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Category: news

Saturday, 21 November 2015

08:20 – I read an article in the paper this morning about two robberies of two taxi drivers in two days, at the same address. That got me thinking about all those articles I’ve seen recently about cities and taxi companies trying to ban Uber and Lyft. If Uber and Lyft aren’t banned, they’ll put old-style taxi companies out of business except in areas where Uber/Lyft drivers won’t go to pick up fares. And how will that impact those poor robbers who depend on robbing taxi drivers to make a living? It’s just so unfair.

We close on the new house late Monday afternoon, November 30th, so as of 1 December we’ll be officially in the new house. We’ll have a friend house-sitting in the current house for the time being, starting next Friday and lasting through at least the end of the year and possibly through January, depending on how long it takes the current residents to clear out of the house he just bought. We’ll be making multiple runs up to Sparta the first week of December to transfer most of our stuff other than furniture, which we’ll hire movers to transfer for us. Which means we have less than two weeks to get all this stuff packed up and ready to transfer. We have enough finished-goods inventory of science kits to last us through at least mid-December, so we’ll haul part of them up to Sparta initially to allow us to continue shipping uninterrupted.

With everything that’s going on, posts here are likely to be short and sporadic for the next couple of weeks.

09:22 – Hah. I just found the charger for the FRS/GMRS HT’s and put them on to charge. Actually, the battery pack bundled with them holds a charge very well. I tested them by charging them completely and then letting them sit a couple of months. The charge was still at 90%+. Worst case, they can also use alkalines. I just gave Barbara a 15-second crash course in how to use the HT’s. We’ll use one in each vehicle when we’re taking both up to Sparta on transfer runs.

Frances and Al also kindly offered to help with the move, using Al’s pickup. He can haul 1,600 pounds of bulky items, so even one run up there will help a lot. I’m going to restrict my 22-year-old Trooper to 1,000 pounds per run. I was thinking about getting a trailer hitch installed and renting a trailer, but Barbara’s afraid the old Trooper would drop dead on its way up the mountain.

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Thursday, 19 November 2015

08:55 – Front page article in the paper this morning about a traffic accident back in May, where a police car ran a red light and rammed a car proceeding through the intersection on green, killing the driver. The cop wasn’t on a call, wasn’t using drugs or alcohol, nor was he texting, using his patrol car’s computer, or otherwise distracted. He simply didn’t notice the red light. That’s pretty hard to understand, considering there were two lights for the through lanes and a third for the left-turn lane, all red. It was 10:00 at night at a major intersection, so there was no excuse for not seeing the lights. A second patrol car was sitting in the left-turn lane, and its dashcam recorded the collision. The report said the involved patrol car was speeding, but it wasn’t really. The cop was moving at 42 MPH in a 35 MPH zone, which is a normal free-market speed for that road.

The cop was sentenced to 200 hours of community service. Anyone who wasn’t a cop or politician would very likely have been sentenced to jail time for manslaughter, because in today’s way of thinking someone always has to be at fault. In absolute terms, I think that cop received a fair sentence. It was unfair in the sense that anyone should have received that same sentence, but the cop got a pass because he was a cop.

We’re building a couple dozen more science kits today to get our finished-goods inventory built up before the move. By the end of next week, I want to have as many finished kits ready to roll as possible so that we can just label and ship boxes without having to build them on-the-fly. At that point, we’ll be ready to haul half of each type up to the new house once we’ve closed on it the first of next month and be in a position to ship from either Winston-Salem or Sparta. Then we can start building more subassemblies up in Sparta and shift final assembly up there.

We had about 1.25″ of rain overnight, but today is to be sunny with a high in the 70’s. By the weekend, we’ll have highs in the 40’s and lows in the 20’s, so winter will actually be arriving here in Winston. We hope to be living in Sparta by mid-December, just in time for real winter in the NC mountains.

