Wednesday, 28 December 2016

By on December 28th, 2016 in personal, science kits

10:34 – Barbara is at the gym this morning and will be volunteering all afternoon at the Friends of the Library bookstore. When I took Colin out this morning, it was 20F (11C) colder than it was yesterday morning.

We got several hundred chemical bottles filled yesterday, with more to do tomorrow. The bottles are already labeled and waiting, but I need to make up half a dozen chemical solutions for them this afternoon. We’re short of 15/415 caps for the 15 mL bottles, but I have a case of 10,000 of those arriving tomorrow.

I also need to do year-end stuff, including orders for things I want to get purchased so they count as current-year expenses.


81 Comments and discussion on "Wednesday, 28 December 2016"

  1. nick flandrey says:

    Looking at a couple of year end expenses myself. Just heard from my renter, and there’s repair work there to either do this week or next.

    Surprisingly, I’m selling on ebay. I did three sales so far today, and two yesterday. I thought this week would be absolutely dead.

    Speaking of bottle filling, just sold some electronic pipettes. Now if I can only get the photospectrometer sold…..

    n

    wow, make that 4 sales so far today.

  2. Dave Hardy says:

    27 here and a winta weathah advisory is in effect for the next couple of days, as we will likely see on and off snow showers and an accumulation of several inches, maybe, by Friday. About as newsworthy as the death of wassername, but traffic in the area sometimes gets fouled up by derps from outta-state and our own cretins who never learned to drive during inclement weather.

    Back to errands and chores that I can get done, I guess. Exciting.

  3. Dave Hardy says:

    And here is where a lot of the activist progs and SJWs and commies get their tips and information in the media and on the innernet:

    https://antifascistnews.net/2016/12/27/the-complete-anti-fascist-reading-list/

    Useful for learning how they “think” and also a quick guide to the sites and readings they frequent; C-Span??

    I hasten to add that these are their overt communications; the hardcore fuckers still operate via cells and under the radar.

  4. Dave says:

    I hope everyone enjoyed the last five days more than I did. In the last five days I went to three funerals. The youngest person to die was 78. The other two were in their 80s and had long battles with dementia. The two days without funerals were great.

  5. nick flandrey says:

    77F and 85%RH. Overcast.

    I’ve got some stuff I’d like to spray paint, but it’s been too humid for the last few days.

    Had a pop up thunderstorm last night. I was thinking about checking in on a 2m net that someone has been after me to join in (working the meatspace component) but decided to disconnect the lightning rods attached to the expensive electronics…..

    People always ask how they can find like minded individuals in meatspace. Taking a CERT class is a good opening as tons of preppers are taking advantage of the free training. Ham radio is another good way.

    Most hams are also at least half assed preppers, and a lot of the recent growth in ham licensing is due to preppers getting their tickets. The radio net above is a good example. I had a guy come to pick up some Craigslist items, and he had a ham radio antenna on his truck. I said “hey that’s a lot of antennas on your truck!” and he replied that he was a ham…. That was a good opening to talk about radios, etc, and he clued me to a net hosted by a local radio club I wasn’t aware of. I’m sure that there will be several preppers in that group, and a number of EMCOMM (emergency communications) guys. I may not “out” myself as a prepper, but it definitely gives me some real life contacts who live locally, that share at least one of my interests.

    n

  6. nick flandrey says:

    Another data point on the economy:

    Delta CANCELS $4billion order for 18 Boeing 787 Dreamliners as top airlines cut back on service in response to falling airfares

    Delta Air Lines Inc said on Tuesday that in agreement with Boeing Co it would cancel an order for 18 787 Dreamliner aircraft
    Order is valued at more than $4billion at current list prices
    Airline said that it ‘will continue to take delivery of new 737-900ER aircraft through 2019 as two orders totaling 120 of the narrowbody jet are fulfilled’
    Cancellation comes as airlines seek to slow flight capacity growth and in some instances shrink existing service in response to falling airfares

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4069602/Delta-cancel-order-18-Boeing-787-Dreamliner-aircraft.html

    One would think that the ‘fabulous, great, growing economy’ of the current administration, coupled with low oil prices, would be great news for the airlines, with a glowing future ahead.

    Guess not.

    I say, want to know what people REALLY think? Look where they are spending their hard earned cash. In this case, it’s NOT on increased capacity, or fuel savings. And it looks as if they might be worried about the increased debt too.

    n

    ADDED- not just boeing aircraft either

    “Delta said earlier this year that it would defer the delivery of four A350s by a year or two from 2018 to make the schedule ‘more consistent with (the) expected pace of international market improvement’.”

  7. Miles_Teg says:

    Fun in South Australia…

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-28/sa-weather-adelaide-traffic-lights-down-floods-highest-rainfall/8150464

    41C on Christmas Day, then this storm hit and temps dropped and we lost power in many areas. I only lost power for two seconds, others will be facing 48 hours with no electricity or hot showers.

  8. nick flandrey says:

    One more reason to abandon Google search for anything serious.

    Google alters results for people searching the word Holocaust following stinging criticism that it led to neo-Nazi and denial websites

    Top result for people was an article by white supremacist site Stormfront
    The article was entitled ’10 reasons why the Holocaust didn’t happen’
    Google suffered stinging criticism after this result was discovered
    It has now moved this article so it no long appears first in the US and UK

    By Charlie Moore For Mailonline

    Published: 12:03 EST, 27 December 2016 | Updated: 16:41 EST, 27 December 2016

    e-mail

    678
    shares

    35

    View comments

    Google has altered results for people searching the Holocaust after stinging criticism that it led them to neo-Nazi and denial websites.

    The top result for people who searched ‘Did the Holocaust happen’? was an article by white supremacist site Stormfront entitled: ’10 reasons why the Holocaust didn’t happen’.

    Google has now moved this article so it no long appears first in the US and UK.

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4068690/Google-alters-results-people-searching-word-Holocaust-following-stinging-criticism-led-neo-Nazi-denial-websites.html

    Ignore the Holocaust denial part.

    Google is actively altering search results. They do it in other countries under .gov requirements, they do it here for their own political reasons, and now for purely PC reasons. You CAN NOT trust their results.

