Hot and humid, chance of rain. So “summer in Houston”. Bet it’s pretty much the same for the next 2-3 months, gradually getting hotter at 8am until Fall starts again. It did break the mold a bit today, as some weather blew in and there was a cooler edge to the wind at 5pm. Some lightning too. Never got worse than that though.
Did mostly auction stuff yesterday. Took a while to get caught up. Did some small things around the house but nowhere near what I should have done. Did get a message from my neighbors at the BOL. Sometime after I left a wind storm came through and knocked over most of one of the trees. It’s in my garden, not the road or the house, or worse, the neighbor’s house, so it can stay there until I get back up there with a chainsaw. It’s a pretty big chunk of oak tree, so I’ll get to keep some of the firewood, and maybe my tree guy will have to revise his estimate a little lower, now that I’m cleaning up that particular tree instead of him. It left a trunk about 15ft high, with a small portion of the rest of the trunk above that, like a sapling growing out of a stump.
I also got a message from the gate guy at my client’s place. He does need a hard wired ‘net connection at the gate after all. I’ll need to finish installing the other nano as a ‘cable replacement’ and put an enclosure and small switch at the gate. I might try to do that today, although my client is returning home from a trip today. Tomorrow would be better for me, him, and the gate guy, but now I need to head back up to the BOL and clean up storm debris.
The phrase “it’s always something” comes to mind. And so does the realization that I need to get off my azz and power through some of my backlog to get close to caught up.
Add to the regular list, and I’ll be even busier than I pretend to be…
You can’t stack up time, but you can stack up some things that will save you time later. Having what you need close to hand is a force multiplier. I just got my chainsaw running, and now I get to use it for realz… I’ll should put on the wire screen face shield and the cut-stop chaps too. It sure would be silly to hurt myself with the proper PPE sitting on the shelf in the garage…
Stack what you need to do the jobs that are most likely to pop up, before they pop up.
nick
Cynical bastard that I am, I immediately suspected what was going on.
Yep, there it is.
Which describes almost every university and college in the U.S. I had my run-ins with MTSU when my son was attending. Administration mistakes were not corrected. Incompetency was at a high level in the administration offices. Mistakes designed to keep students in school another year or two.
Freshman year had to have a meal card, costly. Don’t use it, lose it. The most annoying was the “Raider’s Bucks” card, basically a debit card to be used on campus. Had to, mandatory, place $250.00 each semester on the card. Any money left at the end of the semester was forfeited. Which to me is theft.
The graduation ceremony was a pompous display by the college staff. It was really never about the students. Pompous jerks walking into the ceremony, sporting their robes, before any students were allowed in. Then the pompous jerks march out before any students. It was, in my opinion, a display where the college staff strutted their stuff.
SLS is working as intended. As Dr. Pournelle observed, NASA’s mission is all about full employment for space geeks.
SpaceX saw the mess at Boca Chica coming, but the distraction needed to happen on schedule.
I despise the “better to ask forgiveness than permission” management philosophy that seems to permeate tech management in the US as of late and was on full display that morning in South Texas.
That thought process is part of the reason I had to walk away from the Death Star.
“Oh, that’s right, we aren’t there, YET.”
FIFY
Oh, we’re there on the ground if you are referring to Ukraine, but even the Russians don’t want to admit it at this point because that would mean Corn Pop started WWIII to cover up his family’s crimes.
The Ukraine absolutely must start attacking targets inside Russia. Especially logistics targets: fuel depots, air fields, ships, etc.. You can’t win, if all you do is defend – at best, that leads to a stalemate. You’ve got to hit back.
Speaking of which, that “drone attack” on Moscow. Drones, often with no payloads, crashing randomly into buildings. Clearly not the Ukraine – the drones didn’t have that kind of range. So: was that incompetent partisans? Some sort of weird protest action? Or a really stupid false-flag operation?
the drones didn’t have that kind of range.
– how would we know where they launched and who launched them? Is it impossible for some Ukes to get near Moscow?
