Another cool and clear day today, or at least that is what I need. Yesterday was fine with some sun and no rain.
And yesterday I spent the day working on my client’s stuff. Watched some vids about ubiquiti unifi, and then went and installed some. The magic is still not auto.. but we’re closer, and it’s working from the end user’s point of view. I’m not done yet, but I’m done for a couple of days.
Today I’m moving stuff to the auctioneer and I need it to not rain. Open pickup truck, bins of stuff for sale, and p!ssing down rain don’t mix. If I can get most of the first storage unit delivered, I’ll be happy. That will let me move more out of the house and garage and patio. Wife will be happy. If I can do more than that I’ll be really happy. Then more the next day… and so on, and so on, and so on.
As I dig out more radio stuff, I’m debating whether to take it all to him and do a special ‘radio’ auction, or just wait for March and do my usual sale at the Hamfest. I really like seeing and interacting with everyone at the Hamfest, and I worry that it will all go too cheaply in an auction. I have some time to decide though.
I’m getting that “time is short” feeling again. 100# of rice is about $60-75 (instead of $50 like 2 years ago), fills a couple of buckets, and would bulk out dinner for the family for 2-3 months. $100 in canned veg wouldn’t go amiss… nor would 60 pounds of animal protein- but that bill is gonna hurt.
There are a couple of other things I really need to make some plans work, some additional meds, and some solar charge controllers being the most critical.
If stuff starts getting sporty it will get sporty pretty suddenly. Don’t delay, prep today!
Stack all the things.
nick
41F and 69%RH this morning. Cold and damp. Joy.. Beats cold and raining though.
n
“Asymptomatic carriage”
no symptoms, but you’re a disease vector
“We’re all bozos on this bus”
yup
People know when they're not 100%, but the one constant in the pandemic has been FOMO.
The Twins got strep in Vegas, family friends two kids got *tested* koof positive with minor symptoms, parents tested negative but had some symptoms (they hung around me for a while). It’s cold, flu and allergy season. I’m on a Zyrtec clone and nasal rinses for allergies. I added Dr.Zelenko’s Z-stack for koof to give it a shot. Pricey, but why not for now. So far, just allergy symptoms.
Our niece is staying with us. She works at Wal*Mart and a bunch of workers tested + for koof. She got a test, and three days later, still has no results. Useless if you need a + to isolate from work. She’s ill, but it is a cold or allergies in my opinion. If it’s koof, why is everyone freaking out with minor symptoms?
I was just noticing this:
Why are Caucasians Vanishing in TV Commercials?
Go woke, go broke.
I noticed a lot more mixed race couples in commercials last year.
The implied cultural gap between the couple in the Zelle commercials really stretched credibility, but I haven't seen those in a while.
Or, maybe they simply don't give a f_ck.
I think everyone continues to underestimate the number of people who consider it an illness like any other, shrug it off, and go about their lives. Even if they're symptomatic. There's no shortage of unmasked people out and about sniffling, sneezing, and coughing. They just don't care anymore (if they ever did). Just because a certain demographic of the overweight, elderly, and those with pre-existing conditions live in fear of it doesn't mean the rest of the population does and I'm guessing, after 2 years, they're a little tired of that fearful minority locking them down.
If there's one thing that civilization has learned from this pandemic it's that we can't control pandemics. So, maybe let's stop trying to. I can't wait for the analysis years from now on just how deadly this pandemic wasn't and just how damaging the related supply chain delays and hyperinflation caused by it were.
I saw a comment on that a while back. Someone was remarking, "I don’t remember the last time I saw a same race white couple on a TV commercial." It’s just Hollywood social engineering us like they have for decades.
It's not just the commercials. Every show my kids watch has mixed race couples in high school or college.
In reality outside of the military they are a tiny minority and experience negative outcomes far out of proportion. ie, divorce, suicide, violence, etc
Gay couples are massively overrepresented in the the home design/buying/improving shows.
I linked to a article and stats some time ago…
n
Added- dads, especially competent dads, have been disappearing from media for a while. Since the "Dr. Mom" commercials, at least.
n
BTW, I always thought building some base three hardware, yes,no, maybe, would lead to some novel ways to look at certain problems. I am told that since you can simulate that in binary anyway, there's no benefit to building it.
