s why commenting here doesn’t cost you money, so you can clearly express yourself…and back up your argument when appropriate.
n
Couple thing about the up/down vote buttons:
I’m thinking of adding to the plugin to block any vote from @SteveF. Might be worth the efforts.
The restaurant, Pappadeaux’s Seafood, was pretty busy for a Monday night. There were empty tables but people were in groups of 4 and up, some with 8-12 people. It was maybe 2/3 occupied tables. LOTS of staff working. Food was great, but there were no off menu specials at all, and they were steering diners to one side order (green beans). They didn’t bring their signature bread until my wife thought to ask. There were only 4 lobsters in the tank, but three sold while we were there. Prices seemed high to me, even by my road warrior/per diem standards. It’s a nice comfortable, kinda dress up place, but $78 for a steak entree is nuts. NOT a white tablecloth place. Portions are large, you get a lot for your money, but dang. Two apps, 3 adult dinners and one child, 2 fake beers, two margs, and tax and tip had us over $230. For comparison, Jack in the Box for us 4, combo meals with add on shakes, was $78 iirc, so maybe $200+ for a nice date night dinner out isn’t so much out of line after all.
We had a guy’s lunch at Pappadeaux’s Seafood Kitchen a month ago. About $18 to $20 each. I had the house salad and gumbo combo. The salad was decent sized but the gumbo was not. I love gumbo …
And I love Jambalaya. I could have been a Cajun.
Eating out is expensive. We had friends once, who ate out for every single meal. Their kitchen was literally bare, except for drinks. Crazy.
Reputedly, a portion of our society goes to McDonalds or Burger King for every freaking meal of the day. I cannot even imagine.
I am trying to figure out how you get to $78 for four at Jack-in-the-box. That sounds like a lot of food. Although, my pattie melt and large fries were almost $10 the other day at Whataburger with just water to drink. And my weekly grilled chicken salad with icedream cone at Chick-fil-a is now $10.50. And no you cannot go inside, drivethru only.
I finally got my water well permit for the year starting Oct 1, 2021 for the office. They held a “public” hearing on the well along with 200 other water wells in July. Makes me kind of nervous even though they rarely turn one down. Makes me wonder what we would do if they did turn the well permit down some day.
I gave Rick’s most recent comment an upvote because I agree with it and appreciate the work he puts in behind the scenes, and a thumb-down emoticon because I think he deserves it on general principles.
Declare that that was one of your “this far and no farther” lines for kicking off CWII.
Use your existing well as an injection point for hazardous waste disposal. Die before your trial so that you can give them one last middle finger!
n
I am trying to figure out how you get to $78 for four at Jack-in-the-box. That sounds like a lot of food. Although, my pattie melt and large fries were almost $10 the other day at Whataburger with just water to drink.
$5 shakes. But not like the $5 shake in “Pulp Fiction”. 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZzai6at_xA
I used to joke that Vantucky was a glimpse into the future of the US, but it doesn’t seem so funny anymore. We would drop $60 at Wendys for a family of four living there, and that was seven years ago.
@ lynn, a small fry at JinBox is almost $3 now.
IIRC it was 4x meal combos at $10/ so $40.
4x shakes at $5/ so $20. That’s $60 plus tax? might have been $72, might have been one more item in there.
Ordered individually from door dash for delivery would put each meal at about $15 for $60 + tax.
Since you can use a credit or debit card, it’s a lot easier to just swipe than count out the bills….
n
Arby’s was always surprisingly expensive. For that matter, so was Buffalo Wild Wings. At both places I always feel like I’m staring at the receipt thinking, “What just happened?” Even Taco Bell is creeping up there. When I worked there in 1992 a standard hard shell taco was 59¢ in our market. Now it’s $1.29. That’s a 119% increase in 29 years. The inflation rate over that same period of time is about 95%. So, definitely outpacing inflation.
The Kamel wonders what is going on at the border. Demands full investigation.
You can’t make this comedic gaslighting up.