I didn’t see any pix of the actual drones, but the ones Iran was supplying were more the size of Reapers, ie, piper cub sized. They certainly have range… People get stuck thinking of hobby quadcopters when they hear the word “drone” but that is sooooo 5 years ago.
n
Sunny and already starting to warm up.
Trying some pre-made “cold brewed” coffee this morning. It says “enjoy it cold” but I nuked some. Meh. Like fresh made better.
n
Think they haven’t moved any across the border?
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/06/biden-effect-us-javelin-anti-tank-missiles-sent/
n
– “just don’t be there” doesn’t work so well when it’s your house… and the thieves were averaging one per day? also note hispanic surname and the living situation… “his father’s wife, five kids, sister, and nephews were all asleep inside during the robbery” At least 10 people living in the house…
n
https://www.noip.com/blog/2023/05/16/iot-security-internet-forgotten-things-protecting-connected-world/
n
Having worked in aerospace for 45 years, I agree in 100%!
>> I don’t run our sprinklers often, except for the zone for the front flower beds. When I do run the lawn sprinklers, I enjoy sitting on the porch and watching them spray. It’s as much for the sound as it is watching the water spray.
So what’s the plan for a rainy day? Watch some paint dry? 😉
https://www.rainchainsinanutshell.com/products/double-loops-rain-chain
You ever have a day when you feel like the turd that does not go down on the first flush?
“Errrr… oops?”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2023/06/errrr-oops.html
Oh my goodness !
Points to a twitter:
https://twitter.com/mearmalite10/status/1659582745033707530
Breaking (well, nothing really broken)…
Looks like the designated IV bag changer dropped the ball :
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12149847/amp/Biden-FALLS-stage-handing-diplomas-U-S-Air-Force-Academy-graduation.html
“NEW * Live And Let Die – Paul McCartney & Wings {Stereo} 1973”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwnX0iqKDdQ
“Live and Let Die” is 50 years old this month. Amazing song that he wrote in a couple of hours after getting the contract to write the song for the movie.
https://www.paulmccartney.com/news/you-gave-me-the-answer-live-and-let-die-50th-anniversary-special
“LyondellBasell delays refining business exit”
https://www.ogj.com/refining-processing/refining/article/14294589/lyondellbasell-delays-refining-business-exit
“LyondellBasell, Houston, plans to delay its refining business exit from year-end 2023 to ‘no later’ than the end of first-quarter 2025.”
This delay is a good sign. I am guessing that they are making money. IIRC, the refinery lost a billion dollars in 2020-2021.
I went to that movie in Colorado Springs. In the opening scene where Mr. Bond wakes up and holds up his Pulsar silver watch and presses the button, the audience went “ooohhhh”. I had one of those watches, in gold, so I pressed the button and raised my arm. The audience went “aaaahhhhh”. Seeing a James Bond movie is cool, having an actual James Bond gadget was awesome.
Ah, the joys of the High Desert!
The past few days have established that wind gusts in excess of 40mph are sufficient to blow bark mulch right out of the flowerbeds and all over the yard. Apparently it is the bay window protrusion in particular that is at fault, since I have a bare patch 5’ long and 18” wide under it. There is something called ‘mulch glue’ one can apply, apparently. I am concerned about flammability though.
I could replace with rock – but the summer sun and temperatures on a west facing wall are an issue. It should not be reflective enough to reflect sunlight directly onto the walls of the house, and it shouldn’t be dark enough that it absorbs vast amounts of heat during the day. This means that the relatively cheap volcanic rock is out, as is the more expensive white marble chips (though the marble actually has good thermal conductivity).
Probably the best bet is crushed quartzite, of a brown or red tint. This seems to have the best thermal conductivity of available rock.
“Announcing NVIDIA DGX GH200: The First 100 Terabyte GPU Memory System”
https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/announcing-nvidia-dgx-gh200-first-100-terabyte-gpu-memory-system/
Good night, that is an AI monster.