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Saturday, 14 November 2015

08:13 – Paris just found out the price one pays and will continue to pay for allowing moslem scum to live among decent people. Naturally, news reports have focused on the shootings and bombings and the death toll among civilized people while carefully avoiding any mention of the open borders that allowed these muslim scum to invade a civilized country and commit these outrages. No calls yet for retribution. Perhaps France and the rest of the civilized world will now focus on eradicating the plague that is islam, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Governments refuse to recognize and admit that the problem is not “radical muslims” or “muslim terrorists” but islam itself. Civilization is at war with islam, and has been for a thousand years. It’s long past time to stamp it out.

When we were up in Sparta the other day, we stopped by the Blue Ridge Electric Co-Op to sign up for service, giving them our closing date. A lady from the Co-Op called yesterday to say that the current owners had notified them that they wanted to terminate service several days before the closing date and asked if we wanted to continue that service on our nickel as of that earlier date even though we wouldn’t yet own the home. We told her yes, since the last thing we want is for the pipes to freeze. The good news is that that obviously means that the current owners intend to vacate the home prior to the closing date. I told our realtor about the call and that we’d told the Co-Op to continue service uninterrupted. She and the listing agent are going to keep an eye on things in the interim. As Barbara said, the current owners don’t know that we know, which is a good thing.

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Sunday, 1 November 2015

08:47 – There was a shooting overnight at Winston-Salem State University, which is only 10 miles or so from us. One dead, one wounded, and the shooter is still at large, but there aren’t many other details available yet. It sounds like an individual crime rather than a mass shooting, but I’m sure we’ll soon know more.

The lead article in the morning paper says that Forsyth County is far behind on restaurant health inspections. Last year, the health department did less than 50% of required inspections, and the last year they did even 75% of the required inspections was 2008/2009. Neighboring and urban counties in North Carolina typically did 75% to 100% of the required inspections every year during that period. Apparently, the Forsyth County health department can’t do its job, but at least they do make excuses. No word of anyone being fired over this.

I wonder if these inspections are even needed. Given the poor performance of our county health department over the last several years, one might expect to see restaurant patrons dropping like flies, but as far as I know the incidence of food-borne illnesses is no higher here than anywhere else. It is, after all, in the interests of any food service company to avoid poisoning its customers. Any that does isn’t likely to remain in business for long, not to mention being sued.

I remember one incident that happened maybe 30 years ago. A restaurant near where we used to live, Cagney’s IIRC, poisoned quite a few of its customers, and was quickly driven out of business. And ISTR that they had recently passed a health department inspection. So what’s the point of health department inspections? The free market seems to do a better job of keeping restaurants in line than the health department does.

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Friday, 30 October 2015

08:56 – The lead headline in the paper this morning says that 24% of Winston-Salem residents live in poverty. Says who? How can anyone define poverty to include people who have plenty to eat, including meat every day if they want it, heated living quarters, television and cable service, their own automobiles, money in their pockets, and even cell phones, all provided at taxpayer expense? Living in real poverty means you have none of those things, and by that definition more like 0% of Winston-Salem residents live in poverty.

Enough is never enough for these clients of the state and the politicians who covet their votes. Neither will be satisfied until tax-consumers enjoy a better standard of living than the taxpayers who support them.

Email from Jen. One of the men in her extended group had suggested that they do their second trial run over the Christmas holiday, a suggestion that was quickly vetoed by all of the women and most of the men. Instead, they’re going to do a four-day second trial run starting on Thursday, 12/31 and running through the holiday weekend. They figure that’ll give them enough time to digest the results from the Thanksgiving trial run and make any fixes necessary.

Here’s what I did to prep this week:

  • We’re just about finished packing up the seed containers. We got germination on all the seed species, although in some cases we almost literally needed a microscope to see evidence of germination. All that remains is to bin them into sets and do the final packaging in foil-laminate Mylar bags. Well, that and I have to finish the planting guide, create and print the main package labels, and make up the PBS saline for the Rhizobia culture and bottle it. My original goal was to ship the kits in mid- to late November, and getting that done shouldn’t be any problem.
  • I put in several hours on the prepping book. I think another thousand hours will do it to finish volume one.
  • I read William Forstchen’s One Year After, the sequel to his earlier One Second After. I won’t link to either book, because the ebooks are priced outrageously. I wouldn’t have read either if readers hadn’t sent me copies. The second book is better-edited but no better-written than the first, which is to say it’s second-tier. And that’s grading on the not-too-demanding curve that I apply to PA novels. Rather bizarrely, the sequel opens exactly TWO Years After the first. Not only can’t Forstchen write, he apparently can’t count, either. I also started reading John Ross’s Unintended Consequences, a massive tome that’s larger even than Crawford’s Lights Out. Ross’s book is apparently out of print, although you can buy used paperback copies for $28 and up. The book appears so far to be a collection of snippets that relate in one way or another to America’s “gun culture”, presented as a spirited defense of the 2nd Amendment.

