Hot, but less so, humid like a fat guy’s butt crack. Yeah, I went there. Apparently the local pharma-purveyors are hiding crack in their cracks… so that’s where my brain went. According to the scanner anyway.
We did get some rain yesterday. Cats and dogs for a short while at home, but not 2 miles away. Only a sprinkle there. Some places didn’t get any. I’m hoping for sunny and drier today.
I’ve got a bunch of pickups to do, if I do them. And a shopping list of stuff to take to the lake. I’ve got a pile of stuff already, and most of my pickups are headed that way too. PLUS I’ve got to leave room for a passenger, as I’m taking D1 with me. D2 is getting her chance to learn small boat sailing this weekend and mom is going with her. Since I’ll have a child with me, I will have to make a better menu plan than usual.
Sadly my latest referral for a guy to do the foundation work decided that the project was too big for him. That puts me back where I was. I am going to start pulling stuff off the schedule and doing it myself or finding someone locally to do it. Just looking at conduit for the new underground electrical service, and materials will be $750 or more, plus the trencher. The electrician and mounting stuff will be more than that… If I can move things along at this point, I think I have to.
Oy.
Meanwhile, I can run pex to everywhere it’s needed. Through the attic. In July. ‘Cuz that’s fun.
Oy.
I’ll be stacking up a whole lotta knowledge and experience on this one.
Figure out what you’ll need and start stacking it.
nick
Massive data dump from unindicted Proud Boys leader alleges massive fraud by the Jan 6 committee and DOJ:
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/07/a_proud_boy_devastates_the_jan_6_committee.html
Masks are done. Jabs are headed that way.
Strangely, a quick Google search shows the Texas Supreme Court still futzing around with the case regarding where the power lies to impose masks in the state, with the Governor or the “Judges”.
I wonder what the deal is in that situation.
I also wonder what is going on with Coast to Coast indulging fear porn.
Monkeypox fear porn was the lead on the local Faux News last night.
https://www.fox7austin.com/news/monkeypox-community-spread-austin-travis-county-texas
They’ve been working hard down at the station to find stock footage with bigger pustules.
A week into a seriously overdue vacation, and I’m just starting to find motivation to do some projects around the house.
The building site for the crazy neighbors’ house looks like a bomb hit. It’s a tiny parcel of land – less than 1/4 acre. They are putting a house and a separate garage on it. Since it’s on a slope, that involved a *lot* of digging, including a fair bit of bedrock. So there are huge piles of rubble (from the bedrock) and dirt.
The neighbors instructed the contractor that they were unwilling to pay to have anything hauled off. So the contractor used his digger to build a retaining wall on the downhill side, about 5 feet tall (as tall as allowed without a building permit). It’s built out of the bigger chunks of bedrock that he chipped out, and actually doesn’t look too bad.
Anyway, he is piling up all the rubble and dirt behind the wall. It’s not all gonna fit, so he’s going to have to do something else as well. And you have to wonder: the time spent doing this will surely cost more than hauling off a couple of truckloads.
The contractor is a nice guy, btw. I needed to get another 4 tons of rock from a local quarry for wall-building. He needed to get a small digger up here for another project. So we shared a truck and split the costs. All very uncomplicated and easy.
The last time I heard the Car Pro show, he was shilling for Ford so hard that the “radio guy” co-host had to step in after a few calls and say, “Hey, Jerry, don’t you have the new Lexus sedan this week?”
“Oh, yeah. Wow is that a nice car …”
It’s nice when two parties can work out a deal that benefits both, without one worrying about how to screw over the other.
I don’t believe “Grimes” is a woman. I believe she is an alien egg-pod incubator.
What I don’t buy is Grimes PR. I’ll bet she spends her days sitting in a big house in Westlake binge watching “Yellowstone” while staff deal with the brood.
I used to think my plumber would know where they live, but I heard from him a few weeks ago, and, not remembering my address, he told me that he doesn’t go into “Sodom and Gomorrah” anymore.
Beneficial side-effect of having COVID: no guilt about lying in bed and watching YouTube.
I am not sure whether it is that YT’s recommendation algorithm is eccentric, or I am eclectic, or a bit of each. Anyhow, I ‘m not crying, you’re crying:
https://youtu.be/xI6TRTBZUMM
To make amends, add this guy to your pre-post-apocalypse viewing. Lots of old know-how:
https://youtube.com/c/eugeniomonesma
June 2021 electric bill: June 7th – July 8th – 2192 KwH – $231.37 (.097 for first 1400KwH, .105 after).