McCartney also did the theme for “Spies Like Us”, which was his last big single in the US.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht0XM4Z9CXs
Six 2200 W power supplies are required for our H100 8 GPU system. I don’t want to think about 256 GPUs.
I’m working on a proof of concept for another crazy customer request regarding that box this week.
Oh-oh, SIL and I will be driving from OC to Kennedy Meadows and then to Best Western and Jake’s Saloon in Lone Pine on Sat. June 10.
I bet it plays Solitaire really well.
I would worry more if it played perfect “Minesweeper” every time.
That might be “Game Over” for humanity.
One ounce of gold, delivered, in USD as of 12 PM ET today, when the Mint released the coin.
https://catalog.usmint.gov/american-eagle-2023-one-ounce-gold-uncirculated-coin-23EH.html
Thank you, Joe Biden and Speaker McCarthy.
One ounce of gold, delivered, in USD as of 12 PM ET today, when the Mint released the coin.
https://catalog.usmint.gov/american-eagle-2023-one-ounce-gold-uncirculated-coin-23EH.html
Wait, that is only 91.67% gold !
“AI-Controlled Drone Goes Rogue, Kills Human Operator in USAF Simulated Test”
https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a33gj/ai-controlled-drone-goes-rogue-kills-human-operator-in-usaf-simulated-test
I have seen this very thing in several documentaries: Terminator, Terminator 2, Terminator 3, etc.
One ounce of gold, delivered, in USD as of 12 PM ET today, when the Mint released the coin.
https://catalog.usmint.gov/american-eagle-2023-one-ounce-gold-uncirculated-coin-23EH.html
Thank you, Joe Biden and Speaker McCarthy.
You ain’t seen nothing yet. Just wait until the federal debt hits $40 trillion in 2029. Shoot, maybe in 2027. Read all about the effects of that in the documentary, “The Mandibles 2029 – 2047”.
https://www.amazon.com/Mandibles-Family-2029-2047-Lionel-Shriver/dp/006232828X?tag=ttgnet-20/
I have two gold crowns on my back upper teeth, one dates back to 1980. I am hoping that the gold seizers will let me keep them when they come to my house seizing all the gold in the USA in 2030.
Interesting, Amazon is now quoting Goodreads ratings on their website. Looks to me that Amazon people rate books about 0.5 star higher than the Goodreads raters.
https://www.amazon.com/Mandibles-Family-2029-2047-Lionel-Shriver/dp/006232828X?tag=ttgnet-20/
One ounce of gold mixed with other metals.
Eagles have the advantage of provenance, but the coins are a manufactured product, not “money”, so they are subject to import duties when crossing borders.
If you want portable wealth, Krugerands or Maple Leafs are 24 karat IIRC.
“In blow to unions, Supreme Court rules company can pursue strike damage claim”
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-rules-concrete-company-union-damages-dispute-rcna77242
“The ruling means Glacier Northwest Inc. can sue over its claim that wet concrete loaded onto trucks was rendered useless after workers walked off the job.”
Don’t damage your employer voluntarily. The employer has rights too.
“Could Hunter Biden be the next poster child for Second Amendment rights?”
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/01/hunter-biden-supreme-court-second-amendment-00099544
“The president’s son is under investigation for potentially breaking the law banning drug users from owning guns – but the law’s constitutionality faces growing challenges.”
Unreal.
Speaking of the Bidens, Republican members of the House are now saying that Joe Biden took a $5 million bribe when he was Vice President. And that there are several other documented money transfers from other nations to the Biden family while Joe Biden was Vice President.
https://nypost.com/2023/05/25/comer-says-alleged-biden-bribe-was-5m-threatens-fbi-with-contempt-vote/
Two of my 20 ??? Microsoft Optical USB mice have failed in the last week after 20 to 30 years of usage. I cannot believe that they are failing (grin). The failure is that the bottom LED is dying.
