Cool and damp, continued chance of rain. It rained on and off all day Friday, making my auction sorting kinda problematic. I managed to pick up the base for my 10″ dobsonian in between showers, and got an item out of storage for an ebay sale.
I went by ‘the bins’, and got a ton of stuff I’ve been looking for. Crazy how it works sometimes. I’ve been trying to buy a “stand up desk” converter (scissor lift thing sits on your regular desk and has adjustable height) for months. Pretty much the exact one I wanted (some are sturdy, some are not) was sitting in a bin, waiting for me. No good collectibles, no vintage or mid century modern, no pokemon, but I still filled a tub with stuff for the auction and me. Oh, and half a tub of Christmas lights. If they’re not all balled up, I’ve been buying Christmas lights. This last year I found that a lot of mine are looking pretty ragged, and I’ve got the BOL to decorate now too. So time to upgrade for cheap…
Today I’ve got my non-prepping hobby meeting, some stuff for show and tell, and then if the weather is clear, a freezer to deliver. Might deliver the last of the cookies too. The season is over for us, but there are a few boxes left in the ‘cookie mom’ just in case inventory.
It’s meatspace, and it’s important. We are part of a community. Several in fact. We are part of groups. Again, several. Some of us might only be part of a group we aren’t even aware of – that old loner nut down the street – but we’re part of groups. The challenge is to not be ‘outed’ as a prepper, or someone to be robbed or take advantage of, but to still be a helpful and valued member of whatever group it is. Helpful and valued members are less likely to be dimed to confiscation squads. Helpful and valued group members are more likely to be tipped off to trouble, or opportunity.
The web and online services have ‘disintermediated’ a lot of our relationships and transactions. When things get spicy, personal will once again reign supreme. Who you know and who knows you might determine your access to resources, aid, and work. It takes time and practice to be comfortable in the person to person marketplace. Get some now, spend the time. I know I’ve talked about it before, but it is becoming more and more clear to me that the future is personal and local.
Stack up some experience while you are stacking up goods. This week, go to a grocery store you haven’t been to. Walk the aisles. See what they might have that your normal store doesn’t. Bonus points if the store caters to a different ethnic group than yours. Ask at least one person something about an item. Chat. Get a feel for the pace and rhythm of the place. Buy something and pay with cash. If you don’t use cash normally, this is a good time and place to start. Cash is king in the secondary economy. Learn to use it.
Learn something this week. Stack something this week.
nick
When I was in the USAF every office had a pot of coffee. Some of the drinkers used coffee as a way to drink whiskey, rum, bourbon, whatever as they had a bottle in their desk which was always added to a cup of coffee.
Each office had their coffee fund to which everyone was supposed to contribute to pay for the coffee. I did not drink coffee and declined to participate. That irritated some people as to them it did not matter that I did not drink coffee. Everyone was to participate otherwise I was not a team player.
The mess hall always had one of those huge 10-gallon coffee machines. It had its own water supply plumbed into the pot. Generally classed as some of the worst coffee available. Beyond the brewing inconsistency, there was the issue of the coffee contract being awarded to the cheapest bidder. In spite of the coffee being horrible, that pot was refilled multiple times each day.
Cool but fairly clear. I may get rid of a freezer today after all.
D2 is sleeping so I’ll do the cookie sale. Wasn’t going to sell any when she wasn’t there, but getting rid of the last few and taking care of a friend are both good things.
n
@Jenny – Did you ever see “The Great Outdoors”?
I think I’m missing something cool in this scene from this week’s “Picard” when Troi and Riker start ripping on their house, which is the same set Universal built for the Hughes flick 35+ years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neBdntprK8M
If you’re not watching, this is kinda-sorta a spoiler.
My wife and I have been there. We both hated the stucco cr*p shack we had in Florida, but all of the houses in the state get built that way now.
Red flag laws violate seven constitutional rights:
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/04/youll_never_guess_which_state_just_ruled_gun_confiscation_red_flag_laws_unconstitutional.html
One would be enough. But seven? It’s amazing that any of these travesties are still in place.
