Cool but not cold? Still probably damp, and we might be on the edge of some rain… but we usually don’t get any when the national forecast shows us on the edge. 63F when I went to bed last night.
Did mostly pickups yesterday. Got cleaning supplies, and stuff for the house. Picked up another portable room A/C. Like heat up north, A/C is a prep for hurricane season down here. Having a couple of extras can be a good thing both for redundancy and for helping out a neighbor. Meatspace, remember? And they are MUCH cheaper in the middle of winter than in the middle of summer. Funny that the same can be said for Mr Heater propane heaters, only with the seasons reversed.
Good advice to buy at a discount in the off season. Works for a lot of things that will last. Fruit, not so much. Knowing what to buy and when can really save some money. Google the best time to buy appliances, etc. and if you have flexibility, you can save. That is also kind of the essence of prepping, to have choices and flexibility.
Buying stuff should be on your radar. It might be a while, but we’ll eventually end up like Soviet Russia, where you got in line for whatever was available, and hoped you could trade it for what you needed later. That’s the path anyway. Who knows, something might happen to take us off it, aliens could reveal themselves and hand out matter transformers… but that’s pretty far down my scenario list. (and it would be disruptive as hell anyway)
Take a look at what you didn’t buy this past year, and see if you need to buy it now. How’s the elastic in your underwear holding up? Socks getting thin? Got some spare ‘cheater’ glasses in the drawer? Need some new work boots? Figure it out and get stacking.
nick
59F and 95%RH this morning. Tired. Must not have slept well.
n
Local Faux News was getting excited last night. 80 today with a possible morning low tomorrow of 27.
A grid outage will suddenly mean a competitive race for Governor.
https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/texas-power-grid-could-be-risk-ahead-cold-blast
Which reminds me — I received my first email from Robert Francis begging for money the other day.
Race hustler destroys children's education
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2022/01/18/this-story-about-seattle-public-schools-director-of-ethnic-studies-is-pretty-remarkable-n442524
So they demote this lying pos out of her fantasy job and put her in a classroom where she can deal hate and misery and non-education to only 20-30 students?
"Principal", not princple. If they want credibility talking about the sorry state of education in Seattle, make sure to get it right.
WA State has a lot of white guilt. My son's 6th grade "Humanities" — English, History, and Government class all in one — instructor was a howlingly incompetent African American woman whose few email updates were riddled with spelling and grammar errors. She was big, however, and gave off a vibe of "don't f*ck with me and I won't f*ck you up". I think even the administrators were scared of her.
In theory, we were zoned for one of the best middle schools in the state, in a neighborhood filled with HP, Fisher Investments, and TSMC employees. My son was seriously behind when we moved here and he entered 7th grade, to the point that I was called into a meeting with all of his teachers early in that first year.
My experience in the schools has been that no one pays attention until their kids are there. And they stop when their kids leave. So anyone with an agenda just has to wait for the objecting parents to age out of the system.
The school board process, despite being nominally “open” and subject to all the .gov ‘open meeting’ laws, is particularly opaque. And school board membership is often the gateway to further political office, which means there are plenty of former members to protect the current board.
What happens in schools today is definitely NOT what happened there when “you” (for any value of you) were there, even if that was just 5 years ago.
n
(no books and no homework means no way for me to see what they are being taught either)
Race hustler destroys children's education
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2022/01/18/this-story-about-seattle-public-schools-director-of-ethnic-studies-is-pretty-remarkable-n442524
So they demote this lying pos out of her fantasy job and put her in a classroom where she can deal hate and misery and non-education to only 20-30 students?
With any luck, she'll be demoted to janitor, where she can bring her "Xicana, chingona" ideology to bear on scrubbing toilets.
"Principal", not princple. If they want credibility talking about the sorry state of education in Seattle, make sure to get it right.
Good catch!
Today is Robert E. Lee's birthday.
Racist.
😤
31 Airbags VS 2007 Mazda Six- Shrapnel sent flying!!
Rick, using the editor on my phone is giving me fits. I can type, but can’t paste text into it. Oh, now even my typing disappears. Can you see anything wrong?