    And we see the lefty progression at work here too. First it’s under protest, then for their own reasons, now for others’ trivial reasons. (rare, accepted, commonplace, required)

    And in this case it’s particularly stupid as anyone asking that question is in fact looking for denial sites.

    n

    added- and particularly ineffective. Of the 13M results to that search, the top six results are articles about the changes, and the Stormfront post drops to 8, still on the first page. This fail goes along with a MASSIVE awareness boost for Stormfront.

    fail fail fail

  9. Dave Hardy says:

    I’ve been trying out startpage as a Google alternative, but have also been using DuckDuckGo for some time now.

    “…anyone asking that question is in fact looking for denial sites.

    I briefly tried having a rational political conversation with Princess over the Xmas break and brought up the misuse of language for political reasons, as in how the Left has co-opted the words “denial” and “denier,” previously used in conjunction with “The Holocaust,” to mean climate change/warming deniers, thus making them just as “evil.”

    It became clear pretty quickly that she does think climate change “deniers” are as bad as Holocaust “deniers.” That’s how easily the Left has brainwashed successive generations, primarily through their misuse of language and constant repetition of these memes, in all media and our miseducation systems. I saw it would be pointless to get into yet another extended argument where she (and others I’ve known) simply gets louder, more boisterous and vehement, in a variation of the child’s tantrum of putting his or her hands over their ears and screaming “I can’t hear you!!!”

    Added: (x-posted w/Mr. Nick, who added, lol) Yes, and by virtue of them repeatedly hammering us over the head with “denier” and “denial” stuff and other of their pet projects, they’ve shot themselves in the foot, because people get sick and tired and annoyed with hearing it and take the opposite tack. With the climate stuff they tune it out or they read up on it themselves and ask pertinent questions that the warmists don’t wanna hear. With Stormfront, sure, now countless other innernet searches are aware of them and gee, that looks kinda interesting, doesn’t it? Or not.

  10. lynn says:

    “Intel Core i7-7700K Kaby Lake Processor Overclocked to 7GHz”
    http://www.pcmag.com/news/350637/intel-core-i7-7700k-kaby-lake-processor-overclocked-to-7ghz

    At the speed of light = 299,792,458 m/s, 7 Ghz = 0.04 m per cycle. Or 1.68 inches/cycle.

    Not much room for error there.

  11. lynn says:

    Looking at a couple of year end expenses myself. Just heard from my renter, and there’s repair work there to either do this week or next.

    One of my tenants is planning on moving out on Jan 31. I have yet to find a new tenant. And the current tenant does not have his “new” warehouse purchased yet. He is trying to an owner finance deal where he pays $100K down and the owner carries the other $200K at 6%. I advised him to go to a bank but he prefers the owner finance. Less paperwork.

    And I still have to replace the warehouse outside lights. 23 foot (7 m) off the ground. I need a manlift ! The wife does not agree.

  12. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    That’s the speed of light in a vacuum. It’s slower passing through matter. Your 1.68″ becomes more like 1″.

  13. DadCooks says:

    Today’s HopeNChange cartoon says it all, once again:
    http://hopenchangecartoons.blogspot.com/2016/12/putting-pos-in-potus.html

    Obuttwad and his ass-lickers/cock-suckers are doing their best to foment trouble in the world if not an outright real war. If there was anyone in the Congress who had even one cajone we would be in the middle of the most extensive and serious impeachment proceedings involving the entire administration. Maybe time for a Citizens’ Tribunal, but that ain’t gonna happen as it would be considered a coup/revolution and Obuttwad’s Black Shirts would protect their Mullah.

    I had Kerry’s speech on the tube (FNC), but the sound turned off. The quotes at the bottom of the screen showed an absolute two-faced idiot who is causing trouble and blaming it on Israel. I still firmly believe that Netanyahu cannot wait until Trump takes over so he can release a retribution against the Arabs and the other enemies of Israel the likes of which has never been seen before. Do not underestimate a true Jew.

  14. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    “I need a manlift”

    Why not just stand on top of your RV?

  15. nick flandrey says:

    Another example of “learned helplessness” which is postulated elsewhere as a goal of the current school system:

    “‘My school bus driver is sleeping… hurry I’m really scared’: Desperate texts and photos children sent their parents after their school bus driver fell ASLEEP and ‘nearly crashed’

    Connecticut school bus driver Paul Pixley, 55, charged with 30 counts of risk of injury to a minor
    Pixley is accused of repeatedly dozing off behind the wheel while dropping of school children on the afternoon of December 16
    Kids took photos apparently showing Pixley operating bus with his eyes closed
    Police were called to the scene by a student and stopped the bus

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4070744/Hurry-m-really-scared-desperate-texts-photos-children-sent-parents-school-bus-driver-fell-ASLEEP-nearly-crashed-tree.html

    All those kids capable of taking selfies and using a phone, and there is NOT ONE mention of a kid trying to WAKE THIS GUY. NO, they took a picture instead, even though they believed their lives to be in danger.

    NO mention of every kid getting off the bus on it’s next stop.

    NO parent told the kid to do either thing, one called to complain to the school, and when that was fruitless, had her daughter call 911.

    WTF is wrong with people? CALL THE COPS FIRST! Get off the damn bus! Try to wake the freaking guy!

    n

  16. Dave Hardy says:

    WRT Israel, etc., I have no dawg in that fight and couldn’t care less. A pox on them all over there. Bring our troops home, close the bases, quit selling weapons to them AND their enemies at the same time, and give it all up as a bad job, finally. I didn’t murder any Jews and Israel is not gonna save Christianity. As we’re leaving the area, I’m not averse to having an “accident” occur with bomb bay doors over Mecca, Medina and Riyadh.

    WTF is wrong with people? CALL THE COPS FIRST! Get off the damn bus! Try to wake the freaking guy!

    I keep saying, but nobody really believes me, that more and more peeps actually live in a different fucking reality than us Normals do. Or they flit in and out of some other dimension.

  17. SteveF says:

    I hope everyone enjoyed the last five days more than I did.

    Most of the last week has been craptastic for me. No one’s died, but that’s only because my self control is excellent.

  18. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    I really wouldn’t care if someone just walked up and shot this guy in the face. The world would be better off without him.