Really, Mr. Ray, you’re gonna let this pass with no comment?
Me, too. I was surprised by the resolution of Vadic. Nice episode. Amanda Plummer was awesome. A little mushy on the reunion side.
Wheels turns his back:
Tucker Carlson Calls on Texas Governor Greg Abbott to Pardon Military Veteran Daniel Perry
I believe this guy is innocent, but I wasn’t there. Sounds like the Austin DA is out for conservative blood. Situational awareness is just as important as weapons accuracy. Don’t Uber in shit-hole Austin.
I don’t think Amanda Plummer is done unless they have a huge surprise “big bad” that they’ve managed to keep under wraps.
Amanda Plummer has a thing for the chairs … just like her father. 🙂
That cast is surrogate family for a lot of fans. Getting that table scene reunion was important as was Geordi-Data and Troi-Worf. Even Raffi-Deanna meeting for the first time.
I saw Gates McFadden from about 15 feet away last Saturday, and she really does look like that, even in the heat and humidity of a packed convention hall. Unfortunately, I blew my budget for autographs on John Cleese and couldn’t drop another $60 to express appreciation.
Interestingly, I didn’t see anyone in line for Ethan Peck. If that wasn’t an assistant I saw from a distance at his table, keeping an eye on his photos, “Strange New Worlds” is in trouble.
Nice one. She needs an eyepatch.
Your link is borked, but a little search engine magic gives me https://www.autotempest.com/
No specific model. Lots of “nice to have” ideas, but really, I’d probably be ok with a basic two door work truck from any decent manufacturer.
I’ll be hauling hobby level amounts of lumber (including full sheets of plywood) and tools, maybe a little gravel from time to time.
I just rented 2 different Toyota Tacomas, and they worked just fine. They didn’t suit me, though.
I miss my 2004 GMC Sierra 1500 4×4. I foolishly gave it to my son who promptly ran it into the ground. Only 220,000 miles; barely broken in.
Too much weird stuff is going on at Fort Hood right now for a pardon to fly politically. It isn’t just about the race issues.
Perry made a two hour drive down from Killeen that night to do an Uber gig in a mostly shut-down entertainment district? The jury saw something that didn’t add up.
Fort Hood also needs an enema.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/soldier-20-found-dead-fort-hood-texas-army-base-vanessa-guillen-was-mu-rcna75420
When we were in Florida last week, my wife’s sister once again talked up how her son is looking to get stationed in Austin at the weirdo Army command Downtown with his next posting. I’m on record that he’s on his own financially with regard to whatever scheme he’s working there, but we’ll meet him for meals occasionally.
@nick
personal will once again reign supreme
True words. We have been working on getting to know the neighbors and being the helpful generous sorts. Having an outgoing daughter helps. Folks don’t spend as much time outside making it harder. However there are more walkers than old neighborhood so progress.
Hope you are able to get rid of a freezer today, that’s a lot of square footage. I’ve enjoyed reading about the work on the second property, and the amount of time / effort it takes.
I’m happy with the new to us house. No progress to report with insurance / truss damage. I don’t regret staying in Anchorage when we moved, the commute would have made us more miserable than the Anchorage politics. Pretty much all the bad happened again with the most recent local election. I simply don’t understand the mindset that leads to these choices. Our property taxes are going up, again. Painful.
@greg
“The Great Outdoors”
I have not. I’ll look for it. John Candy is a lot of fun.
There was only ever one Star Trek. There were fakers that came after, but they are as hollow, cloying, and unsatisfying as marshmallow. I tried with STNG but they lost me when they killed Yar in that tar pit episode. Stupid as a red shirt death. They lost me on the movies with Kirk‘s ignominious end. I am glad other folks enjoy them. Including my husband and daughter. I see them peripherally but ignore as much as I can.