So, what precisely did you do to prepare this week? Tell me about it in the comments.

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Wednesday, 28 October 2015

09:02 – Still no word on the house. If it happens, it happens. Otherwise, we’ll just keep looking.

Someone mentioned that muslims consider “moslem” to be the most offensive way to label them, so I’ll try to use that form from now on. A month or so ago, the MSM were full of articles about tens of thousands of moslem invaders overrunning Europe, although of course they referred to them as “migrants” and “refugees” rather than calling them what they actually are, invaders. Over the last few weeks, such reports have almost disappeared from the MSM. One might almost believe that the invasion had failed and all the moslems had returned home.

My private correspondents in Europe tell a different story. In their view, western European governments have failed to stem this invasion, so ordinary citizens have had to take up the slack. They see these invaders for what they are, and don’t want them in Europe. Firearms purchases are way up, which is extraordinary given how hard it is in Europe for private citizens to buy guns. Ordinary Europeans don’t want these scum to settle in Europe, and seem to be taking steps on their own to make it very clear to the scum that they’re not welcome. Even Scandanavians, who may be the most laid-back people on the planet, are beginning to take violent action against the scum. I expect to see the violence increase. If their governments won’t put a stop to this invasion, ordinary citizens have no alternative to doing it themselves. Either that, or get out. I’ve heard from more than a few Europeans who plan to emigrate to the US, Canada, or Australia. It’s interesting that all of the popular destinations are in English-speaking countries.

11:55 – We’re just back from a very small Costco run. First time we’ve ever gotten out for less than $100, IIRC, other than maybe a time or two when we went just because Paul and Mary needed to make a run.

About the only prepping-related stuff we picked up were two 6-packs of Kirkland gallons of bottled water, a couple cans of Country Time Lemonade, and 1,152 ziplock bags, 1,000 sandwich size easy-open ones, and 152 gallon freezer. Barbara drinks the Kirkland water, and I covet the bottles for storing bulk staples. They’re heavy PET, and the mouths are wide enough to fill easily. They take forever to dry naturally, but it’s easy enough to add a pound or so of dry rice and shake it around to absorb moisture.

We decided to use those sandwich bags to package most of the seeds for the kits. They’re large enough to hold up to a pound of seeds each. We’re double-bagging and taping the bags closed to prevent any problems if they take a hit in shipping. We’ll enclose those bags in heavy foil-laminate Mylar bags, which should keep everything secure.

I’ve gotten several emails about lib/prog family members or friends who’ve purchased firearms and started to store food and other emergency supplies. What must it take to make it obvious even to progs that things aren’t going well? What must it take to get a prog to buy a gun? Geez.

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Monday, 28 September 2015

08:39 – This morning, Barbara starts her last partial week at the law firm. Three more days.

Meanwhile, from the news reports it appears that Europe is in its last partial year of being European. Some pushback against the flood of muslim scum invaders has begun, but it’s going to be much too little, much too late. And Merkel and most of the other EU “leaders” are not just acquiescing with this invasion, but are actively encouraging it. The signs of what’s to come are already evident, with muslims protesting Oktoberfest and demanding that such celebrations cease, and attacking decent European people on the streets. The barbarians are indeed inside the gates. At least the eastern EU countries understand what’s going on and what’s at stake, but the other EU heads of government refuse to listen.

Perhaps the UK can save itself, but only perhaps. There won’t always be an England, I’m afraid.