Whenever I'm told something like that, I hear entrenched interests banging the gates shut, regardless of the merit of the idea.
—
off to make my dropoff.
n
I've noticed that too. On commercials and sitcoms dads are all bumbling idiots. On dramas they're vilified.
Some good observations and data on causes of food supply chain disruption:
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2022/01/11/wapo-slate-the-grocery-shortage-isnt-just-real-its-expanding-n440715
I noticed a lot more mixed race couples in commercials last year.
The implied cultural gap between the couple in the Zelle commercials really stretched credibility, but I haven't seen those in a while.
https://www.kimdutoit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/funny018.jpg
Dunno about the rest of youse guys, but I rarely watch TV these days. It ‘s on sometimes when I want a little noise in the house, but otherwise, no.
Ummmm.
I guess 30 days is 'shortly'. Guess I'm not the only one that wanted to look thru his tweets and see…
Just saying.
n
I suspect that anyone with an undiagnosed heart condition might be pushed into a heart event with one of the clot shots.
And a lot of people do not survive their first heart event.
How long will an EV battery last while stopped in freezing cold ? Here's one test:
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/how-long-can-an-electric-vehicle-keep-you-warm-in-a-freezing-traffic-jam-178818.html
"America’s Attila the Hun moment" by Simon Black
https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/americas-attila-the-hun-moment-34262/
"In the year 435 AD, after several years of endless menacing from the nomadic Hun tribe, the Roman Empire was ready to make a deal."
"But if this point weren’t already completely obvious, just look at what’s happening with Russia right now.
Officials from the US State Department are meeting with Russian representatives this week to request that Russia withdraw its troops from the Ukrainian border.
Personally I think the whole thing is a joke; from a military tactics perspective, if Putin were going to invade Ukraine, he most likely would have done it already."
I don’t know a single person outside of DC who cares about Ukraine.
>> I noticed a lot more mixed race couples in commercials last year.
And more L/G couples.
I don’t know a single person outside of Ukraine who cares about Ukraine.
Fixed it for you.
>> I think everyone continues to underestimate the number of people who consider it an illness like any other, shrug it off, and go about their lives. Even if they're symptomatic. There's no shortage of unmasked people out and about sniffling, sneezing, and coughing. They just don't care anymore (if they ever did). Just because a certain demographic of the overweight, elderly, and those with pre-existing conditions live in fear of it doesn't mean the rest of the population does and I'm guessing, after 2 years, they're a little tired of that fearful minority locking them down.
The same folks who, pre-pandemic, went to the office while still contagious (even though they had available sick days and/or the ability to WFH) and spread the seasonal flu or the common cold around the office.
As far as the Crud, everyone should be concerned about getting even a mild case of it and then developing "Long Covid." It can be really debilitating. Won't quote statistics as I haven't found ones that I feel comfortable with, but it's still not zero.
And I still believe that a case of the Crud can be more worrisome to those of us that are immuno-compromised than the flu or a cold.
Apparently, there's also long flu.
As I've said before, snow continues to be a challenge to achieving Level 5 autonomy.
And as much as it may shock Tony, there are *some* people that don't only drive their Teslas on sunny days.
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/tesla-fsd-tackles-snowy-road-is-this-what-better-than-human-looks-like-178323.html
The number of cases of the koof have skyrocketed to amazing new levels, very close to three million cases worldwide with the USA leading the charge as usual. But the number of worldwide deaths is staying flat. There cannot be that long of a tail between the two charts as the number of koof cases started trailing up back on Oct 21, 2021. But the number of daily deaths started trailing down at that point.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
My wife's friend in St. Louis was diagnosed and put on a ventilator yesterday.
I've probably had it since early last week, but the earliest I can get a test is a week from Tuesday unless I want to drive to Kyle and get a test at the Walgreens. I'm almost recovered now; I should be symptom free by next Tuesday.
Calling my doctor (not my wife) was not productive as far as finding a test on a faster timetable. The staff suggested a walk in clinic.
The new job has implemented a home test protocol for access to their buildings. I ordered tests, but I have no idea when they will arrive. Since the tests are for company access purposes only, I will go to the local office and get a badge if the result is negative.
Level 5 autonomy with an optical-only system is a long way in the future.
Snow was a challenge for the optical vehicle tracking at the previous previous job, and that system operated in a fixed location, surveyed down to the cm.