The link you posted is Picard S03E08, Riker and Troi imprisoned fighting over their dead son and the emotions they were having. I cannot stomach the Deanna Troi character. Good grief, all that emoting and feeling and expressing, gah, I loathe all that touchy-feely garbage, I’ve got enough emotion of my own / daughter / husband to handle.
Give me Spock or Sherlock Holmes, please. Sorry -grin- The actress that plays her is very skilled. I want to like the stuff that followed the original, and I’m glad it’s getting made. Wish it was more cowboys in space or wagon train to the stars, though.
I’ve been dieting and exercising on purpose for the last month or two. In the gym (Planet Fitness $10/month) for at least ½ hour on the treadmill and a few minutes on the machines daily. It has made me irritable apparently -grimace- but muscle is returning. I’m really short with a thrifty metabolism, much over 1,300 calories a day leads to weight gain. Lots of veg and lean protein, less rice and bread, cut sugar as completely as possible and keep up on daily vitamins.
Plus MOVE.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/04/the-daily-chart-americas-urban-exodus.php
Blue shiite-holes losing population.
Think of this as an infection running out of food and looking elsewhere to grow.
Ok. Thanks. I’ll have to go find a copy. All of my friends who are way more into John Hughes than I am all report that they missed “The Great Outdoors”.
“Retro prairie hipsters” has to be a reference from the old ad man.
“National Lampoon’s Vacation”, also written by Hughes, was huge at the comic book show last week, with Chevy Chase, Christie Brinkley, and the two original kids appearing for pictures with a recreation of the station wagon.
For a price of course. My budget was blown.
>> Reducing Bill Gates by 90% and Climate Whackos by 99% would be a good place to start. Single slice measured from the floor, or should we use a Vitamix and do it by weight?
Industrial wood chipper, feet first of course, them measure by volume.
The Climate Whackos appear to be about half of the population and concentrated in the inner portions of large ( > 500,000 people ) cities. That is a lot of wood chippers. Guillotines might be a lot cheaper.
NG did live up to the budget/quality expectations a few times, but it was all based on a cast that was too weak and schticks that were too-often repeated. Naming a popular drink at cons in the 1980’s a “Shut Up, Riker” was fan commentary, and the script writers took several opportunities to portray his alternate timeline versions as somewhat less than stellar.
Drive the coyotes nuts.
I’d put the Climate Whacko percentage of the population at a much lower number. I think the bigger influence is the Pizza Box Dream of firing the phone and power companies. Might as well add “Stop making trips to the gas station” to that list of Gen X fantasies.
Plus comic book movies were a factor until recently. “He’s the real life Tony Stark!”. And Captain Marvel just re-upped her contract with Nissan to shill EVs as “female empowerment”.
The Climate Whackos are probably significant in the suburbs of DC and the tech hubs which decide Presidential elections now, but the broken promise on the SALT deduction will be a problem for Dems running against anyone but the Orange Man who signed the elimination of the deduction into law.
@Jenny – “Super Mario Brothers” or “Air” this weekend?
I have “Tetris” on my stack to watch. I worked for Gilman Louie when he was CEO at the last job.
Members of the Senate and brass at the Pentagon still want to give Gilman money because of that success 30 years ago. Unfortunately we had zip in terms of real, usable product … and connected insiders like James Clapper on the board.
“Climate Whackos” can be defined in a lot of ways.
The real ones know better, but have other reasons ranging from personal wealth and power to burning civilization down.
But when you lump in the ones that simply drink the koolaid, it’s a big plurality.
Next time you run into one of the latter ask them the skydiving question:
“You have a chance to learn skydiving for free. Everything is paid for. There is only one catch: This is not traditional instruction. The first lesson is a test of your natural ability. You pack your own chute, we take you up in a plane and you put the chute on and jump. The instructors take notes on what you do wrong, but you don’t get instruction on anything until the second lesson. Ready to sign up?”
Pearls Before Swine: Losing Weight Methods
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2023/04/08
The couch sitting method does not work very well. The best method is to cut the food intake.