June 2022 electric bill: June 7th – July 8th – 2552 KwH – $322.38 (.117 for first 1400KwH, .126 after).
Extra usage was all HVAC – no other changes.
The price jump didn’t help, but it was hotter than last year. I should get my HVAC usage report from honeywell in the next day or so.
Curse you, Denis! YouTube is as addictive as crack cocaine and you’ve just dangled an eight-ball in front of me. There ought to be a law against what you did.
Cue Don Meridith. “Turn out the lights … the party’s over …”
https://www.autonews.com/sales/ev-pioneer-nissan-leaf-faces-end
RIP Leaf … and Don Meridith.
Thanks for the kick in the ass. My daughter and I had several plans for the Summer and many of them have not be completed yet. There’s a limited number of Summers to spend with your kids before you’re an empty nester. 🙁
That reminds me of this bit from Louis CK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_9TuBCisWk&t=357s
If you’re into cooking at all, then check out Adam Ragusea on YouTube. Sort of like old school Alton Brown from Good Eats, but more “everyman.” Also, for some strange reason I find the Out of the Woods guy fun to watch. Actually, now I’m all pumped to share some of the oddball YT content I consume. So, in addition to the aforementioned, also check out:
Damn. The edit timeout lapsed before I could put all of the links in and if I had put them in right out of the gate the post would have been hidden awaiting moderation. 🙁 Oh well…
Ugh…we have 28 days until our only child is off to college. Of course, we don’t see a lot of him now, but it will definitely be different.
81F and 92%RH this late morning. That’s cooler than it has been. Part sun.
Bought all the stuff needed to do a “tuneup” on my riding mower. It will come from 5 different places and arrive at 5 different times, despite all coming from “amazon”. I didn’t order stuff for the cutting deck- I think I already have an upgrade kit for that sitting at the lake.
I tried to order a new power supply/wall wart for my lake sprinkler system. No luck. It outputs two unusual voltages of AC. Rainbird doesn’t make it anymore, or sell anything like it. Nor do they sell a controller like the one there. So that project got a little more complicated. It will have to wait. Worst case, I just get a mechanical timer to start the pump for a short time every day. There really aren’t any valves or zones in the system. And it will all have to be redone when the septic and other work slices thru all the buried pipe, and waters different parts of the property than the old septic.
My wife asked me a question to put to the collective experience, but now I can’t remember what it was. I’m in trouble I guess.
Time for some more coffee.
n
Always time for more coffee
I highly recommend https://opensprinkler.com/
I’ve been using it for a couple years now with no issues. No cloud, it has it’s own web server, just setup port forwarding, or better yet vpn access to you lan, to access. There is an app to use it on your phone too. Highly recommended.
@ITguy, thanks for the link. I’ll def look at that since I have to replace the whole controller.
n
I just finished looking thru the 13 posts tagged “cheap preps”. They show the power of the community, and the usefulness of “old” content here.
Worth looking at again as a reminder.
n
A search for “Raspberry Pi Sprinkler Controller” turns up several projects, including this one: https://www.hackster.io/Ryan33/raspberry-pi-web-page-based-sprinkler-controller-00d26f
Interesting, Uses the OpenSprinkler project. perhaps. Similar projects in the search results .
This one is similar, but accesses a weather API to determine ‘did it rain yesterday?’ If not, water. If so, don’t water. https://www.instructables.com/Raspberry-Pi-Controlled-Irrigation-System/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/house-of-the-dragon-showrunners-didn-t-want-another-bunch-of-white-people-in-game-of-thrones-spinoff/ar-AAZzVW1?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=13d77740a1a54606887424f8e60e0d48
Glad they let me know there’s no need to watch it before it’s even out.
– nothing to see here. nope, not sliding down the slope at all. you just need some more sweaters and a flashlight… remember that furniture and wooden trim will burn, and that grass will at least fill your belly…
n
Crackerjack politicians manage to resurrect the worst of the 1970’s.
Remember, no one expects the Polish Inquisition
Cue Don Meridith. “Turn out the lights … the party’s over …”
https://www.autonews.com/sales/ev-pioneer-nissan-leaf-faces-end
RIP Leaf … and Don Meridith.
I found a website that does not make you login.
https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/14/23219044/nissan-leaf-phase-out-discontinue-ev-pioneer
My employee that bought a Leaf in May for June 6 delivery is still leafless. Even though he put down a $15,000 deposit for his $35,000 car, they sold it to somebody else. And did not tell him. So he is still looking for a new Leaf.