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/25/1614376/-Why-Trump-voters-are-not-welcome-in-my-house-this-holiday

  19. Greg Norton says:

    “Intel Core i7-7700K Kaby Lake Processor Overclocked to 7GHz”

    I’m still running a Q6600 as my primary desktop.

    Back when we started our sentence -er- tenure in Portland, Intel seemed to go into “navel gazing” mode regarding ARM. Lots of layoffs and hiring freezes at their facilities in the area, and their funk continued for several years while the company made a run at phones/tablet processors.

  20. Miles_Teg says:

    I’m still running a CDC Cyber 180-850 as my desktop. The air conditioning bill is hell.

    Down in the garage I have a VAX 11-780 to work the garage door. It works, some of the time.

  21. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    Heh. For a long time, I had a DEC PDP/8 with RL-01/02 disc packs and VT-1xx terminals, but I finally got rid of it all.

  22. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    The difference is, you’re kidding. I never kid.

  23. lynn says:

    “I need a manlift”

    Why not just stand on top of your RV?

    Nope, no RV here. One of my guys used to live in an RV but he moved to an apartment and sold his RV a year ago. The lack of insulation in his walls made it difficult to air condition above 90 F.

    Note to self: try the buying an RV for use as a manlift on the wife. See how far that gets me.

  24. lynn says:

    “Blizzard to bury New England under feet of snow”
    http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2016/12/28/winter-storm-new-england-snow/95912870/

    Looks like it is going to suck to be OFD this weekend.

    A potential question that you never want to hear from your grand kids. “Where were you when the glaciers formed in New England ?”

  25. lynn says:

    “Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right”
    http://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2016/12/27

  26. lynn says:

    41C on Christmas Day, then this storm hit and temps dropped and we lost power in many areas. I only lost power for two seconds, others will be facing 48 hours with no electricity or hot showers.

    41 C (106 F) and you want a hot shower ?

  27. Miles_Teg says:

    “The difference is, you’re kidding. I never kid.”

    Sure you do. You once said that humans should not have sex with animals, then followed up saying you were kidding. Animals were chattel.

  28. SteveF says:

    The RV wouldn’t be tall enough to get you to 23′. What you need to do is park an RV under the light, then put a couple of sawhorse atop the RV, then put some plywood on the sawhorses, then put a stepladder on the plywood, then you and your wife climb up on the RV, then your wife climbs up on your shoulders, then you climb the stepladder and balance on the very top, then your wife tells you she forgot the new lightbulb, then you and she climb back down, then one of you grab the lightbulb, then you climb all the way back up again, then your wife tells you she doesn’t have the screwdriver, then you both climb back down, then you curse up a storm while climbing the stepladder for the third time with your wife on your shoulders, then your wife says “Well, if you’re not going to be grateful for my help then I’m not doing it.”

    On the minus side, the light still won’t be changed.
    On the plus side, you’ll have an RV, and you didn’t fall and break anything.

  29. SteveF says:

    then followed up saying you were kidding

    Much to Miles_Teg’s relief. He’s been a ba-a-a-a-ad boy.

  30. lynn says:

    The RV wouldn’t be tall enough to get you to 23′. What you need to do is park an RV under the light, then put a couple of sawhorse atop the RV, then put some plywood on the sawhorses, then put a stepladder on the plywood, then you and your wife climb up on the RV, then your wife climbs up on your shoulders, then you climb the stepladder and balance on the very top, then your wife tells you she forgot the new lightbulb, then you and she climb back down, then one of you grab the lightbulb, then you climb all the way back up again, then your wife tells you she doesn’t have the screwdriver, then you both climb back down, then you curse up a storm while climbing the stepladder for the third time with your wife on your shoulders, then your wife says “Well, if you’re not going to be grateful for my help then I’m not doing it.”

    Sounds complicated. I don’t do complicated very well. And the wife weighs almost as much as I do nowadays.

    I do have a 30 foot ladder. But the last time I used it, I swore never again. And that was around 20 years ago.

    I need a manlift.

  31. lynn says:

    “The Climate Science Challenge”
    http://blog.dilbert.com/post/155073242136/the-climate-science-challenge

    “Remind your scientist that as far as you know there has never been a multi-year, multi-variable, complicated model of any type that predicted anything with useful accuracy. Case in point: The experts and their models said Trump had no realistic chance of winning.”

  32. nick flandrey says:

    Rent one of the towable boom lifts from Home Depot or Sun Rentals. They are cheap compared to falling off a ladder. The next time I have to repaint my rental house, I’m doing it all from a boom lift.

    n

  33. Dave Hardy says:

    “I really wouldn’t care if someone just walked up and shot this guy in the face.

    He’s gonna bail out of his “tennis group.” Boy, that’ll show them! He has a very punchable face, I’ll say that; smug, pretentious, arrogant.

    “No one’s died, but that’s only because my self control is excellent.

    Ditto.

    “Note to self: try the buying an RV for use as a manlift on the wife. See how far that gets me.

    ¡Buena suerte amigo!

    “Looks like it is going to suck to be OFD this weekend.

    It often sucks to be me, anyway, hombre. But the local weather.gov forecast for tomorrow into the weekend shows us only getting a max total of six or seven inches. We won’t know, of course, until whatever it is hits, because we have our very own little microclimate here on the northern VT shore of Lake Champlain. Could be flurries or could be Apocalypse.

    ““Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right”

    Originally by Gerry Rafferty and Stealer’s Wheel and made infamous in “Reservoir Dogs.”

    “On the plus side, you’ll have an RV, and you didn’t fall and break anything.”

    I like the way you think; always looking on the sunny side of life.

    The coming tRump Administration appointments:

    http://takimag.com/article/how_to_think_trump_joe_bob_briggs/print#axzz4UATzqbj8

  34. nick flandrey says:

    Stay away from Daily Koz to keep your sanity. Also HuffPo.

    The crazy is strong with them.

    And that guy’s tennis group is probably thinking “All we had to do was vote trump and he’d leave us alone???”

    I like his aside about repugnant hillarity. Even her supporters think she’s toxic.

    n

  35. SteveF says:

    Sounds complicated.

    But of course! Complicated is best! That’s why calling some engineering solution a Rube Goldberg fix is the highest compliment.