Home from a very pleasant meeting. Had a new member. And a recent new member is still coming. Anyone who is part of a group that is more than 6 months old knows that growing membership even at counter-attrition rates is HARD.
Went out for lunch with the board afterwards (I usually have other things to do) and had a couple of very pleasant conversations. It’s good to be out with people.
Sold and delivered the freezer. Have some room to work on sorting now, although probably not today as it is still threatening to rain.
Kids made cookies this morning and I ate three upon my return. Yum. Add that to the two donut breakfast and the eggs benedict with cheesy grits for brunch and I’m gonna crash hard shortly. It was worth it though.
Time to get some Easter decor set up.
n
Tyler Durden cowardice covering the Perry case and the Governor’s position on the pardon.
I still doubt anything will happen until the Legislature adjourns.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/will-texas-governor-pardon-army-sergeant-sandbagged-soros-da-self-defense-shooting
“The End of the World Survivors Club” by Adrian J. Walker
https://www.amazon.com/Survivors-Club-Adrian-J-Walker/dp/1785035738?tag=ttgnet-20/
Book number two of a three book dark fantasy science fiction series. I read the well printed and well bound trade paperback published by Del Rey in 2019 that I bought new from Amazon.
The asteroid storm came through Saturn’s rings but was totally missed by the various asteroid monitors. Several months later, the hundreds of thousands of 10 meter (30 feet) and larger asteroids started hitting the northern hemisphere of Earth. The authorities had very little warning for the crowded populaces of the northern hemisphere. To add to the calamity, the oceans rose significantly and all of the coastal cities of the world were flooded.
Beth Hill and her two children were picked up by a rescue force from South Africa and taken to the new west coast of the UK. There were supposed to be ships picking up the rescued people and taking them to Cape Town but there was too many people. Edgar Hill and his friends managed to run / walk to the new west coast of the UK just in time to see the ships head to Cape Town. But the ship with Beth Hill and her kids was swamped by a tsunami from another asteroid landing in the ocean.
The author has a website at:
https://adrianjwalker.com/
My rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars (665 reviews)
From what I recall, it was a good shoot. I don’t care if the guy drove down to Austin from Killeen to drive Uber. That’s irrelevant. He happened upon a mob and then some mo-fo pointed a rifle at him and the Uber driver shot him. Self defense.
The person needing to go to jail is the DA for having evidence withheld.
So Fugitt then complied, and kept quiet about it for some period of time?
And how is it that Mr. Garza is walking around uncharged?
Marine trio honored for foiling stabbing at a Virginia Chick-fil-A
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marine-corps-stabbing-chick-fil-a-virginia/
Cheap Farberware, badly maintained, lots of corrosion visible in the broken pieces. And just as capable of killing someone dead as a Ka-bar. Those budding attmpted murderers are lucky they weren’t facing Marines that had been deployed in the sandbox–be pieces of them on the floor.
One of the other great features of eBay: international fees.
PayPal charged an extra 1% to the seller–and I suspect charged the buyer as well.
eBay now handles the money and charges 2%. Do you suppose the buyer is paying less than they used to?
The wISP I have sent an e-mail last night. It seems that wherever they buy radios from has a sale until midnight Sunday. So of course they want to stock up, right?
“With that in mind, if you fire in a Zelle payment to us Sunday before 10pm on one of the following options you’ll get some free internet.”
I get it. Cash flow is a thing. If it wasn’t, why does my Discover card offer to charge me 24% if I carry a balance and at the same time say my FICO is hovering around 800?
Anyway. He gives options. “You fire in 2 1/2 months of service and get 1/2 month free”. Dunno, maff is hard. “You fire in 5 months of service get 1 month free”. And then “You fire in 10 months of service get 2 months free”.
So I sent an e-mail to make sure that prepaying 10 months means I’m paid up for a year. $92 and a little change. I have the money, I’m going to send it to them anyway. Pay in advance and that’s one less monthly bill. Two months free is, well, that’s a lot of beer and critter food.
I’m not cool enough to get “You fire in”.