Use your existing well as an injection point for hazardous waste disposal. Die before your trial so that you can give them one last middle finger!
n
Too late. All of the water wells east of me (20 to 100 of them) were under the Brazos River for a week or two when Hurricane Harvey dumped 60 inches of rain on us three years ago. No telling what nasty stuff went down those well casings. We don’t drink the water, we drink bottled water. And make coffee with bottled water. But the well water is great for flushing toilets and washing with.
Used to celebrate “back in the USA” with a super size fry. Not doing OUS travel no more.
Can’t get a hamburger with any life left, buns usually suck, tomato may as well be plastic even in season.
Prices were obscene before. $5 shake with $1 worth of ice cream. I’ve had a malt machine since college, so DIY. Even with 1/2 gallons shrunk 25%, I can make three large and add my own chunky stuff.
“America Is All In maps out 50% emissions cut by 2030”
https://rmi.org/climbing-the-ladder-of-ambition-to-meet-us-climate-targets/
“President Joe Biden’s goal to slash emissions by 50% to 52% by 2030 is a tall order, but it’s possible, according to the Blueprint 2030 report from America Is All In, a coalition organized by nonfederal leaders like Michael Bloomberg. The report calls for an 83% reduction in power sector emissions from 2005 levels, a 39% decrease in transportation emissions and urges businesses to begin procuring 100% clean energy ASAP.”
“Building off the success of these commitments, the federal government is pursuing national policy to decarbonize the whole electric power sector by 2035. Nonfederal leaders set the necessary foundation for ambitious federal climate action, and the federal government is poised to scale parallel policies at the national level.”
Not gonna happen. The battery technology is not there yet and will probably never be there.
ADD: At some point the firefighters are going to stop trying to put out battery fires. Just too dangerous.
Prices were obscene before. $5 shake with $1 worth of ice cream. I’ve had a malt machine since college, so DIY. Even with 1/2 gallons shrunk 25%, I can make three large and add my own chunky stuff.
Soft drinks are far more obscene if you factor maintenance costs on the equipment and labor.
$45 for a five gallon box of syrup which will produce 100 32 oz cups at standard mix ratios filled with *just* soda, no ice. Figure another dime for the cup. And those prices are full retail, what you and I would shell out for syrup at Sam’s, not what McDonalds will pay.
To be fair, McDonalds dials down the mix ratio on Diet Coke from standard 5-1 to 4.5-1, sometimes less, but they are still making ~ 50 cents if you order “no ice” during the $1 drink specials.
How many of you order “no ice”?
And $1 drinks are increasingly rare at the McDonalds around here.
The last time I stopped at the Jack in the Box on the corner, the 32 oz Diet Coke was $2.79, and Jack isn’t as generous as Ronald with the syrup mix ratio.
$78 for a steak entree is out there.
–huh, I just d/l their menu for the location we ate at last night, and it is different from the one I had in the restaurant. I don’t see the steak I saw last night…and the prices don’t look as bad in the light of day. Wonder why? In fact the oysters look cheap on the d/l’d menu. Well, as cheap as $2 each oysters can look.
n
They have a lunch menu and a dinner menu. Prices are way different.
I remember when Taco Bell, in 1973, was $0.29 per taco. I could fill up on less than $1.50.
I am also old enough to remember when McDonald’s in San Bernardino was $0.19. I was real young but my dad really liked going to the place. I remember the golden arches, you walked up to the window, and in short time had the order. Menu limited to hamburger, cheeseburgers, fries, soft drink (probably Coke and 7-Up), and milkshakes, went back to the car to eat or take it home.
I also remember A&W Root Beer when they sold their signature drink by the gallon in glass containers that carried a deposit. I remember one time my parents had purchased a gallon and it exploded open on the way home. A gallon of root beer on the floor of the car. My dad was livid at my mother as I think the glass bottle fell over. Frosted glass mugs full of root beer was a real treat when I was young. No ice in the glass and the root beer would freeze to the glass.