    And the wife weighs almost as much as I do nowadays.

    So? You’re only two or three years older than I, IIRC. If that’s a problem, it means you need to hit the gym a bit more often. Or at least do a few deep knee bends while holding your wife.

  36. nick flandrey says:

    Anyone need a giant high power magnet for their mad science lab??

    http://www.lsoauctions.com/details.cfm?itemnum=1074404709

    I can’t find a match for it, but it’s gotta be a monster.

    n

  37. lynn says:

    The coming tRump Administration appointments:

    http://takimag.com/article/how_to_think_trump_joe_bob_briggs/print#axzz4UATzqbj8

    He had me at, “NEW YORK—I don’t wanna say Donald Trump has contempt for established rules, but he’s planning his third term.”

    And his Secretary of the Treasury might be viewed as somewhat controversial.

  38. rick says:

    Useful for learning how they “think” and also a quick guide to the sites and readings they frequent; C-Span?

    Saul Alinsky (the same one who mentored Obama) said that, if you want to overthrow the U.S. system you should not be reading “Peoples Daily” but rather should be reading “The Wall Street Journal”. Know how your enemy thinks.

  39. JimL says:

    I like to look at Daily Kos and Huffington Post. Once every few weeks is sufficient. I don’t agree with most of their positions, but I do understand many of them.

    RE: the 23′ light. Get Ralphie’s Red Rider & shoot it out. Then mount a light at a more sensible height.

    Looking forward to some of that New England snow. No kinder this weekend, so I get to do some real skiing. I plan to make maximum use of the season pass.

  40. lynn says:

    So? You’re only two or three years older than I, IIRC. If that’s a problem, it means you need to hit the gym a bit more often. Or at least do a few deep knee bends while holding your wife.

    I don’t even do deep knee bends holding just me up. That rebuilt left knee talks to me a lot lately. And both shoulders talk to me too. I thought I was tough a couple of years ago and decided to do a couple of pullups at the exercise area while walking a couple of miles in Norman, OK. I jumped up and grabbed the bar and started the pullup. I hear this horrendous popping noise from the right shoulder and let go. I laid on the snow for a while trying not to cry and then got up and finished my walk back to the hotel. Did I mention it was snowing ? Yes, I am now a pansy. I used to bench press 330 lbs when I was in college, now I just press myself away from the table.

    The dog and I went on our “daily” two mile walk last night for the first time in almost a week. She and I were really moving slow when we got up this morning. I woke her up and then I could tell she was thinking about the odds of holding her bladder much longer. Or maybe she was thinking about her beef stick reward.

  41. SteveF says:

    That rebuilt left knee talks to me a lot lately.

    Yah, I hear that. Mine wasn’t rebuilt — it’s bad enough to hurt but not quite bad enough to work on. On the plus side, putting a load on it doesn’t usually make it worse so long as I’m careful.

    I jumped up and grabbed the bar and started the pullup. I hear this horrendous popping noise from the right shoulder and let go.

    Yep, hear that, too. Since I trashed my shoulder a couple years ago, I’ve regained “90% mobility” and most of the strength, but there are some stresses and motions that no longer work.

    That’s the only real sign that I’m aging. I used to heal from anything or recover from any exertion by the next day. Now, not so much.

  42. Dave Hardy says:

    Healing up with anything as I get older and ditto with Mrs. OFD, takes way longer than just a few years ago. I nicked my lower lip area a week or so ago with the electric razor gizmo and it’s only just now healed up. Cuts, scrapes, bruises, all take far longer to heal. I haven’t had a cold or the flu in a long time but am not looking forward to the next episode as it will last for weeks. I do everything I can to avoid crap like that and at the very first signs I load up on Vitamin C and fluids and eat like a pig and make sure I get plenty of sleep and fresh air.

    WRT to reading the opposition stuff, I figure we get that pretty much all the time throughout each and every day in this culture now, so I avoid it as much as I can. I have a pretty good idea of how they think, and their least endearing characteristic is that they never stop with their nasty shit and if something doesn’t work, they double down on it and to hell with the consequences for other people. They are indeed our enemies and the time is coming when they will be dealt with as such.

    Listening to the scanner just now; peeps are dimeing each other out on the interstate! A vehicle cutting people off and tailgating, w/plate number, etc., but gee whiz, it comes back No Record, and got off at Exit 19, unknown direction of travel. I approve! Call these fuckers in to the staties. Doubtful anything will come of this one, as by the time Trooper Jane Doe gets there, the perp will have disappeared somewhere in the Colchester/Milton area during rush hour.

    Another local PD call was for an elderly female out in the street without her walker, unstable, and yelling and swearing at passing motorists. That’ll be me in a few more years. “Elderly male out in the street, limping without his cane or walker, tossing Molotov cocktails at passing vehicles…very unstable….”

  43. DadCooks says:

    Let me fix that for you @OFD:

    “Elderly nude male out in the street, limping without his cane or walker, tossing Molotov cocktails at passing vehicles…very unstable….”

    It could also be me on a highjacked supermarket scooter. 😉

  44. SteveF says:

    I have a pretty good idea of how they think emote

    FIFY

  45. Dave Hardy says:

    Do you use yer own scooter or just the ones that stores have available? I’m not there yet, and in the meantime wanna get going again with a bicycle this coming spring. And wife will learn me about horseback riding and I’ll learn her on the firearms.

    So instead of humping a ruck on foot through a hostile wasteland up here, I’ll be riding. One way or another, once the gas pumps stop.

    You want cynical? I believe our lords temporal would fabricate some kind of energy crisis to shut down the pumps even if plenty of gas was available. They’ve played games with gas and oil for decades now; I remember back in the early 70s when I was working for Uncle in Kalifornia on top of Mt. Tamalpais. We could see the cars lined up for blocks on odd and even days w/license plates and then look out to sea and observe a dozen tankers just sitting out there offshore. A manufactured crisis, blamed on OPEC, of course.

    “FIFY”

    Thanks. I must have lost my head again for a minute. Of course it’s not thinking that they do. That requires effort; much easier to yell slogans or weep inconsolably.

  46. DadCooks says:

    Do you use yer own scooter or just the ones that stores have available? I’m not there yet, and in the meantime wanna get going again with a bicycle this coming spring. And wife will learn me about horseback riding and I’ll learn her on the firearms.