18 degrees and sunny here today in the northern midwest.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-10415893/Children-make-0-1-Covid-deaths-pandemic-began.html
–look at the map of deaths per 100k population. TX and FL have 1/3 the deaths of the upper midwest and the NE blue hives. Even Cali has less…
n
@jimB, the text box for the comments isn't seen as a text box by some browsers, so you don't get the text tools like paste from a right click, or on the phone, a long touch…
posting anything and then editing seems to work as that box IS seen as a text input field, but you lose the formatting buttons…
trade offs.
n
That is something that only Platinum Elite Subscribers to TTGNet.com can do. Reply to this post with your credit card number, expiration date, security code, and mother's maiden name to subscribe today!
Well waddaya know, D2 is using Scratch in her one day a week 'enrichment' program at school. (used to call it 'gifted and talented'.) Their overall program this semester is "Intro to Computer Science."
n
I worked with a web designer a long time ago who had "Principle Designer" in his email sig.
>> That is something that only Platinum Elite Subscribers to TTGNet.com can do. Reply to this post with your credit card number, expiration date, security code, and mother's maiden name to subscribe today!
You forgot SSN, DOB, name of your first pet, favorite movie, street you lived on when you were twelve.
Regarding using the CKEditor (Version 4) editor box on phones….There are some known issues with full compatibility with various Android/Chrome versions. I haven't researched it fully, but there are a few articles about it on the CKEditor site. One is here: https://ckeditor.com/docs/ckeditor4/latest/guide/dev_browsers.html#a-word-about-mobile-environments
CKEditor's latest version is 5.x, which has much better support for mobile devices. But it's not a simple upgrade; I can't just load 5.x with the 4.x settings – the API is much different. Updating the theme to use CKEditor5 is on the list, but other things are ahead of the list.
Among them: finishing the update/upgrade of the ReadingTLC site (https://www.ReadingTLC.com ; the reading program that Roberta Pournelle wrote a couple decades ago that was DOS-based, and has been upgraded to a web-based program, with the permission of the family [although the family and I are discussing how to proceed now that the IP is owned by the Pournelle estate; I do have exclusive rights to the web-based version of the concepts]).
Then there are the books I am writing/marketing (the latest published is "A Compendium of Valentine's Day Jokes"; https://amzn.to/3tGmw6p ; I am working on a space-based thriller).
And the FormSpammerTrap site that blocks bot submissions on contact forms (and others). And updating the "AmazoLinkenator" plugin, and a few other plugins. And the mailing list program (BkSubscribe) for authors. And my author site (RichardHellewell.com ) and the publishing site (MutinyBay.net). And other projects.
So, aware of the problem with phones and the comment box. It's on the list. Will be fixed Real Soon Now …
Geez. And even if he had been armed, he initially thought it was a prank by his brother, and was caught by surprise. Unlikely being armed would have helped.
Having a gun battle in your driveway next to your house where your parents are is not optimal.
I have hurricane proof windows on my house. I doubt that he does. And I am not sure that hurricane proof windows will stop a bullet, in fact, I doubt it.
Local Faux News was getting excited last night. 80 today with a possible morning low tomorrow of 27.
A grid outage will suddenly mean a competitive race for Governor.
https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/texas-power-grid-could-be-risk-ahead-cold-blast
Nah. I doubt that the Texas load will get above 60,000 MW in the morning. The temperature has got to get in the teens F before all those backup electric strip heaters in the apartments and electric only neighborhoods come on.
The demand last Feb was going to be 85,000 MW if ERCOT could have served it. Instead, they could only serve 45,000 MW.
https://www.ercot.com/mp/
Over The Hedge: All Hail Fartuga !
https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2022/01/19
We all have at least one super power.
That doesn't stop local Faux News from hyping it.
I don't even want to know what the local TENGA station is reporting. We usually only resort to that channel if football runs late on Faux and Sinclair/NBC.
Supposebly, a lot of people suffer from that pacific problem. For all intensive purposes, and keep in mind I could care less, people get what there trying to say.
No body aksed you, Chad.
You guises rediculus.
Hey, wait, was that a flying pig? No? Okay, then we'll just wait til November…
Manchin to Schumer: Don't call the vote, man
I assumed it was spelled "axed". Learn something every day.
BTW Rick, I thought you had retired? Sounds like a full-time hobby there.
18 degrees and sunny here today in the northern midwest.
C or F or R or K ?
18K is chilly.
R? Radians?
18K is chilly.
R? Radians?
Just about everything but helium is frozen at 18 K.