Austin, TX printed houses:
https://inhabitat.com/an-entire-street-of-3d-printed-homes-in-texas-are-move-in-ready/
Yup, no garages. Perfect for the hipsters XXXXXXXX millennials XXXXXXXX whatevers that do not drive.
“Schumer Reveals Democrats Still Working to Include Amnesty In Reconciliation Bill After Senate Parliamentarian Blocks Effort (VIDEO)”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/09/schumer-reveals-democrats-still-working-include-amnesty-reconciliation-bill-senate-parliamentarian-blocks-effort-video/
“Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough on Sunday ruled Democrats cannot include amnesty in their gargantuan reconciliation bill because it not a budget-related matter.
The Democrats are pushing their $3.5 trillion “infrastructure” bill through budget reconciliation to go around Republicans because it will only need a simple majority to pass.
Democrat lawmakers tried to sneak immigration reform in the infrastructure bill because they know it will never pass in a vote that requires at least 60 votes to pass.
The Senate Parliamentarian rejected the Democrats’ effort to give illegals a pathway to citizenship because it would lead to “other, life-changing federal, state and societal benefits.””
I wonder what the life expectancy of the Senate Parliamentarian is right now.
$25 for two teen girls to get lunch at McDonalds a few weeks ago: 10-piece chicken nuggets, large fries, and a smoothie or something similar. Oh, and 7% or 8% sales tax, depending on which county we were in when they discovered they were hungry and couldn’t possibly wait another hour until we got home.
(Two girls because one of my daughter’s friends stayed with us over the summer; don’t recall if I mentioned it here.)
Man, I’m getting sick of the newscasters “Border agents using whips” gaslight. It’s obvious there are no whips. I guess the agents should just sit on their horses and let the Haitians go back and forth to Mexico. Send the Rangers down their with their hog-legs. Something has to be done. I don’t want a bunch of turd-world nimcompoops in my back yard. I hope this fiasco crushes all the Dumbocrat numbskull bills.
“Are the US and China Stumbling Toward an ‘Islands War’?” by Patrick J. Buchanan
https://buchanan.org/blog/are-the-us-and-china-stumbling-toward-an-islands-war-158560
“In a diplomatic coup, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a deal last week with the U.K. and U.S. to have those Anglo-American allies help build a nuclear-powered submarine fleet for Australia.
A $66 billion French deal to provide Canberra with diesel electric-powered submarines, among the largest defense contracts Paris had ever negotiated, was blown off.
“A stab in the back!” said Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who had been kept in the dark on the secret talks. “There has been duplicity, contempt and lies.” Le Drian compared President Joe Biden to former President Donald Trump.
President Emmanuel Macron recalled his ambassadors to both the U.S. and Australia. In two centuries of U.S.-French diplomatic relations, no such recall had ever occurred.”
“If World War III breaks out between China and the U.S., it is likely to be over islands of Asia claimed by China, with the U.S. fighting not for its own territory but for the island territory of allies, probably islands in no way vital to the security of the United States.
Which is how world powers often end their days as world powers, fighting unnecessary wars on behalf of other nations.”
“To be fair, McDonalds dials down the mix ratio on Diet Coke from standard 5-1 to 4.5-1, sometimes less, ”
When I worked at U-Tote-M and then Circle K after the a-holes from Phoenix took over, the district manager would “inspect” the soda machines. And the Hi-C machines. And go look at the ice machine in the back room to make sure we kept it all clean. Of course we made sure to keep the door jamb dusted.
He always had to screw with the mixture on the soda machine. Coke looking like iced tea lean. And the next day, me, having the tool to measure syrup to soda would fix it… just a bit on the rich side. You know how water pulls up in a rain gauge? A hair more than that. Hey, add a bit more syrup or watch people take a sip and dump cup and all into the sink? The customers noticed that we had great tasting fountain drinks.
This was mostly at the U-Tote-M Truckstop (or as Julio would say, Truck-a-stop) (he was from Peru) in Pflugerville. We had regulars … they would get a 6 pack of beer, bag of chips, a couple of sausages or hot dogs from the grill and we’d have their cigarettes on the counter when they got to the register. And some rolling papers discreetly off to the side just in case. Fun times.