    Don’t have my own scooter yet but I am doing the research. I was surprised that you can get a good heavy duty one for under 2 grand (http://www.1800wheelchair.com/category/heavy-duty-mobility-scooters/). Drive is a brand name sold by a variety places, including Walmart. It’s interesting to see the tremendous mark-up on the scooters.

    Would also need to have a scooter lift (http://www.1800wheelchair.com/category/mobility-scooter-lifts/) for the back of the van.

    I have also looked at electric power assisted bicycles as an option.

    My knees and ankles have no cartilage left in them. It seems I have an autoimmune thing going on that attacks and dissolves the cartilage in all my joints starting with the main weigh bearing joints. Replacements will not work as it will open up the bones to attack. Not a common thing and unfortunately too many make-a-quick-buck orthopedic surgeons (particularly the “new school” ones) will replace the joints claiming you’ll get a few years use before you are totally wheelchair bound.

    Considering that when I came down with polio at 22-months the doctors said I would never walk I think I did pretty good up until about 10 years ago. This autoimmune thing is believed to be one of the long term consequences of polio. First the disease destroys your nerves and then years later it starts attacking other body parts.

  47. MrAtoz says:

    I’d go for one of the “power chairs.” Then you can pretend you’re flying a spaceship. Get one of those double wide ones and just plow through anybody that gets in your way. Plus, you can spin around on a dime when someone comes up on your six.

  48. lynn says:

    Finally got someone to come by today and look at my office warehouse. And it was off the free CraigsList ad ! Which, I just realized has no pictures so I have a job to do tomorrow.
    http://houston.craigslist.org/off/5925946456.html

  49. lynn says:

    The VA gave my father-in-law one of the power chairs several years ago. He got on it and gave it full power in the the foyer of his house, promptly crashing into the wall and turning over. He won’t touch it now.

  50. MrAtoz says:

    Cankles keeps popping up by herself. Where’s Larry? On Pedo-Island?

    I watched the “Hillary Clinton – Crooked to the Core” vid on my iPad at Church (Our Lady of the Dauber). Geez, why isn’t BJ in Federal Prison? I can’t believe the amount of coke he brought into AR. I laughed at the investigator talking about the multiple times Larry ended up in the hospital with coked out sinuses.

  51. Dave Hardy says:

    @Mr.DadCooks; I’m very sorry to hear about the progression of what’s messing up your joints and ability to move around; I whine about my piddly back problem but it’s nothing compared to what you’ve been dealing with. It’s amazing you still have a good sense of humor and a lot of fight in you. I hope and pray that something can be done to help ASAP.

    I’ll go on a starvation diet if I have to in order to lose 20 pounds off my gut and get back into exercising again and getting outside, winter or no winter. And I’ll consider myself deuced fortunate to at least make it as long as my dad (71) and granddad (79) did. Buggers checked out with early-onset Alzheimer’s and cancer, respectively. In my family it’s been senility, cancer and gunshot since 1912 or so (great-uncle shot as a kid in a gas station robbery; uncle’s brother shot by his estranged wife with a .25 semi-auto piece of shit pistol that she emptied the magazine of and then reloaded and emptied that one into him; and a cousin of my mom’s shot and killed in a domestic not that long ago, by her ‘Nam vet estranged husband.) Fun times down in Fairhaven and New Beffa.

    I note that quite a few people seem to check out with something or other as they get older and they’ve lost interest in stuff, don’t get excited about anything, don’t get angry or joyful, and just coast until they croak. My parents used to listen to classical music, read a lot, take us places, and then that all seemed to go away. And they were gone, too.

    Well, tempus fugit irreparabile

  52. Dave Hardy says:

    “I can’t believe the amount of coke he brought into AR. I laughed at the investigator talking about the multiple times Larry ended up in the hospital with coked out sinuses.

    He was a total coke junkie and either directed or enabled the importation, shipment and distribution of massive amounts of coke and pot while he was Governor of Arkansas. People got killed behind this shit, while he was hoovering coke and messing around with HIV-positive whores and trannies down there, often in threesomes. He is a rapist, pedophile, narcotics addict and distributor, war criminal and traitor. Amazing he’s lived this long, really. I think he’s also HIV-positive and has syphilis. Their millions will stave off death longer than for any Dirt People who do this kind of stuff but he’s not long for this world.

    Cankles is also not long for this world; between the Parkinson’s and alcoholism and obesity.

    I keep pushing Roger Stone’s books; on the Clinton Crime Family; LBJ (another monster: rapist, murderer and war criminal), and the Bush Crime Family. Yeah, that’s right; the Bush clan is up to their armpits in shady and nefarious activities since even before the original patriarch, Prescott Bush. They’re less obvious than the Clintons but entwined with them nevertheless. Why else would the senile old bats vote for Cankles? And the sons were also bigtime dope smugglers and dealers, mainly in Florida.

    I really don’t see what is different about this country from any other banana republic with a nomenclatura of slimy crooks, sexual deviates, junkies and murderers.

  53. DadCooks says:

    @OFD, thanks for the thoughts. I still have it better than many.

    A long time ago I came across this Indian (as in India) Proverb:
    “I had no shoes and complained, until I met a man who had no feet.”

    I appreciate the kindness of folks and do my best to ignore the bastards.

    Which brings me to an Arab Proverb:
    “The dogs bark but the caravan moves on”

  54. Ray Thompson says:

    My parents used to listen to classical music, read a lot, take us places, and then that all seemed to go away. And they were gone, too.

    Indeed. Grandfather owned a road grader and worked on a contract basis for multiple clients. He was a very good operator and in high demand. He eventually retired and would work four or five days a month for some of his former best clients. Small jobs that lasted a day or two. Kept him interested.

    But he would forget to bill some of the people, intentional or not we don’t know. Several would just send him a check for his services by making up their own bill. Not a big deal as all he cost him to do a job was a tank of diesel and back then that was probably only 50 gallons of fuel at maybe $0.10 a gallon (no tax). So it basically cost him $5.00 out of pocket doing something he enjoyed.

    But his wife got pissed off and she was a mean old bitch when she wanted. She made him sell his machine. His mind tumbled after that event. Family was really pissed off at his wife for forcing the sale.