Why prepay? Why not? I have the money. Making that buffalo nickle bellow adds up. Prepay for 10 months and get two months free?
Where ya gonna get what is effectively $184 interest a year on $921? Let me know.
BREAKING: Texas Governor Greg Abbott To Pardon Uber Driver and Sgt. Daniel Perry
No need. The DA in this case has already violated the defendant’s rights under the Constitution of the United States, induced a law enforcement officer to commit an illegal act, and entered into a conspiracy to do so. If that’s not sufficient to bring state charges also, then y’all need a major overhaul of Texas law.
And there’s little things like malicious prosecution, malfeasance of office and probably a raft of others to spice it up.
Good thing they did not die. I suspect their skin color was one of the darker shades. Headlines would have been “Two White Marines (Plus 1) Kill Black Teens”. Their mothers would have been on the news describing how they were good boys and would do anything for anyone. They were pillars of the community (if there is such a thing in the ghetto). They all had a bright future that was senselessly taken away. Then Ben Crump would have shown his face in the background looking for a big payday from Uncle Sam.
Boy o boy, I knew it would wipe me out. But I’m vertical again! Time to start getting serious about eggs pretty soon.
n
No need. The DA in this case has already violated the defendant’s rights under the Constitution of the United States, induced a law enforcement officer to commit an illegal act, and entered into a conspiracy to do so. If that’s not sufficient to bring state charges also, then y’all need a major overhaul of Texas law.
And there’s little things like malicious prosecution, malfeasance of office and probably a raft of others to spice it up.
The DA in this case is the head of prosecution in Travis County. He believes himself to be the head prosecutor of the Great State of Texas. Indicting a District Attorney in Texas without his permission is very difficult.
Uh wow. The story of the student punching the teacher in the face over his phone was top of the page on my two hour old tab, Daily Mail.
I refreshed and it’s gone. Gotta scroll down ¼ the page to find it.
and the DM pages are REALLY long. ¼ page is a huge distance down the page.
n
Abbott should proceed anyway. DeSantis got rid of one. Even if it won’t happen, the DA’s criminal mug will be all over the news. According to plugs, it is OK to protest outside his house (SCOTUS) even after numerous death threats are thrown. If you can’t get rid of him, you have to box him in and limit what he can do.
If the pardon goes throughly smoothly and quickly, that will also be a kick in the face of the thug DA. We’ll have to wait to see how the Parole Board handles it. Maybe it’s loaded with PLTs.
The same DA effective deposed the Williamson County Sheriff after the Sheriff embarrassed the Travis County Sheriff and Austin PD in several high profile situations, including the Austin Bomber.
Even if Abbott had the power, it becomes a question of spending political capital on something other than abortion, and Abbott is a wishy washy Republican with anything else.
The Dem machine in Travis County and Austin will protect Garza. The Austin PD obeys the people who will write the checks for their pensions.
In Florida, DeSantis has been Public Enemy #1 of the media since the day he announced for Governor. He doesn’t care what the press says about him, but Abbott does.
@Nick
Next time send cookies to one who is genetically and experientially suited to properly cope with the strain of multiple cookies.
I will supply my own milk and/or coffefe, as required.
Do felons in office have special immunities in Texas?
reposted from AoSHQ:
The Saturday Night Joke
Officers kill homeowner after responding to wrong address
https://news.yahoo.com/officers-kill-homeowner-responding-wrong-181340008.html
The biggest firearm threat to a homeowner is the one brought by the police.
For a bit more context to this:
From that article:
So, perhaps there is also some fault of the homeowner (and his wife, who was ‘lucky’ not to have been killed herself).
Do felons in office have special immunities in Texas?
Yes. Dates back to Reconstruction.
Yeah, SOP on seeing a firearm should always be for the police to open fire. Trains up the populace right smart.
Missing here is any assertion that the officers identified themselves. Seems like that would be stated if they had done so.