Democrat lawmakers tried to sneak immigration reform in the infrastructure bill because they know it will never pass in a vote that requires at least 60 votes to pass.
The Ted Kennedy Memorial Immigration Act with amnesty at the core is now 15 years overdue.
When I worked at U-Tote-M and then Circle K after the a-holes from Phoenix took over, the district manager would “inspect” the soda machines. And the Hi-C machines. And go look at the ice machine in the back room to make sure we kept it all clean. Of course we made sure to keep the door jamb dusted.
Circle K is out of Phoenix?
The “Strange things are afoot at the Circle K” line from “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” seems even funnier now.
Most of the movie was filmed in Phoenix. Sadly, the Metrocenter Mall is no more.
No garaj foar Tezluz
No garaj foar Tezluz
We need a fire emoji.
99 F (559 R) here in the sticks of Fort Bend County right now. Hot, hot, hot before the cold front comes in. No wind out there whatsoever.
And that is how you plant the seeds for ignoring treaty obligations and breaking promises. which we need now like another hole in our heads.
n
104F in the sun here, with only 43%RH but you can jam a lot of water into the air at 104…
I’m reliably informed by my 10yo (who is doing a “weather” track in her gifted and talented class) that we will get a cold front and beautiful weather in a day or so. YMMV.
n
When Circle K bought U-Tote-M, headquarters were in Phoenix. Arizona, anyway.
McLane out of Waco delivered most of the groceries. Frito and Mrs Bads and Rubbercrust and the beer dudes did their own thing. Ditto the canned soda folks.
The nuke food? The burritos and such you would nuke? The Circle K red chili and the green chili burritos totally rocked. Totally not Tex-Mex. I don’t know if they are still a thing because I quit going there after the 100 to 10 followed by the 10 to 1 stock thing bull crap. Heck, “$10 a week” aka $40 a month payroll deduction, play with the math, was $9.20 a week. Three and a half years of that just vanished….
I like a genre of music called “electro swing”. It’s remixed and original versions of classic swing and big band music, usually much faster beats and repeating samples. I find it interesting enough to have on, yet familiar enough it doesn’t take my attention when I’m doing other things. I like Big Band and Swing in their original forms too, so ymmv.
The Logitech Squeezebox internet streaming media player I fixed the other night is tuned to a Pandora ‘electro swing’ channel. It just served up one of the oddest versions of a song I’ve heard in a while. The new version is by Post Modern Jukebox, who I have featured here before, staring Robyn Adele in the lead vocal role, singing a 1920s styled cover of Gangsta’s Paradise by Coolio. Gangsta’s paradise is a pretty iconic gangsta rap song, and I really like the original. VERY strange to hear it from a female in the old tyme style.
Original here. with over 750 MILLION views. That’s a successful song no matter who you are.
n
Squeezebox Boom if I remember correctly?
First was the Slimp. I read about it in Audio Magazine. Pretty trippy to even imagine ripping (not a word then) your music to digital and playing it from a computer. Back when CDs were still sort of new.
Then the Squeezebox 2. Pretty much the Slimp but in prettier package. I’m guessing, ain’t had a Slimp, yet. Then Squeezebox3. SB3 is awesome. “Pretty display” was to be the selling point. It was a learning curve to learn the server side software… or maybe I’m dense.
Then came the Boom. Yeah, a SB3 sort of but in a box with speakers and it sounds great. Then the Radio. One speaker but you can stick a battery pack in it and go wandering outside.
Then SlimDevices sold out to Logitech. 🙁
Anyway, the server software is pretty cool. Now called Logitech Media Server. It’s never crashed on Moa.
There’s also a couple of Android apps. Squeeze Player and Squeezer. One, I forget which is a couple of bucks and makes your phone into a Squeezebox. They work together.
Is there a way, if anyone is interested, what with opsec and all that, that we can mail around something like a memory card full of tunes? Cheap postage.