    Every once in a while one of his past clients would call and want my grandfather to run one of their machines for a day. When he came back from the job his mind was back to almost normal. Over the next few days his mind would start going back to his forgetful state.

    Then when the property next to his sold a surveying error of 3 feet was discovered. This error made his workshop over the property line by 4 inches. New property owner demanded that intrusion be removed and thus my grandfathers shop was torn down. His mind tumbled even further and never recovered.

    The family was royally pissed off at the neighbor. It was offered that the neighbor be paid for the encroachment until my grandfathers property sold at which time the building would be destroyed. No such luck. They were a bunch of assholes who wanted the property for their horses. Norco CA is a city where zoning allows, and encourages horses.

    So the family would gather fruit and let it rot and ferment. Then when the stuff was really ripe we would place it next to the fence where the horse could get to the fermented stuff. The horses would consume the stuff, get drunk, and stagger around. The neighbor complained loudly to which we would respond that it was my grandfather’s property up to the line (properly surveyed) and we could put anything we wanted on that property. If his horses wanted to eat the stuff, too bad. It is amazing how much alcohol fermenting figs (encouraged by some yeast) can produce and my grandfather had lots of fig trees.

  55. nick flandrey says:

    Good fences make good neighbors.

    My buddy in SoCal, in a very affluent neighborhood outside LA, got into a dispute with the adjoining property owner. The neighbor pissed him off somehow, and it was discovered that the neighbor’s new fence had all the posts on my buddy’s property.

    Yep, made him take it out.

    Our rec association was in a property line dispute with a developer for a couple of years. 3 surveys said we were in the wrong, but our board continued to fight it. Meanwhile the developer couldn’t get his financing because of the ongoing dispute. We had to stage a coup and take over the board to come to a settlement with the developer. We ended up giving away a couple thousand square feet, in a one foot strip, for nothing except not getting sued, and we lost the disputed part. If the board had taken the initial offer, we’d have been in much better shape, and maybe even gotten some compensation. People get weird about property lines.

    nick

  56. pcb_duffer says:

    Re: Delta Air Lines, Boeing, & Airbus: It sounds like the high ups at Delta decided that incurring four BILLION dollars in debt for 20 new hulls just didn’t make sense. Better to stick with your older, paid for planes, even if they aren’t as fuel efficient.

    And Lynn, get a man lift. A hour in your local ER is orders of magnitude more costly than an hour’s rental of the proper tool.

  57. lynn says:

    And Lynn, get a man lift. A hour in your local ER is orders of magnitude more costly than an hour’s rental of the proper tool.

    I asked my tenant what he was paying for a towable manlift rental. He said that the rental place was $350/day. Expensive ! Plus I need to rewire the four fixtures (remove the ballast) and buy four LED bulbs (about $150 each). I would like to do one first and try it out but, oh well. Plus he told that a couple of the interior 800 watt bulbs are out too.

  58. Dave Hardy says:

    “People get weird about property lines.

    No chit, amigo. That was one of the main factors in the Salem witchcraft hysteria and “trials” back in 1692-93. Greedy peeps disputing property lines and rousting elderly women out of their homes, like Rebecca Nurse. Or young women like Bridget Bishop.

    So that was sorta hovering in the background, but the initial hysteria was whipped up by Tituba and the teenage grrls, and we all know how easily teenage grrls can go completely wacko at the drop of a hat. Combine that with a public that really did believe in spirits and ‘wonders of the invisible world’ and a possible outbreak of hallucinatory experiences via accidentally fermented rye grain and bingo, witches and warlocks everywhere.

  59. SteveF says:

    And Lynn, get a man lift.

    But then he won’t have an RV at the end of the day. Think, man, think! What’s more important, having an RV that you have just lying around, or the teensy little risk of falling off the stepladder atop the plywood atop the sawhorses atop the RV?

  60. DadCooks says:

    Neighbors today, mostly useless and untrustworthy. Not like the good ol’ days.

    Yes, the good ol’ days really weren’t that good at times, but we had our cowboy heroes of the 1950s (Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, The Lone Ranger, and many more). And don’t forget Captain Kangaroo, Bozo the Clown and Mr. Rodgers.

    It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
    A beautiful day for a neighbor.
    Would you be mine?
    Could you be mine?…

    It’s a neighborly day in this beauty wood,
    A neighborly day for a beauty.
    Would you be mine?
    Could you be mine?…

    I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you.
    I’ve always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

    So, let’s make the most of this beautiful day.
    Since we’re together we might as well say:
    Would you be mine?
    Could you be mine?
    Won’t you be my neighbor?
    Won’t you please,
    Won’t you please?
    Please won’t you be my neighbor?

    This song has no relevance or context in today’s world. It’s screw your neighbor and whoever else you can. Take it all for yourself. Those attitudes are all too prevalent and deep seeded today which will make even the smallest SHTF scenario or TEOTWAWKI more difficult than we may believe. There is no ethics or community left in the majority of the population. How do you prepare for those trusted neighbors who are not so trustworthy when the real stuff happens.

    Trust no one, always vigilant, do not hesitate.

  61. medium wave says:

    What’s wrong with the picture that accompanies this article?

  62. Dave Hardy says:

    There is no ethics or community left in the majority of the population.

    I am not that pessimistic yet, and I am mos def usually a pessimist and cynic. Look again at that Clinton Archipelago map; the majority of the country is outside those “islands,” for one thing, and though I won’t go so far as to say that people are basically good, I do believe that time and experience build trust. But those “islands” are concentrations of urban populations, i.e., cities, and the stuff Selco describes concerning the former Yugoslavia takes place in a large city. Get out and away from those areas and people in the country have to depend on each other even if they hate each others’ guts. I can only see that becoming stronger with time.

    But maybe as the clock runs down and we all go sliding over the precipice, I will have cause to change my mind and believe we’re really in a Hobbesian state of nature, where the hand of every man is raised against every other man. I sincerely hope and pray we don’t end up like that.

    “What’s wrong with the picture that accompanies this article?

    Why, nothing at all! We all know how violent young white and Asian teenagers can be, especially in shopping malls. Thank goodness someone’s come up with a common-sense solution!