A 2022 Versa with a stick is $15k MSRP.
Same car but with a gas engine. That’s always been the Leaf’s problem.
I had a rental Versa for a few days. Not terrible. Better than the equivalent Chevy Cruze.
If he ever does get his EV, I saw equipment from this company at our hotel last week. The charger accepted credit cards.
https://juicebarcharger.com/
“Starlink’s Massive Growth Results in Congestion, Slow Speeds for Some Users”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/starlinks-massive-growth-results-in-congestion-slow-speeds-for-some-users
“As SpaceX’s satellite internet service takes on more customers, those who looked to Starlink to solve their rural broadband woes are now experiencing slow speeds and latency issues.”
“Since then, Saums has noticed the internet speeds on his Starlink dish have dropped from 160Mbps when he first got the service in March to an average between 1 to 10Mbps.”
Oh boy, that is not good.
No wonder their new Gen2 satellite is going to be so big. It will handle many more channels. And maybe GPS.
https://www.cnet.com/science/space/elon-musks-new-second-gen-starlink-satellites-are-too-big-for-current-rockets/
“The Gen2 satellite is considerably larger than the more than 2,500 Starlink satellites now orbiting 340 miles above the Earth’s surface. Gen2 satellites are 22 feet long and weigh 2,755 pounds, the SpaceX CEO said late last week on the YouTube show Everyday Astronaut. By contrast, the first-generation satellites weigh 573 pounds, or about one-fifth as much as Gen2. “
“OneWeb Backs SpaceX in Fight With Dish Over Starlink 5G Interference”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/oneweb-backs-spacex-in-fight-with-dish-over-starlink-5g-interference
“UK-based OneWeb submits its own study to the FCC that claims satellite internet services will experience interference if companies like Dish build 5G networks with the 12GHz band.”
Not good.
“Microsoft moves to new Windows development cycle with major release every three years, feature drops in between”
https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/windows-11/microsoft-moves-to-new-windows-development-cycle-with-major-release-every-three-years-feature-drops-in-between
So, Windows 12 is coming out in 2024. We will see.
SpaceX is essentially seeking to overturn the auction in which Dish won the rights to use the bandwidth, using the argument that Dish has failed to innovate in the spectrum in a timely manner.
God forbid Tony cut a deal with Dish.
The Pizza Box Dream is at stake!
SpaceX is essentially seeking to overturn the auction in which Dish won the rights to use the bandwidth, using the argument that Dish has failed to innovate in the spectrum in a timely manner.
Are you sure that Dish bought the 12 Ghz spectrum ? All I see are notices that the FCC said that Dish could use the 12 Ghz spectrum for satellites downlinks.
Hey, how’s that recession workin’ out for ya?
The chief sez high inflation is transitory, meaning it will only last a tiny fraction of an epoch.
What does the market think of this? Is it time to cover shorts? Nope.
https://5ginsider.com/carriers/dish-network-dominates-12-2-12-7-ghz-spectrum-what-does-that-mean/
The satellite providers have traditionally shared that spectrum, which is possible with relatively small numbers of transmitters and unidirectional antennas. Tony wants the status quo preserved.
And yes, as I pointed out previously, the boss at my current workplace is involved in a business targeting that chunk of spectrum, but it has nothing to do with the entity that cuts my paychecks.
My track record here with regard to being skeptical about Tony and Starlink is well established.
I just received my Honeywell usage report for June. It was definitely hotter this June than last June – 44 mores hours cooling this year vs last year.
Added: Same temperature settings for both periods.
Got a text from the wife – flat tire. Luckily it’s in the parking lot at work. I drove up and changed it, and left her my car. Tires aren’t a year old yet, and were purchased at the Lexus dealer, who surprisingly had a great price. Apparently there is road hazard insurance included, and I have an appointment Monday morning for them to take a look. There has to be a catch, I never get this lucky…
That’s too bad about the Nissan Leaf, I had actually considered getting one as a non-IC backup. Simple and basic, the EV worlds Corolla.
EV world’s Versa.
A Corolla is a step higher in overall experience and a huge leap in quality over a Versa.
To be fair, Tonymobiles are not on the quality level of a Corolla even though the Fremont factory made Corollas just a little over a decade ago.
>> My employee that bought a Leaf in May for June 6 delivery is still leafless. Even though he put down a $15,000 deposit for his $35,000 car, they sold it to somebody else. And did not tell him. So he is still looking for a new Leaf.