You get the card from me and wipe and re-load with your tunes. Send it back. I reload my tunes and send the card to the next person.
It’s an idea.Windows says I have 128 GB of music. I think that’s including a ton of extra stuff..
@Lynn
”We need a fire emoji.”
How about two: a dumpster fire and a burning Tezluh?
Put the MP3 files in a zip archive, with a password, put the file in Dropbox, email the link in one email, password in a separate email. No postage involved.
And suddenly it’s that time of year. Water the heck out of the house plants that have been on the patio all Summer. Then feed them. And then haul their waterlogged selves up onto the porch and just outside of the sliding door.
Give them a couple of weeks of shade….
And then when the weather liars say “low of 48 tonight”, haul the plants into the house. Yeah…. you effers said low of 48 one mid October day a couple of years ago and 26F at 2 AM is a HUGE miss.
Huh. 500 error.
Anyway, that’s a great idea Ray. I can do that on my website.
Wish granted. (At least the “Not right now” part.)
I believe both countries are locked out for travellers. (We need a Kiwi commenting in here…). Oz even has quite a number of citizens that are not being able to return home. Very strict conditions and limits on numbers of people per day that can fly into Oz.
That is changing. Given that Delta could not be brought down to zero, the strategy -in the sane state- is massive vaccination and gradual reopening after 70% double dose. People are tired of the restrictions so they are getting the vaccines as fast as they are made available.
Riding horses to herd the refugees is traditional, but not traditional enough. The thing to do at the border is to take the saddles off of the horses and hook up chariots. Chariots with blades o’ doom spinning on the axles. Ride those horse-drawn mincing machines into the Haitian “refugees” and watch them run back the way they came from. That is, run away if they haven’t already lost their legs. I’ll bet they’ll work on Mexicans, Guatemalans, and other “not their best” which are being sent our way.
That may be true if you only consider the actual thumbs duo but there are also emoji thumbs that you are not considering. So, I can give you any combination of two thumbs I want including and up-vote with thumbs and a down vote with emojis. 🙂
Probably closer to 200 32oz cups if you factor in the ice and the dozen or so nasty ones they hand out in the drive through before they realize the syrup is out. 🙂 $2.50 for what is probably 7¢ worth of syrup, CO₂, and cup.
Baa-aa-aa-aa-aa.
The thing to do is go all torches and pitchforks on the police, regulators, and politicians. It’s probably not necessary to hang all of them. Burning a few in effigy and doling out a few beatings-to-within-an-inch-of-their-lives would probably cause the rest to reevaluate their priorities.
We also talked about the freeze and what they’ve been doing for their customers. He had one big customer with a $1.2M bill for the freeze. The customer had been saving money for 20 years on a variable rate, and just paid the bill. He’s got other residential customers that have thousands owed, one at $8K. They are negotiating discounts and payment plans wherever they can, and their stock price took a big hit, but customers can’t transfer providers until their bill is current… The company wants to get whatever they can and let the unhappy customers go.
FWIW, he’s in Arizona and pays 24c/KWH for his own residential.
You need to get on http://www.energyogre.com . They will keep you from surprise billing for $10/month. I am paying 9 cents/kwh at the house and 10 cents/kwh at the office.
I don’t believe that he is paying 24 cents/kwh in Arizona. That is just crazy.
I pay 9.36¢/kWh for Summer in Eastern Nebraska. Winter is more complex and is tiered (first 100 kWh costs this much, 101 – 1000 costs a little less per kWh, and 1001+ costs even less per kWh).
You need to get on http://www.energyogre.com . They will keep you from surprise billing for $10/month. I am paying 9 cents/kwh at the house and 10 cents/kwh at the office.
Ok, all of a sudden I am paying 10 cents/kwh at the house with the September bill. What is going on ?