    (a more accurate photo might have been taken in Oakland or South Central, but there I go being cynical and possibly rayciss again…)

  63. ech says:

    We all know how violent young white and Asian teenagers can be, especially in shopping malls.

    Well, there are significant problems with White and Asian gangs in Houston. There were at least two Asian gangs at the nearby high school my daughter went to for a while.

  64. Dave Hardy says:

    More pesky teenagers:

    http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article123351274.html

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/news/ct-abn-mall-security-teen-fights-st-1228-20161227-story.html

    OFD remembers the old days, when this sorta shit wouldn’t be tolerated. In Boston, the BPD Tactical Squad would show up in suits with steel-toed shoes and just wade in and kick the living crap out of anybody that didn’t instantly obey police orders or got in their way or sassed them. And God help anyone who assaulted a police officer. Out in the western suburbs, weekend nights in the summer were always a barrel of laffs, when various clubs would have mass brawls out in the parking lots at last call/closing time. All the small towns around a particular incident would send their cops and we’d wade in with billy clubs and tear gas. Usually the state cops would show up in their Gestapo uniforms with dogs and that always ended the festivities PDQ.

    I’m no fan of today’s cop shops and the abuses by police out there, but when mobs of “teens” are wilding throughout a public place, it’s time to roll and kick some ass. And if we don’t want costumed gummint thugs doing the gig, then we need to hire private goons for it and pay them decently. I sure am glad I got out of that line of work 30 years ago; I’d go nuts nowadays, and 90% of the stress, as usual, being from department brass and local political figures.

  65. Dave Hardy says:

    Those cocksuckers are doing as much damage as they can before they leave, out of vicious and hateful spite, just like the Clintons did before them. We hope, of course, that the incoming tRump administration will reverse a bunch of this shit ASAP.

    Three more weeks to go and anything at all can still happen.

    As Mr. DadCooks says, stay extremely vigilant and watch your six at all times. And I add as my usual tedious warning: avoid cities, crowds and “events.” If at all possible.

  66. nick flandrey says:

    That’s the last nail in the coffin for malls if they keep it up. It’s only the teens that spend any money or time at the mall. Unless they hope the illegal aliens will continue shopping there.

    Oh, and blacks.

    By 6pm, our fairly upscale mall seems to be entirely abandoned by whites (who are there during the day). I don’t do much mall shopping but I use their lot when I’m dropping off my outbound shipping. Maybe I’ll do a recon pass this week….

    n

  67. JimL says:

    My next-door neighbor’s mother used to fight with my Grandfather about the property line all the time. It’s at a slant (about 5 degrees) due to the way the old farm was parcelled. When we bought the houses (about 15 years apart), we silently agreed to never discuss it (by simply never discussing it.) I had the deed & lines searched, and found the parcel markers, and know where it is. Frankly, I don’t need the 10′ x 80′ triangle represented by the “lawn” that belongs to me, but looks like my neighbor’s yard.

    Several years ago, he asked if I’d mind if he put up a rail fence between the lots in the (nominally) disputed area. I didn’t mind at all, and helped him get the rocks to accent the fence. I’m told that I’ve ceded my rights to that land by doing that. I’m okay with that, but I don’t believe he’d ever push it. We’re neighbors, and we help each other when we need it. His granddaughter comes over to play with my children, and my kids go over there frequently.

    That’s the way it _should_ be.

  68. Ray Thompson says:

    By 6pm, our fairly upscale mall seems to be entirely abandoned by whites

    When I lived in San Antonio from 1973 to 1988 there were three malls, Ingram, Northstar and Windsor Park. All were nice malls.

    Windsor Park is now closed and was re-purposed as offices. The mall basically got taken over by roving gangs and that drove the shoppers away. Groups of latinos that did nothing but roam and many times harass shoppers. Stores left because no one spending any money and I suspect were losing money from the thefts by the thugs.

    Ingram mall is a hangout for locals, teens mostly and thugs, but still lives on as some people still want to shop there. A lot of the clientele in that area are of the same mindset. That part of SA is a fairly high crime area which I found out when my truck was broken into and the GPS stolen this last October.

    North Star mall still survives as they were able to control the gangs with lots of security throwing the wetbacks out. Basically making it very uncomfortable for the gangs, such gangs moving to Ingram mall.

    Knoxville TN had two nice malls, West Town and East Town. East Town was located in an area that slowly is reducing itself to nothing but blacks and latinos. The mall has had some real crime problems and is just barely hanging on. No one wants to shop in the mall because they don’t feel safe. When you see three or four blacks with pants below their butts, sunglasses indoors, tangled ropes for hair, shuffling in shoes that are not laced (lazy or incompetent?), swaggering to some jigaboo music on the stolen iPod, you tend to move to the other side of aisle. A couple times of that and you just don’t want to go there anymore.

    West Town is doing OK. Population in that area has more people that are further to the middle and right of the bell curve. Mall security is better, the clientele is better. People feel OK shopping in that mall.

    the rental place was $350/day

    Sounds about right. At a rental cost of that rate, maybe taking a couple of days, perhaps getting an electrician to do the job would be a better option. Factor in your time, lack of proper tools, hassle of doing the job, some jobs are better left to people that do that for a living.

    I see where Debbie Reynolds has died one day after her daughter. Not surprising really. Debbie was not in the best of health and losing your child can be enough stress to put the body over the edge.

    I have a cousin that is almost a twin of Debbie Reynolds. My cousin also sings and dances in local theater productions and is really quite talented. But for a stroke of luck or two my cousin could have been Debbie Reynolds.

  69. Ray Thompson says:

    I’m told that I’ve ceded my rights to that land by doing that.

    The property behind my house belongs to the church on side of my house. That land was donated to the church by the lady that owned the property. I have mowed that property for over 25 years. By doing so I can legally claim ownership of the property as I have been maintaining the property in plain site. I mow it because I don’t want an overgrown plot of land behind my house. It only takes about 20 minutes with the mower so it is not a big deal.

    But, this being a small town, if I were to take over the property from a church I would be the scorn of the town. This being in the Bible belt taking anything from a church, even by legal means, would make me lower than Obuttwad’s fungus infested toenails.