I am replacing them with a Microsoft Optical Mouse that I found on Amazon. They are little expensive at $68 each but I really like the shape and form factor. The only downside is that the index finger wheel is not as precise as the original mouse.
https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-D58-00026-Intellimouse-Optical-Mouse/dp/B00005TQ08?tag=ttgnet-20/
“If you want portable wealth, Krugerands or Maple Leafs are 24 karat IIRC.”
The American Eagle was modelled on the Krugerrand–both are 22k, and have the same dimensions.
The Gold Maple Leaf is 24k.
@Lynn
He still lied on a form that he attested was accurate. If they let him walk on that it would blow up one of the goobermints favorite prosecutions.
“Speaking of the Bidens, Republican members of the House are now saying that Joe Biden took a $5 million bribe when he was Vice President”
Walk it slow, boys. We want the Dems to have to commit to SlowJoe–and Jill isn’t going to quit holding him up until she has to–and then have the SHTF about Sept 2024. Best scenario is to offer the Bidens a political deal–he quits the race in return for giving up everything he can spill on Garland, Wray, and the rest of the future members of the protective custody wing of Leavenworth. Then offer Garland a deal…
The Death Star broke the union, possibly with Steve Jobs help, back in 2009, but there were a few party pranks committed by the rank and file in the run up to Labor Day Weekend, when the union had planned to take the whole company out on strike.
I remember the big fiber optic cable running on shore at Monterey and up to San Jose, over the mountains, getting spiked, knocking a big Cisco campus off the ‘net. That was unbelievably pricey to repair and took a long time.
The union is good and broken now at the Death Star, however. They eventually struck Verizon a few years later, which is ironic considering that the CEO at the time, Ivan Seidenberg, rose from a union gig to running Bell Atlantic to putting together the takeover of GTE, and Verizon was supposed to have much better labor relations.
I’m wondering if “damages” cover’s the time lost union’s protest rights in California. The briefing during my scab training indicated that the union was allowed to protest for up to three minutes between each car entering the parking lot at the company facilities. We were told to leave our hotel at least two hours early for the 7A-7P shifts.
Shoulda been carpooling with a Greyhound.
Alex Berenson’s #Twitterfiles: Was the Biden Administration involved in suppression on Covid?
Alex Berenson
https://twitchy.com/aaronw-313234/2023/06/01/alex-berensons-twitterfiles-was-the-biden-administration-involved-in-suppression-on-covid/
Rotary impellers getting loaded up.
I’m wondering if “damages” covers the time lost due to the union’s protest rights in California.
No more editing from the phone while multitasking.
May was the Fox News Channel’s first full month without Tucker Carlson and it cost them 32 percent of primetime viewers.
https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2023/06/01/nolte-may-ratings-collapse-fox-loses-third-of-viewers-without-tucker-carlson/
Next shareholder meetings at AB Gaybeer, Target the Children, and Fauxheuser should include Blackrock founder Larry Fine explaining how he convinced the boards to ignore shareholders.
“No more editing from the phone while multitasking.”
Shoot, I’m not good at it while unitasking.
Nonsense. All they have to do is decline to prosecute. “We have a limited number of staff hours available and are not able to take every possible charge to trial.”
And if someone later attempts to assert an “equal protection” defense at his trial for the exact same charge, he’ll be denied and his lawyer will be admonished.
@SteveF
At some point the bananas start to rot…
“And if someone later attempts to assert an “equal protection” defense at his trial for the exact same charge, he’ll be denied and his lawyer will be admonished.”
…and when they do, you won’t be seeing people go quietly into the night. The prospect of facing 10-20 years for doing nothing at 70yo looks a bit different after J6.
Fidel is probably smarter dead than FJB ever was alive–no dynasty in sight.
Holder retired successfully. Garland will be hunted down like a bug on the kitchen floor. Tara Reade may be running a darkweb underground railway to Moscow for the small fry.
Or maybe it’s all a sim and the bits have started to rot.
“HANDS OFF: Walgreens debuts new ‘anti-theft’ store with just two aisles of touchable product – and customers hate it”
https://www.the-sun.com/news/8264898/walgreens-debuts-anti-theft-stores-customers-hate/
The downtown Walgreens in Chicago. Need I say more ?