10:02 – Email from a reader who’s been saving 2-liter soda bottles to use for long-term food storage, and has a good question. She says once they’re washed and rinsed with dilute bleach to sanitize them they’re fine for storing water, which she’s doing, but she’d like to use some of them for storing rice and other bulk staples. The problem is that just inverting them and leaving them to drain doesn’t get all of the water out. Depending on the relative humidity of your home and how much air circulation you have, it can take a week or two for them to dry out completely.

The solution is to use a food-grade drying agent to remove the last of the moisture. The drying agent we use is ordinary rice. You can dry it in the oven on low for half an hour or so if you want to, but it works fine straight out of the bag. Get the bottles as drying as you can by draining them inverted and then shaking out droplets. Then add a cup of ordinary rice to the bottle, cap it, and shake it to bring the rice grains into contact with the inner surface of the bottle. You can use that one cup of rice to dry several bottles. Each time, dump the rice back into the cup and bang the bottle to release any stuck grains. After you’ve done the last bottle, recover the rice and cook it for dinner. Problem solved.

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Tuesday, 15 September 2015

09:14 – I sent in the state and federal estimated taxes yesterday. Grrrrr.

Barbara suggested last evening that given the several burglaries we’ve had in the neighborhood, I should start locking the front main door when I walk Colin. Colin and I just spend 10 or 15 minutes each time going up and down the block, so we’re never out of sight of the house and always within 175 yards of the front door. Colin can cover that distance in under 10 seconds, and the sight of a 70-pound dog charging flat out would certainly disconcert most intruders. Even so, I think she’s right, so I’m now locking the door each time we’re away. I don’t feel at all threatened in our neighborhood, but it is better to be safe.

She said it’d only be for a couple of weeks, because after her last day of work she’ll be at home most days. I disagree. If I leave the house and she’s here alone, I want her to lock me out. At least the glass storm door should be locked at all times. Otherwise, she could walk out of the bedroom or her office and find an intruder in the house with no warning.

I’m building and shipping science kits, as usual.

10:58 – Big surprise. Hungary is discovering that those hordes of muslim invaders are cutting through their razor-wire fence. I have zero military experience, and I could have told them that a fence is useless unless it’s defended. Hungary needs to set up machine-gun emplacements about every 300 to 400 meters and order those manning the emplacements to open fire without warning on anyone who tries to come over, under, or through the fence. It would also help to build a second fence about 100 meters inside Hungarian territory and sow the dead zone between the fences with a lot of land mines. Of course, that’s also what the US should be doing on our border with Mexico, and we haven’t done it either.

14:43 – Here’s irony:

fema-sandy-closed-2

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Monday, 14 September 2015

08:05 – We’re having definite signs of the approaching autumn. It was 50F (10C) when Colin and I went out the first time this morning.

Barbara made a Krusteaz cinnamon swirl crumb cake yesterday. We both liked it better than the pastries she gets at the supermarket, so I stuck a few boxes of it in my Walmart cart for the next time I place an order with them.

August turned out to be slower than expected for science kit sales. Our August revenue was only about 75% of the August 2014 revenue. This month, on the other hand, although we’re less than halfway through the month we’re already at 100% of September 2014 revenue. Things go up and down.

Another cop shot to death by a young black man, this one yesterday in Kentucky. Now is not a good time to be a cop. Their rules of engagement really suck. If they shoot a millisecond too soon, they’re liable to be in a world of hurt; if they shoot a millisecond too late, they end up on a slab in the morgue. This will not end well.

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Thursday, 3 September 2015

08:08 – The morning paper reports that a company called RealtyTrac has released its 2015 U.S. Natural Disaster Housing Risk Report, which evaluates the natural risks facing US counties. As far as I can see, it’s completely bogus. It ranks the county where we live as high risk overall because we are supposedly in danger from hurricanes and wildfires, which we aren’t, particularly. Certainly no more so than the counties to our west, north, and east, all of which are rated as lower risks. Give me a break.

Work on science kits continues. All of the biology kits we have in stock are now spoken for, so I need to build more today.

More interesting stuff. The racist demagogue scum Farrakhan calls for 10,000 volunteers from his black muslim scum followers to stalk and kill white people. Interestingly, there have been no calls from white people for 1,000,000 volunteers to stalk and kill black muslim scum. H/T to OFD.

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