    There is a wooded area on the property that I use with the church’s permission to dump my bush trimmings. So I have not pursued any such hostile takeover. Even if I were to do so I would immediately deed the land back to the church with restrictions that the land could never be developed. But even that would piss off most of the people in town. So I don’t.

    Now if that old lady still owned the land I would start take over proceedings as soon as possible.

  70. brad says:

    I wonder if they’ll smash the White House toilets before they leave…

    This is (supposedly) about outlawing gun possession for SSI recipients. The same few taglines are repeated over and over, as one news site after another copies them without actually looking any deeper.

    Damn, I’m as pro-gun as they come, but I find this kind of article utterly counterproductive to the cause. The NRA article has more detail, but puts it way at the bottom, where you only seen it after they’ve vented their collective spleen all over your monitor.

    As I understand what the NRA article says, this proposal will apply to people who have been diagnosed with “a listed mental health impairment” *and* been declared incompetent to manage their own financial affairs. Probably it’s even more restrictive than that, since the NRA is trying to create outrage.

    Frankly, I’m not seeing the problem here. There are certain groups of people who should not be trusted to wield a deadly weapon. When grandpa gets Alzeimhers, there comes a time that you take away his drivers license, and maybe even his axe. Taking away his guns comes along in there somewhere too…

  71. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    I agree, but the important part is that YOU take away their car keys, axe, guns, etc. I’m extremely uncomfortable allowing the government to determine who is and is not to be trusted with guns. Give ’em an inch, and they’ll take a mile. I don’t even think the government should be able to prohibit convicted violent felons from possessing firearms.

  72. SteveF says:

    Brad, the problem is who gets diagnosed as incompetent and under what criteria. And who makes the determination. And who sets the criteria.

    In New York, under Asshole Cuomo’s abhorrent “SAFE ACT”, you’re presumptively incompetent if you see a psychiatrist or psychologist for any reason. Doctors and pharmacists are required to report you to the state govt if you are taking any of a large number of prescription drugs which may have psychotropic effects or which may be used in the treatment of mental illness. Anyone can report you to the state police, in full anonymity, for any kind of “bizarre” or “threatening” or “dangerous” behavior, and there are no consequences for false reports.

    Sounds like the perfect model for any hoplophobic state or federal administration to copy, doesn’t it?

  73. Ray Thompson says:

    the problem is who gets diagnosed as incompetent and under what criteria. And who makes the determination. And who sets the criteria

    I had my aunt declared incompetent. It took a letter from her doctor, not from the government. And it was not that easy to get it done. The government cannot declare you incompetent, only a doctor. Even that can be challenged in a court and then a judge gets involved.

    I suppose some nefarious person, or a vindictive IRS agent could make it work by finding some sleaze bag doctor. In my aunt’s case it was fairly obvious and after going through the paperwork, a couple of doctor visits, I was able to get the declaration. I certainly would not have wanted my aunt to have a weapon of any kind.

    But what about borderline cases? I know some people I think are incompetent but others think they are OK. Is dissenting opinion enough to get a declaration?

    I don’t even think the government should be able to prohibit convicted violent felons from possessing firearms

    Not as a blanket rule. There are some convicted felons who have committed crimes that involved no physical violence or involved weapons. Those people are OK with having guns in my opinion. But the felon who committed a crime with a weapon, or a crime that involved violence, should be banned from ever having a gun. Those people have used a weapon against others and will do it again. (Unless it was against a politician and then they should be reimbursed for the cost of the bullets.)

  74. Brad says:

    Excellent points. True enough, the government will tend to abuse any power it is given. And the DSM is expanding continually, I suppose “being deplorable” will be added as a mental condition soon…

  75. nick flandrey says:

    The problem, as described (I haven’t had a chance to look at what made it thru) is that they made an existing condition – having someone else manage your money – stand in for incompetence, and used that to remove a constitutional RIGHT.

    They used a regulation to abrogate the FREAKING CONSTITUTION.

    not the first time, and not the last, but one more egregious overreach.

    The Amendment says “SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED.” there is no clause that says “unless you’re a felon” or “unless you have a child manage your money” or “unless someone thinks you’re too old.” You get the bad with the good.

    “But the felon who committed a crime with a weapon, or a crime that involved violence, should be banned from ever having a gun. ” NOPE. Again, that isn’t what is says. There are other amendments that detail exceptions or ways to deny the right, but not the 2A. If the founders wanted exceptions, they’d have written them. Besides, Laws don’t stop CRIMINALS from COMMITTING CRIMES. If they did, there wouldn’t have been the original crime. It is EASIER to get an illegal gun than a legal one if you are a criminal, you don’t care about the difference.

    nick

    added- this is the exact same thing they tried with the Veterans Administration.

  76. DadCooks says:

    The fact of the matter is, we have not been as vigilant as we should be and we have allowed our Republic to be taken from us.

    People do not understand that freedom takes vigilance and work, hard work.

    We come here and discuss prepping and the sad state of our Republic, but until the quiet minority gets off their derrieres and is willing to sacrifice all we will continue our slide into deeper and deeper slavery. Our Revolution was fought with less than 20% support of the Colonists. I fear we have far less who are willing to challenge the Oligarchy today.

    The Oligarchy has almost completed the conversion of our Military into a force that will be used to eliminate we who value Freedom.

  77. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    More like 3%.

  78. DadCooks says:

    I was trying to be optimistic 😉

  79. Dave Hardy says:

    It was a smaller percentage than what we were “taught” back there in grade skool, middle skool and high skool, and I guess, sadly, college, but historians argue about who was a true Loyalist or Revolutionary and how many just kinda stood by and went about their business. Same deal with the War Between the States; it didn’t affect 90% of the country and population; people were busy just trying to get through their day.

    The corporate fascist oligarchy has probably completed its subversion of most of the officer ranks from O-4 or O-5 on up, and probably half of the rest. Same situation with the various LE agencies, organizations and departments around the country. Quick example: the police brass has always been in bed with the local political hacks and as just one result, been for more stringent “gun control.” While the rank-and-file don’t, as a rule.

    I think we can figure on maybe 50% of the armed forces and cops will be on our side, and of the rest, most will follow whatever orders they’re issued by what they perceive as their chain of command. Matt Bracken has discussed this in various writings, too.

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