Tesla needs to worry about how they are going to actually deliver those trucks for less than $100k each.
Ford too, to be fair.
Tesla needs to worry about how they are going to actually deliver those trucks for less than $100k each.
Ford too, to be fair.
It is all about the batteries man. All about the batteries.
"What price will I pay for my F-150 Lightning?
The pricing for your vehicle will be finalized at time of order. The entry model starts at $39,974 MSRP (commercial-oriented). More-equipped mid-series (XLT) starts at $52,974 MSRP, offering additional comfort and technology. MSRP starting at $39,974 up to around $90,474.1 This reservation does not guarantee you a specific price point."
https://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/f150-lightning/2022/reservation-information/
I doubt that there will be more than ONE electric F-150 sold for $39,974. And that price may be after the $7,500 federal and $5,000+ state subsidy.
Anyone hear about the new 1099-K rules where the limit is now $600 instead of $20,000? That ought to ruin a lot of "gig worker's" year. Those Uber, GrubHub, Instacart, etc. people aren't used to paying income taxes.
The dealers will not let any go out for $40k except for a few on fleet deals for their best customers.
After the dealers will be the scalpers looking for their piece of the action.
https://money.yahoo.com/ford-f-150-lightning-resale-ban-191019604.html
That's been true since the 60s.
There are also a lot of redhead women in commercials right now, fewer Hispanics than in the population, and lots of ads where people are watching a movie outside – projected on a sheet.
"Risen (An Alex Verus Novel)" by Benedict Jacka
https://www.amazon.com/Risen-Verus-Novel-Benedict-Jacka/dp/0440000629/br?tag=ttgnet-20 />
Book number twelve of a twelve book magical fantasy series. I read the well printed and bound MMPB published by Ace in 2021. This is supposedly the end book in the series. Do go ahead and read the minor chapter at the end, it is kind of like a Marvel movie with a preview after the credits. I do suspect that there will be new books in the universe of the other characters in the books. But it will be tough to keep it interesting as Alex Verus is incredibly interesting.
Mage Alex Verus has gone from a Camden magic shopkeeper to one of the most powerful mages in Britain. The Mage Council has been trying to kill him until he shocked them by killing two of senior members, both supposedly light mages. But now the love of his life, Anne, has been taken over by a Marid, a long dead sultan with extreme magical powers, and she is building an army. And the dark mage Richard Drakh has proposed that Verus, the Council, and himself declare a truce and go after Anne before she becomes too powerful.
My rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars (711 reviews)
I've seen the Instacart gig employee demo working our local H-Mart late on weeknights. Yeah, taxes aren't part of the equation there.
Hair. Nails. Smart phone. Gotta have priorities.
I came up empty again on the return trip to Sam's today. No 2L bottles of anything on the soda aisle except for a single layer of bottles on the Coke Classic pallet.
Maybe the soda situation is due to a lot of people hosting watch parties for the NCAA championship game last night, but I can’t imagine a lot of people around here being into Alabama vs. Georgia, especially the UT alumini. Which reminds me:
Oh, Christmas tree. Oh, Christmas tree …
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/texas-posts-new-job-opening-that-could-be-connected-to-gary-patteron-s-future-role/ar-AASD2Aw
The UT coach is "Fired coach walking".
Of course, everyone is taking their tree to the curb this weekend unless they fell for the Balsam Hill "shortage" marketing.
Firing/replacing 7-4 and running of a proven pro level quarterback last year only cost UT $70 million. Cheap!
"I don’t know a single person outside of Ukraine who cares about Ukraine."
I'd hazard a guess that everyone in Poland would rather have Ukraine on their eastern border than the Russians.
Yep. Plus beer, cigarettes, and other drugs. And $200 sneakers, though I don't know how many of those are purchased at all, let alone at list price.
I noticed back in my early 20s that poor people didn't usually suffer from insufficient income. They suffered from insufficient judgment and willpower.
And long colds, and long pneumonia, etc. ANY respiratory infection or virus can have long lasting effects. I had pneumonia as a kid and had effects for months after.
OK, all of the hospitals and rehabs in the Houston area are apparently down to one visitor (family) per day. I got in Methodist to see my Mom Sunday because Dad and I have the same first and last names. And I suspect that they would ban that one visitor per day if they could (they cannot, Texas State Law says 1 visitor (caretaker) per day no matter what) as of last Sep 1, 2021.