R is Rankine, the old school absolute temperature scale. 0 °F = 459.67 °R just like 0 °C = 273.15 °K. And 0 °K = 0 °R.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rankine_scale
Our engineering software generally uses R and psia as our base dimensional units. Except where it does not since we are Frankensoftware.
"Tesla Driver Charged With 2 Counts of Vehicular Manslaughter"
https://www.pcmag.com/news/tesla-driver-charged-with-2-counts-of-vehicular-manslaughter
"The felony charge appears to be a first in the US."
"On Dec. 29, 2019, Riad, moving "at a high speed," reportedly ran a red light in the Los Angeles suburb of Gardena, striking a Honda Civic at the intersection. Passengers Gilberto Alcazar Lopez and Maria Guadalupe Nieves-Lopez died at the scene; Riad and a woman in the Tesla were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries."
Am I responsible for the actions of my robot ?
AZs Kelly has gone out of his way to back Chuckie Schemer's filibuster end around. It shows you what a liberal dope he is. Just couldn't keep his yap shut. I hope he is voted out.
"Some Roku smart TVs are now showing banner ads over live TV"
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/01/some-roku-smart-tvs-are-now-showing-banner-ads-over-live-tv/
Nope, not gonna happen here. The device would be thrown into the dump posthaste. Shades of "Ready Player One".
"Ken Hoffman grills H-E-B's charming president Scott McClelland about his big exit"
https://houston.culturemap.com/news/city-life/01-18-22-scott-mcclelland-leaving-heb-interview-ken-hoffman/
Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.
I don't like change and I love HEB.
Try to find a TV that isn't a "Smart TV".
Plus, ATSC 3.0 adds targeted advertising to live over-the-air TV, but the details and limitations are still being negotiated.
Yes, retired for about 7 years (10 years for the first retirement, then went back to work for a couple years before retiring for good).
Spend most of my day on the HP laptop, in my nice recliner, glancing out my big windows overlooking the Puget Sound "somewhere opposite Mutiny Bay", working on web sites, programs, writing my own books, reading other people's books, and web-surfing.
Had it in my mind when I retired that I didn't want to become a TV-watching couch potato. Enjoy working on web sites and programming, so that's my hobby during retirement. Get up at the 'crack of 9:00am', and work on the laptop all day on the various projects. Adjourn to the den at about 8pm for TV. So keeping busy here – along with taking care of the house (laundry, cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping).
As Dr. Pournelle used to say "It's a great life if you don't weaken". Still plugging away at 70 (which is a mystery to me as to how I got so old – but I use hex for my age – 0x46 ).
Eff'n Geebus:
‘Sheer lunacy’: Biden says his first year has ‘outperformed what anybody thought would happen’
The man is mush-brained.
I heard the press conference while running an errand. Biden had a list of approved reporters he ticked off one by one. Questions were probably submitted in advance.
Questions were probably days submitted in advance.
Fixed it for you.
Al D'Amato was on of NY's senators in the 1990s. Corrupt piece of crap. I said I'd vote for Satan himself in 1998 in order to help get D'Amato out.
And then Schmuck Schumer announced he was running for the seat. And I ended up voting for D'Amato.
Every time you make an assumption, Baby William Saffire splits an infinitive.
Sounds like a pretty well perfect retirement, keeping mentally active but on whatever you want to work on.
Well, I messed that up nicely.
The future Mrs. SteveF.
Scroll down for full nausea inducing effect.
No, MrAtoz, I'm sure she's soon going to be your daughter-in-law, as one of your daughters becomes a lesbian solely to get with Lena and all of her enticing convex curvature. And not to worry, you'll have grandkids because Lena wants to adopt.
Jokes aside, Dunham was never attractive in any way, but now, ho-o-o-o-o-oly shinola but she's repulsive. And can you imagine how screwed up will be any child she raises?
Also not joking, you suck for bringing those pictures to our attention. I'd tell you to feel shame for the offense, but it was a good troll so you probably should feel pride.
But, but, but her weight loss!
He can't wait for "Girls" to be back on the air.
It isn't going to happen. HBO is out of time and money.
WELP!!!
A whole lot of nothing again.
The Dems are “minority party walking” at this point.
I was wrong about “Engineer for Congress” running in the Dem primary unopposed in our district. She’s running in the new district that includes Dell HQ.