Wow, the TDU charges increased by 20% to 30% across Texas on Sept 1, 2021. “Texas Transmission & Delivery Utility Rate Increases Coming September 1st, 2021”
1. Centerpoint (Houston area) changed from 3.4 to 4.6 cents/kwh
2. Oncor (Dallas) change from 3.5 to 4.2 cents/kwh
3. all three others went up significantly also
Looks like the Texas PUC let the electricity distribution companies implement huge charges for the Texas Freeze in Feb 2021.
My understanding is that huge charges are coming for the natural gas service also.
Your way of thinking is as bad as the way the commies think but from the other end of the spectrum. Principles trump any sane, rational alternative to a given issue.
The priorities, in my view, are right. The peak of Delta in NSW seems to have happened last week with around 1500 infections in a day with 12 deaths. Want to compare?
Crazy. The new truck’s tail gate is sort of “just push it shut to the left of the latch to engage both latches”.
You can hear the latches disengage.
For some reason today I noticed one side is missing a rubber bumper. As far as I can tell, part number 93847-ZP51A .
And yeah you go girl selling an almost $4 part for almost $3 and sticking on from $7 to $19 postage. Get real.
PEC is adding a surcharge because of the February freeze. It’s something like $8.50 a month, based on 1200 Kwh, for two years. Starting with the October bill.
I’m cool. I don’t use that much juice.
Just got my electric bill today. Total charge $146. Used 1278 KW. Average daily use $44kWH; close to same month last year. Average daily temp = 59F.
Cost is $0.082 for up to 600 kWH; $0.107 for over that. Plus a “Base Fee” of $21.00.
In the Olympic Peninsula WA – local PUD.
Drone video of La Palma volcano’s lava destroying buildings, water tanks, pools:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0Jas0c_LnQ
That’s what Chuck Heston got in Ben-Hur!
Back when I was commuting, I used to see a set of those on 610 near the Galleria. I think it was a Cadillac.
Just about the silliest thing I saw on the road.
Sillier than this, even. Which I have seen in person, at a Hamfest.
My mid-August San Antonio CPS electric bill (regulated):
Residential Electric
Service Availability Charge = $8.75
Energy Charge 1,604 kWh x $0.0691 = $110.84
Peak Capacity Charge 1,004 kWh x $0.0198 = $19.88
Fuel Adjustment 1,604 kWh x $0.01949 = $31.26
Regulatory Adj 1,604 kWh x $0.01236 = $19.83
Total Electric Bill (Non-Taxable) = $190.56
Another no-questions day from plugs:
CBS News reporter says White House aides shouted down US reporters’ attempts to ask President Biden questions
The puppeteers must be rehearsing him non-stop on Afghanistan, the border, $3.5 trillion dollar bill failure, etc. When plugs finally says something about these items, it is going to be epic sponge-brain gobbledygook even read off the ‘prompter. The Kamel must be rubbing her hands together at this point. First Female Semi-One Term President.
Cannot happen until after January 8, 2022. That way Kamel can serve Spongebrain’s remaining term. Since she was not elected she is now eligible for two elected terms, another 8 years. Thus it is possible for the Kamel to serve almost 10 years. Imagine the damage that can continue to be done during that time span.
The Kamel must be rubbing her hands together at this point. First Female Semi-One Term President
Cannot happen until after January 8, 2022. That way Kamel can serve Spongebrain’s remaining term. Since she was not elected she is now eligible for two elected terms, another 8 years. Thus it is possible for the Kamel to serve almost 10 years. Imagine the damage that can continue to be done during that time span.
As Biden is finding out, the President is not a dictator. Basically, Congress is telling him to go pound sand at the moment. Both sides of the War Party are unhappy with him and with each other.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/more-centrist-democrats-question-size-and-scope-of-3-5-trillion-economic-package/ar-AAOFl92
Not all of the dumbrocrats are spendthrift loony liberals and not all of the repuglicans are RINOs. And Oct 1, 2021 is just next week, otherwise the goobermint shuts down without a passed budget.