All the hospitals in our area that I know of have been enforcing "one visitor (the caregiver) per day" from the beginning. They never changed the rule.
I hope your mom is doing better. I wish she were able to go home and have her therapy there like she wants to instead of to a rehab, but regardless I pray for her healing to progress faster and for her return home to be as soon as possible.
I hope your mom is doing better. I wish she were able to go home and have her therapy there like she wants to instead of to a rehab, but regardless I pray for her healing to progress faster and for her return home to be as soon as possible.
The hospital moved Mom back to rehab today. Dad went back home to Port Lavaca to get some things for a quick day trip and while he was away they moved Mom.
Yesterday, Mom's doctor prescribed six weeks of IV antobiotics for her, twice a day. Mom is allergic to all of the good stuff so she has to take the not so good stuff. Her doc is worried about the pool of blood that accumulated in the hip incision. He has a vacuum pump on it right now or maybe he pulled it today.
Mom and Dad are very unhappy about getting thrown out of Methodist hospital. I tried to explain modern medicine (throw people out the door unless on a ventilator) but they don't believe me.
Mom cannot stand up on her own yet. She is really weak from the previous hip replacement three years ago. In fact, Mom is very weak from the stage four endometrial cancer from eight years ago. She had four tumors in her abdomen and one tumor wrapped around her spine that they killed with radiation, more than the allowance since she was stage four at that point. But it killed the endometrial cancer, for now. The cancer specialist expects it to come back some day.
Don’t get old. Don’t get cancer. Don’t get heart problems. But, you all know that already.
And thank you for the prayers. I have got my 2,000+ member church praying for her too. All Mom wants to do is live her remaining life in her house without pain. Sounds like not a lot to ask but apparently it is.
The hospital has very bad bugs lurking in the corners, waiting for the moment the mops stop moving. Even if your mother could have the "good" antibiotics, it isn't a good environment for her recovery.
The facility where my wife rounds once a month just reopened a wing following serious decontamination after the mops stopped moving for a month with the AC off in March 2020. Apparently, the mold climbing up the walls was pitch black.
>> I've seen the Instacart gig employee demo working our local H-Mart late on weeknights. Yeah, taxes aren't part of the equation there.
@Greg, "demo?"
I suspect "demographic".
Well, home from my errands and read thru the thread.
DC cares about Ukraine because of Goldman Sachs. Googling the two together should get a much better explanation than I cared enough to learn. Also, Biden.
—-
$600 has been the point where 1099s need to be issued for a long time. It's to catch all the 'deadbeat dads' working under the table and keeping their former wife from living the life she wants to live. Seriously, that's how they passed it- millions of deadbeat dads hiding their income. My favorite youtube reseller makes it a point to talk about putting 25% in a tax account from every dollar you make reselling. He does a P&L summary about once a week, and mentions it every time.
Unemployment doesn't withhold either unless you ask. Lotta people gonna get spanked by that too.
.——-
D2's basketball game was supposed to be limited to one spectator per player.
——
@greg, if you NEED a home test for something critical, I've got a Biax I can send you. Wife bought some when we were doing all the traveling.
——
didn't read the link yet, but IMHO cases are going nuts because testing is going nuts. Kids need tests, workers need tests, and tests are out there. I'd like to see # of tests plotted vs # of cases. And no one even SWAGs the number of people sick with NOT covid that felt bad enough to go get a test. Not even a mention that some (possibly large) percentage of the negative tests are still sick with something- cold, flu, croup, grippe, augue, who knows but no one is talking about it at all.
—
last stop for me was the grocery store, but that deserves a whole post. TL:DW (too long, didn't write) it's getting worse. LOTS of holes today. Stocker said "the warehouse is crazy understaffed with people out sick, and they send us what they send us." and the store staffing varies wildly day to day too. Store that was getting restocked JIT, several times a day, isn't. NO pasta. Holes in bread, soda, asian, frozen. No normal eggs in the normal packaging. Whole empty case where the chicken was supposed to be. Cheap 80/20 hamburger is $4.19/lb The good stuff is up to a dollar more and there was very little of it in the case. Lots of pork shoulder and beef chuck, but the chuck was $8/lb. Almost no other beef, and pork was limited to ribs and shoulder. Very little chops, no tenderloins. Some ham and turkey left from the holidays, but it wasn't cheap.
n
Whatever I have has pretty much run its course at this point.