Both Dems running for the party’s nomination in our district were disqualified. There is no Dem primary so I’m free to vote against the RINO challenging our walking corpse Congresscritter.
>> Try to find a TV that isn't a "Smart TV".
I did last year, only options were a couple of 3 or 4 year old NOS LGs from 'Zon third-party sellers with not the best feedback. Passed on those.
Wound up with a new LG from Best Buy and haven't let it connect to the internet, just to the cable box.
>> Questions were
probablydefinitely submitted dayssubmittedin advance.There, fixed it for both of you.
I did the same thing with the TCL TV that I am using as a monitor for my Mac Mini – and made sure I used the input-only HDMI port.
That said, I was researching cellular modems for a project a year or two back, and even retail they cost NOTHING in bulk, and the data charges are not much either, even at Verizon. Soon the option of “not letting it connect” to the internet will be gone, one will be built into each ‘smart’ TV.
I’d be surprised if it isn’t happening already, actually.
Pissing down rain here with thunder and lightning too . My gauge says 1/4" in about 15 minutes. Had a bit of sporadic rain late afternoon that really depended on where you were for how much you got.
Took Zeus and D1 to doggy training. We learned a bit of the lady's training technique.
Came home, fell asleep at the computer, woke to thunder.
n
A cellular modem isn't strictly necessary. 5G dips into the unlicensed spectrum in dense, heavy demand situations, and any new-ish device with 2.4 an 5 GHz capability could, in theory, connect to a WAN provided by one of the big three carriers with a base station nearby.
I'd be suspicious of any manufacturer with a cell phone division like Samsung or LG.
Amazon devices — just assume they are online even if you don't configure the WiFi unless you live in the boonies without close neighbors.
ATSC 3.0 provides a targeted ad capability, but the FCC and the broadcasters were still negotiating how far that could go in the US the last time I saw anything on the new standard. At least one station in every large market is already 3.0, and most of the recent TV sets are compatible.
Cross border vaccine mandate tit for tat….
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/supermarkets-report-food-shortages-after-canada-imposes-trucker-vax-mandate
-worse before better. And they are working to break it harder, rather than fix it.
n
Does this explain everything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX3EE5OYS2Q
The Canadian economy is in far worse shape than that of the US right now.
If you don't believe that to be true, go count the BC license plates in the parking lot of the Bellingham, WA Costco. Then go inside and watch the perishables disappear, heading out to the same cars.
Things were bad 10 years ago, long before Covid. Most interesting things to watch — the milk pallets and Tillamook bulk cheddar.
I don’t think Costco stocks the Liquid Smoke they seem to like in the burgers up there.
>> Eff'n Geebus:
‘Sheer lunacy’: Biden says his first year has ‘outperformed what anybody thought would happen’
The man is mush-brained.
Well…plenty of people thought nothing would happen so I guess not getting lost in the Rose Garden more times than he has counts for something, right? Maybe??
My computer mag (c't) has a whole series of articles about modern cars, their continual connectivity, and the massive amounts of data they share with…whoever. This, even in Germany, which tries to have strict privacy laws.
Apparently, the VW ID.3 will let you disconnect, but then prompts you every time you get into the car to allow it to re-connect.
Mercedes actually brags about the fact that their voice interface works even if you drive into a tunnel (thus breaking connectivity). Somehow, one might expect the UI of a car to work, in the absence of a cell connection? Apparently not…
It's a crazy world…
Oh, wow, whip them with a wet noodle. More sanctions.
The problem is: the West depends more on Russia than the other way around. Even the US imports far more from Russia than the other way around, and that is definitely true for Europe. So sanctions may cut off some money, but not much in the way of vital goods.
I'm not sure whether the West should try to defend the Ukraine. But making empty threats is just laughable, and I do hope that the West is smart enough not to try to engage in an actual land war in Asia? That tends to…not go well.
When I bought my 2018 Toyota, I had to sign a disclaimer acknowledging at least one cellular modem was active in the car, sending data back to the manufacturer.
The funny part is that 3G modems were commodity items at the time but the US carriers recently turned off everything that wasn't 4G/LTE. At least, officially.
The Whispernet in my 2nd Gen Kindle stopped working.
Not for a while. Canadian border was closed for a long time. I think it is open now, but not sure.