The Kamel must be rubbing her hands together at this point. First Female Semi-One Term President
Cannot happen until after January 8, 2022. That way Kamel can serve Spongebrain’s remaining term. Since she was not elected she is now eligible for two elected terms, another 8 years. Thus it is possible for the Kamel to serve almost 10 years. Imagine the damage that can continue to be done during that time span.
January 8, 2023.
99 F (559 R) here in the sticks of Fort Bend County right now. Hot, hot, hot before the cold front comes in. No wind out there whatsoever.
The virtual thermometer peaked at 101 F (561 R) today. That is freaking hot. Suppose to be 84 F / 56 F tomorrow.
https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/us/tx/richmond?cm_ven=localwx_10day
“The Kamel must be rubbing her hands together at this point. First Female Semi-One Term President”
Cannot happen until after January 8, 2022. That way Kamel can serve Spongebrain’s remaining term. Since she was not elected she is now eligible for two elected terms, another 8 years. Thus it is possible for the Kamel to serve almost 10 years. Imagine the damage that can continue to be done during that time span.
2022 or 2023?
The VP chair will most likely sit empty until January 2025 if Biden dies or resigns before then. Key figures in both parties have a vested interest in that office remaining empty.
Smart ass. This dumb ass stands corrected.
Internal server errors are getting really effing old.
Can’t figure out why. 500 errors never have anything useful in the log files. As discussed before, a 500 error means “something went wrong – don’t know what – so here’s a 500 for you – good luck!”.
I always Ctrl-A then Ctrl-C before submitting, just in case.
@Greg Norton
“The VP chair will most likely sit empty until January 2025 if Biden dies or resigns before then. Key figures in both parties have a vested interest in that office remaining empty.”
Post 25th Amendment, the nominations of Ford and Rockefeller were submitted in 2 and 11 days, respectively. Action by both houses took 2 and 3 months, again respectively. The intent of the 25th Amendment and the subsequent record makes the urgency of action by the president clear. There would be a nomination.
The question then becomes “who?”. If the House and/or Senate are in Republican control at that time, a wise leadership gets out in front by publicly stating that the president gets the VP that she wants, as long as the nominee is qualified and not “tainted” by past hyper-partisan behavior. Kamela shows her independence by avowing to nominate “the best person for the job”, then in the interests of “ensuring a speedy conclusion to the process”, has a private meeting with her handlers, and a private meeting with Republicans. Nomination within two weeks and confirmation in ten, with combined houses singing koom-by-ah even if most don’t know the words and have to lip synch.
@RickH
Let us know if there’s something we can try that might give you a clue.
“I always Ctrl-A then Ctrl-C before submitting, just in case. ”
So do I, except when I don’t, usually after 1000 words of pure Pulitzer-worthy brilliance. /sarc
ADDED: On those occasions where I have copied the text and then got ISE’d, I then:
1) paste and resubmit
2) refresh the page, paste and resubmit
3) repeat above in both Visual and Text
4) paste the text into Word using Paste Special>Plain Text
none of which works.
The only thing that has sometimes worked is to paste part of the text, then edit the rest in.
I have not sent the text to another device and tried resubmitting without changes.
@paul, thanks for the Squeezebox notes. It is a Boom. Sounds good, but is very directional. I d/l’d the media server software but haven’t installed it yet. Nice to see that there is still support. I have a Squeezebox Radio sitting here too, with a similar intermittent power issue. I’m hoping to open it up, reflow some solder joints, and be back in business. If I hold the plug in the back just right, it works fine. Even got it to connect to my home network and get online. Both even have their original wall warts. I got them in the ‘bins’ at the Goodwill Outlet, and paid $1.19 per pound for them. I initially checked them and they didn’t power on, so they got relegated to a box of stuff that needed some fixing.
Since I like the Boom so much, fixing the Radio moved up the list.
n
I have not sent the text to another device and tried resubmitting without changes.
–my experience has been that once you get the error with the comment, repasting the text will not work ever. It MIGHT work by opening the Journal page in another tab, and trying to paste with a new comment form…. That would be a data point if it worked.
n
Considering who votes the Pulitzer, I don’t want the darn thing anyway.