The doctor's staff member who answered the phone thought I wanted those drugs you aren't supposed to talk about. She didn't sound too pleased about the possibility.
I know the doctor has had to hold at least one "Come to Jesus" meeting with the staff to explain that unvaccinated patients of the clinic are still their patients. Austin.
HEB run tonight. I noticed big bottles of Gatorade continue to be unobtainium. I’d even consider Powerade — and I’m a Floridian so that’s practically treason — but it isn’t available either.
My wife complained that the lunch meats and deli section in general was stripped.
>> didn't read the link yet, but IMHO cases are going nuts because testing is going nuts.
And likely not counting most(?) results of at-home tests.
Much of America isn't tracking at-home COVID test results
HEB run tonight. I noticed big bottles of Gatorade continue to be unobtainium. I’d even consider Powerade — and I’m a Floridian so that’s practically treason — but it isn’t available either.
There has not been any Diet Dr. Pepper at our HEB in weeks. That is a sin !
"Hillary Clinton’s 2024 Election Comeback"
https://www.wsj.com/articles/hillary-clinton-2024-comeback-president-biden-harris-democrat-nominee-race-2022-midterm-loss-11641914951
"Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have become unpopular. It may be time for a change candidate."
Looks like they changed out the lizard in the human suit again.
Hat tip to:
https://www.drudgereport.com/
Much of America isn't tracking at-home COVID test results
Much of America does not care. We have had it.
>> My wife complained that the lunch meats and deli section in general was stripped.
Wife stopped today at the other Wally Mart near us and she said it was worse than the one she was at yesterday. One half of one side of the freezer in one aisle was completely empty. Lots of empty spaces in other aisles with no attempt to cover up by spreading up the remaining stock. Keep stacking if/when you can.
rescue dog anticipates meal:
https://twitter.com/SteveInmanUIC/status/1480299068282716160
look at that tail go!
now we know where the Japanese got the inspiration for Sumo wrestling:
https://twitter.com/Yoda4ever/status/1480940063286611976
My wife complained that the lunch meats and deli section in general was stripped.
— ours too. I forgot to mention it, but I was struck by how stripped the sliced meat looked. They had the sausage the kids like so I bought it. 6 packages. They had none of the maple flavor today, usually it's the other way around. And I got the last of the HCF Family 3# packs of thick slice bacon that I like. 28c/oz still.
Frozen pizza was wiped out but they had a coupon. A lot of places that had coupons on the shelf were bare, but I didn't count those. I will say that there seems to be a lot more usage of the coupons, or maybe less product on the shelf on coupon items.
n
n
“Over Half of Europe Could Be Infected With Coronavirus Soon, W.H.O. Says”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/over-half-of-europe-could-be-infected-with-coronavirus-soon-w-h-o-says/ar-AASFyBh
“LONDON — More than half of people in Europe could be infected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in the next six to eight weeks, the World Health Organization warned on Tuesday, amid “a new west-to-east tidal wave sweeping across the region.”
“The region saw over seven million cases of Covid-19 in the first week of 2022, more than doubling over a two-week period,” Dr. Hans Kluge, the agency’s regional director for Europe, said at a news conference.”
We are all going to get it.
Once again, give thanks to our Chinese friends for this gift.
Hat tip to:
https://drudgereport.com/
It looks very much like Putin wants to resurrect the USSR. The US, and NATO in general, are probably against that on principle.
That said, should the US (or NATO) go to war to prevent it? The answer is a pretty clear "no". The Ukraine is not an ally, and…land wars in Asia do not go well. Russia probably will invade, or continue to hack off chunks at a time. Sucks to be the Ukraine.
Any marketing stuff from the US, especially relating to tech, has a disproportionate number of black and women in it. I looked briefly on Getty Images: around 2/3 of the people in tech pics were women, and nearly half were black. Not representative of the population in general, and certainly not representative of the actual people working in tech.
You are absolutely right. However, there are also a lot of companies that seem to specifically prey on people with low incomes. Payday loans come immediately to mind, but also crazy bank fees, encouraging credit card debt – there are plenty of others. Being poor can be expensive.