Hat tip to:
https://www.drudgereport.com/
Reminds me, one of the misc tasks for President Trump will be relieving all of the government petite gestopi of their arms if they are not on the short list of traditional federal law enforcement. You start adding up all the weapons in misc fedgov departments and it looks suspiciously like alt-military ready to do an end run around the Posse Comitatus Act.
I vaguely remember a SF or LA store trying this some years ago and then stopping under pressure from pols and community organizers.
Of course theft then was probably at single digit levels.
I vaguely remember a SF or LA store trying this some years ago and then stopping under pressure from pols and community organizers.
Of course theft then was probably at single digit levels.
Didn’t Walmart just leave the inner city areas of Chicago ? I can see locking down a Walgreens. But not a Walmart, that would be a disaster for employees and costs.
Reminds me, one of the misc tasks for President Trump will be relieving all of the government petite gestopi of their arms if they are not on the short list of traditional federal law enforcement. You start adding up all the weapons in misc fedgov departments and it looks suspiciously like alt-military ready to do an end run around the Posse Comitatus Act.
Trump needs to start with firing all supervisors in EVERY federal agency.
Our local Walmart had another aisle locked down last time i was in. They are boiling the frog slowly.
BTW I only go to the “good” west side store on Sunday mornings before about 10am, and the one on the east side never.
The Lowes had all the wire behind cage doors today.
n
Anyone know why handbrake audio sometimes lags video by about 2 seconds after ripping some dvds? It only happens for me on certain discs, notably Blade Runner, Directors cut, and Ultraviolet.
n
n
“Trump needs to start with firing all supervisors in EVERY federal agency.”
Reassignment is better. Bozeman is quite nice.
But start with a basic list of questions:
Were you ever directed to misuse of your agency in any way for political purposes? What and who?
Have you been told that certain employees/projects were untouchable?
Are there any items in your budget that were misidentified or vaguely described so as to mislead?
Has your agency purchased or been assigned any firearms, ammunition, or weapons?
Do you have any employees with “dotted line” reporting/connections/ rabbis in powerful positions in other government agencies?
Have you ever been told not to ask questions about certain budget items?
And the questions need to be worked from the other end with the weapons, ammo, and gear manufacturers. Suspicious lad that I am, I’d start with a little heart-to-heart talk with a certain ammo manufacturer.
Adding a bunch of forensic auditors to the IG staffs would be a third prong of the effort.
Fourth prong ain’t for discussion.
Biden Labor Department Announces Massive Revision To Wage Data, Revealing Big Drop in Wages
Q4 reported: +4.9%
Q4 revised: -0.7%
“wages and salaries are now estimated to have increased $53.0 billion in the fourth quarter, a downward revision of $135.4 billion.”
https://libertyunyielding.com/2023/06/01/biden-labor-department-announces-massive-revision-to-wage-data-revealing-big-drop-in-wages/
Couldn’t find their backsides with both hands and a map.
Question #1 from previous post:
“Were you ever directed to misuse of your agency in any way for political purposes? What and who?”
High anamorphic ratio?
NTSC DVD is 720×480 and only supports 4:3 or 16:9 presentation. To make a film with 2.35:1 look “right”, blank areas are added to the top and bottom of the picture.
Handbrake takes out the wasted space and crops the image to just the relevant portions of the frame. This may cause the audio data track to lag the new video track if the cropping is not specific multiples of 8 IIRC.
I think there is a setting somewhere to activate the underlying ffmpeg library’s audio sync.
Or you can use MakeMKV and accept the larger file size of the unconverted MPEG2.
I would try to find a BluRay of “Blade Runner”, run through MakeMKV, and then take the resulting video file to HandBrake to process.