@lynn, how about a slightly used LEAF? This one is CPO and fairly well equipped: https://cpo.nissanusa.com/en/search-inventory/nissan/leaf/variant-nheke9z?referrerText=Nissan+LEAF&referrer=headline_srp
And pics: https://www.premiernissanoffremont.com/vehicle-details/used-2019-nissan-leaf-sv-1N4AZ1CP7KC321727
I just received my Honeywell usage report for June. It was definitely hotter this June than last June – 44 mores hours cooling this year vs last year.
Added: Same temperature settings for both periods.
Yup, we are all going to die from too much heat put into the atmosphere. The current prediction for all the water to vaporize from the 212 F atmospheric temperature is the year 2462. See the third graph on this paper entitled “Galactic-Scale Energy”. Of course, our descendants will either live in a deep cave or die of heat stroke way before that point in time.
https://dothemath.ucsd.edu/2011/07/galactic-scale-energy/
>> My employee that bought a Leaf in May for June 6 delivery is still leafless. Even though he put down a $15,000 deposit for his $35,000 car, they sold it to somebody else. And did not tell him. So he is still looking for a new Leaf.
@lynn, how about a slightly used LEAF? This one is CPO and fairly well equipped: https://cpo.nissanusa.com/en/search-inventory/nissan/leaf/variant-nheke9z?referrerText=Nissan+LEAF&referrer=headline_srp
And pics: https://www.premiernissanoffremont.com/vehicle-details/used-2019-nissan-leaf-sv-1N4AZ1CP7KC321727
I’ll ask him. I suspect he is like me and wants new rather than used. Especially for the reputation of the Leaf’s uncooled battery.
There are seven used Leafs for sale in the 300 mile range of us.
I also pointed out the new Ford Maverick Hybrid to him for $23K if you can find one.
https://www.autonationfordkaty.com/new/Ford/2022-Ford-Maverick-e3923b3d0a0e0a933cee080519c50d39.htm
He did want a Prius Prime Plug In but those are unobtanium around here.
@Alan
Yeah, and if they try to take my dime on a bad day I walk out the door and leave them on a couple of their dimes. Sam’s Club does work pretty well, considering the number of clueless dipsticks that abuse the equipment.
I’m old enough to remember sticker guns and prices on each item. Then the warehouse store came in and you had to put the price on yourself.
The local grocery has a loyalty program that gets a discount at their gas station. The manned checkout can scan the barcode on my phone app. The unmanned checkout can’t, and I have to remember what bogus phone number I gave them.
Price of Ramen on an end cap was 3/$1 this week. That’s up from 4/$1 last year, and 6/$1 not that long ago.
“Twitter may beat Elon Musk in court and still lose”
https://finance.yahoo.com/m/d3954e08-69e5-3395-a38a-0471909685d0/twitter-may-beat-elon-musk-in.html
Yup.
OK, got everything done. Ready to head out as soon as the clothes are in the bag…
n
BTW, both our Shell and Exxon stations have regular unleaded for $3.999/gallon for cash as of yesterday. Competition is an amazing thing.
>> Got a text from the wife – flat tire. Luckily it’s in the parking lot at work. I drove up and changed it, and left her my car.
About 30 percent of new cars today come without a spare tire (including my LEAF). Small compressor and a bottle of flat fix goop instead.
Price of Ramen on an end cap was 3/$1 this week. That’s up from 4/$1 last year, and 6/$1 not that long ago.
I think that Ramen was eight cents each when I was in college. But that was over 40 years ago.
Anyone surprised here, please raise your hand…anyone??
https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/14/23219419/amazon-ring-law-enforcement-no-warrant-no-consent
>> Got a text from the wife – flat tire. Luckily it’s in the parking lot at work. I drove up and changed it, and left her my car.
About 30 percent of new cars today come without a spare tire (including my LEAF). Small compressor and a bottle of flat fix goop instead.
One of my criteria for a new vehicle for me or the wife is that vehicle must have a full size spare tire. My 2019 F-150, 2019 Highlander, and 2008 Highlander all have the full size spare. My 2005 Honda Civic has the donut spare tire.
Nice night at the lake, 81F and 78%RH, with gentle breeze. Lake is down at least a foot from normal, maybe 16″. There is evidence of some rain, but it must not be enough.
Some light clouds, no moon, so pretty good looking sky.
n
And that’s my cue to exit. Early to bed… and all that.
n
I’m surprised that it was only 11 times … or so they claim.
Maybe it is 11 requests, but proactive submissions may be higher, like Fedex or Best Buy.