Most communities keep their odd house numbers consistently on one cardinal direction of the street. So unless this is a very unusual community we have three responding officers with an address that don’t know which flippin’ side of the street to go to*. Yet they are apparently fully qualified to carry firearms and use them. Wonder if they have their walkin’ and chewin’ gum certs, too?
*Door Dash drivers need more skill.
The SOP for a homeowner should be to answer the door with a gun in his hand visible to the person knocking on the door? Did the homeowner look out the door ‘peephole’ – or should have?
If you are the policeman knocking at the door, and assuming that you announced yourself as ‘police’, what should be your response to a person answering the door with a gun in hand?
Some missing details, of course. Did the officer ‘announce’? Did the homeowner make an attacking gesture with the gun (was he holding it by his side, or pointing out the door)? Is the neigborhood such that there is a regular risk to the homeowner from criminal elements? Did the intended address (across the street, I guess) have potential risks to the officers? Did the officers just start shooting when they saw the gun, or did they yell out warnings?
All this will come out in the investigation. But did the homeowner provide some percentage of justification for the police to shoot? Don’t know.
Tragic for the homeowner and family, of course. But not sure that a blanket condemnation of the police is fully justified in this instance.
Insurrection? Top Democrats Call To Ignore Court Ruling On Abortion Pill
https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/04/insurrection-top-democrats-call-to-ignore-court-ruling-on-abortion-pill/
AOC and other Dimtwits are calling on FJB and Fedgov to ignore the ruling. Note that the judge “stayed for 7 days to give time for an emergency appeal”, which wexplicitly gave the legal process time to work. Not good enough, apparently, for those that already routinely violate their oaths of office and have no respect for the constitution.
All of which is not amusing or surprising, and is certainly not new or unexpected or worth posting.
I did find the first couple of comment amusing:
@RickH
That’s an invitation for a bad guy with a gun to fire through the door.
Not doing that, just fully condemning the idiot officers that murdered a man in his own house and shot at his wife, who could have died and made it a twofer.
If the man was jackpot colored Ben Crump will get $100 million for this, easy.
One the wrong f*cking side of the street.
>> For a price of course. My budget was blown.
@Greg, just curious, who was the most expensive autograph at the con?
Hmm… on the Fox News Channel, MAGA PAC has started running anti-DeSantis TV commercials, citing his prior votes in Congress to cut Social Security and Medicare and raise the retirement age.
A bit early? Or just overwhelmed with donations?
Tragic for the homeowner and family, of course. But not sure that a blanket condemnation of the police is fully justified in this instance.
– better that a guilty man should go free than an innocent man suffer… but I guess we don’t believe that anymore.
I think being killed in your own home is pretty much the definition of suffering.
The onus and responsibility lies ENTIRELY with the police as they initiated the action. Entirely. No matter what the homeowner did or didn’t do, had the cops not gotten out of their cars that day, he’d still be alive.
Entirely.
n
NB Benjamin Franklin –“it is better a hundred guilty persons should escape than one innocent person should suffer.” (I think I got pretty close from memory, especially considering my public school education was 40 years ago.)
>> In Florida, DeSantis has been Public Enemy #1 of the media since the day he announced for Governor. He doesn’t care what the press says about him, but Abbott does.
If(? / When?) Ron jumps into the 2024 fray, it will be interesting to see how his ‘the press be damned’ attitude goes over with the LSM.
Followup on the Farmington, NM shooting of a homeowner by police responding to the wrong address:
All of the coverage excepting one from KOB4 in Albequeque:
https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/nmsp-farmington-police-shoot-and-kill-homeowner-after-responding-to-wrong-location/
which adds little to the events, are derived from an AP report.
Buried later in that report is:
The claim of announcing themselves as police officers will be verified or not by bodycam recordings.
So it seems that the whatever “announcement” was made was insufficient to be heard by the people inside.
What is also absent from the report is any claim of address verification by the dispatcher. SOP would be to verify street and house number and any direction suffix (e.g., N or S).
And note that all of the story so far is sourced from the police. The surviving homeowner is not on record.
As @Nick stated last night