Does the Director’s Cut mix anamorphic ratios?
quoting from a quote in the link:
“In the early months of the work-from-home dynamic productivity remained stable, perhaps because many people were going above and beyond in order to make extra money or ensure job security in uncertain times. However, it did not take long for some employees to get comfortable and suddenly productivity plummeted for five consecutive quarters. It was the first instance of such a decline since 1948 and the illusion of the work from home Utopia was dashed. “
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2023/06/01/amazon-employees-in-seattle-protest-having-to-be-at-work-n555071
Let me guess: The PLT’s will insist that any attempt to measure productivity is UNFAIR!
So don’t measure it, just cut wages for work at home employees by 20%. Should be about break-even just on lower commuting costs and time gained from not commuting.
Might have to be more. When employees work from home there is always a part of their job that they can’t do. That slack is usually taken up be people working onsite, either formally or informally as the phone call with “Hey, Suzie Stuckintheoffice, this is Homer Workathome. Need you to do something for me…” Then there is the logistics thing with the home office equipment that has to be maintained and repaired by a tech who now has to drive and make housecalls. So maybe another 5-10% gets shaved off and added to the folks taking up the slack.
My favorite story so far is the government receptionist who is now…working from home. Yup, sold the house in the city and moved 50 miles out, too.
Walgreens in New Orleans near Jackson Square had all of the laundry detergent locked up when we were there in October of last year.
In Atlanta about a decade ago, it was all of the deodorants … except Axe.
I guess even the homeless in that city don’t like that smell.
Does the Director’s Cut mix anamorphic ratios?
– I don’t think so. I’d have to watch it thru to be sure and I actually prefer the theatrical release with the voice over and happy ending.
I’ve got the “align AV start” check box checked. Doesn’t seem to make a difference.
There was some stuff online mixed in with all the AI or indian site scraping responses about fixed vs variable frame rate? I’ll try ripping it one more time with Constant selected.
n
Couldn’t get makeMKV to work when I first tried it.
The favored C-suite solution to the productivity issue is to make the White and Asian men return to the office five days a week while keeping everyone else happy and filling EEOC numbers by letting them stay home.
Making that work without lawsuits or lots of “quiet quitting” will be tricky.
Huge Trove of Photos from Hunter Biden’s Laptop Released
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2023/06/01/huge-trove-of-photos-from-hunter-bidens-laptop-released-n1699633
O-Kay, so anyone want to take a guess on the percentage of dikpix it takes to require two months to pshop?
6 minutes per image times 1000 images = 6000 minutes or 100 hours.
More than 1000? hmmm….
More than 6 minutes per image? Grab the Tool tool, point, click, drag click, save? Never had to do large… amounts of such editing, myself. @Ray, help us out here?
Extra time for laughing or bleaching your eyes or throwing up?
I had to search for a photo of Hallie Biden to make sure we weren’t being… short-changed. There’s a bunch that are basically the same image, but I did notice one on a site called “wikitramp” that turned out to be “wikiramp” when I focused properly. I suppose I’d be more inclined to be kind if I didn’t know that her laundry included a check. Wonder if she had to kick back to The Big Guy? Or worse.
I’m really surprised that no one in the family has gotten fed up and started leaving dry cleaning bags lying around with ice cream cones in the bottom.
Lynn says:
Trump needs to abolish every federal agency that isn’t EXPLICITLY authorized by the Constitution. That would eliminate 95% of the Federal government. Including all the unconstitutional federal police agencies. Because the Constitution DOES NOT AUTHORIZE any federal police agencies.
– “covid mishandlings”
wow, besides being a really ugly neologism that is about the understatement of the year.
n
ne·ol·o·gism
noun
noun: neologism; plural noun: neologisms
a newly coined word or expression.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=neologism+
Yeah, technically, it’s probably not a new word, just a new way to use an existing word, but it is a new usage (with the plural.) I do like using words like neologism though. Brings up the tone of the place 😉
—————–
in other news, y’all saw both the fall and the head knock? Not spry.
n
>> One ounce of gold, delivered, in USD as of 12 PM ET today, when the Mint released the coin.
Geez, limit three per household 🙁