Whaddayaknow… it’s raining out. Coming down steady but not pouring buckets yet.
n
Wow, Donald Trump is suing his niece and the NY Times for $100 million in ACTUAL damages. “JUST IN: Trump Sues His Niece Mary Trump and The New York Times Over the Paper’s Bombshell Report on His Taxes”
https://www.mediaite.com/trump/just-in-trump-sues-his-niece-mary-trump-and-the-new-york-times-over-the-papers-bombshell-report-on-his-taxes/
It looks like his niece is going to find out what a NDA (non disclosure agreement) is. Apparently she had copies of his tax returns through 200X and gave those to the NY Times. Not good if she did sign the NDA.
Hat tip to:
https://drudgereport.com/
Once they started playing this in Afghanistan I recall hearing 100K+ numbers. All of a sudden every translator that worked (even one day) for the US of A had 12 children, 6 brothers, 4 sisters and two grandparents that all wanted seats on the next plane out of Kabal. With those kind of “families” the numbers add up fast.
The electrical stuff will hold up better outdoors, if you don’t mind the gray color, or are willing to paint it.
I mentioned it yesterday, no pretzels, those are paid for with our tax dollars. Now if they’re wiling to ride back to Haiti in a surplus garbage scow, then I’d maybe be okay with the crackers, but only store brand.
Things might be a little different if the up/down votes had names attached.
They (conveniently?) don’t mention what percentage of the overall structure is actually 3D printed.
Hey, wait a sec, how come I get a bill every month?? I swear I shower at least once a day!
Two decent sized roast beef sandwiches for $6. Skip the fries and grab a 40 oz Coke at Circle-K for 79 cents and Bob’s your uncle.
That back when the filling was pink and of questionable origin?
Not that I go there by choice, but when forced the Quarter Pounder which is no longer frozen (except Hawaii and Alaska – sorry Jenny) is at least edible. Ask them to add some Big Mac sauce instead of the usual condiments and hold one slice of the cheese.
Should have been Sprite since 7-Up is not a Coca-Cola product.
The parliamentarian is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the Senate Majority Leader.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliamentarian_of_the_United_States_Senate
Maybe Chucky from Brooklyn didn’t get the memo.
Founded in El Paso, currently based in Tempe, AZ.
Inland Cyclone according to Ryan Hall.
My son in AZ pays 0.076 for delivery and 0.032 for power supply.
FIFY
Apologies for all the late comments, busy day AFTK and just now catching up.
Well, speaking of thumbs up, the youtube channel I like and watch with the scottish hoof trimmer hit 1M subs. For a guy who trims cow hooves. TV is DEAD. Some guy on a farm in Scotland can get 1 million subs in 2 years doing one or two vids a week like Dr Pimple Popper for cows. What a world.
n
It snowed in Anchorage today.
After two weeks on the market with two open houses, six viewings, but no offers, we had a blunt conversation with our agent. We dropped the price $20k. Got a single offer the next day. Our local market is tanking. I’m trying not to be angry about how flippin’ long it took to pack and move our precious treasures.
Inspection is Saturday, with an extraordinarily detailed inspector. Buyer doesn’t have her loan stuff lined up.
Still.
With luck we will be down to a single mortgage and utilities by Thanksgiving.
Our Assembly is waging war with our new conservative Mayor. They’re busily writing ordinances stripping him of his Mayoral authority. Because they have a super majority they pass what they please without regard to legality.
I wish I were joking.
I think Steve probably has appropriate solutions.
Circle K.
One was built a couple blocks from our home in my youth. It backed up to the paddock where my Shetland resided. On Sundays, after the Shetland and I delivered the newspapers, we would stop for a treat. Our usual was sharing a chocolate cake donut and a cup of hot chocolate.
Shetland would escape her fence and trot over to the Circle K while I was at school. She would wait for someone to open the door then mosey in, looking for donuts.
My dad got a mite annoyed about the frequent calls to come get his kids horse.