It was 32 degrees. cloudy, and breeze when I took Colin out at 7:45.
I stopped to see him yesterday while I was down in Winston but he was very sleepy. The nurse said this morning they may try to get him up in the chair today. He is responding to commands, still on the breathing support.
Hang in there Barbara, that really does sound good.
Crisp and clear here in Houston at 41F this morning. Lots of stuff to do today. Unfortunately, woke up about 2:30 trying to figure out why, and realized it was because of the severe kidney pain. Took some drugs and went back to bed. Can’t STAY in bed though.
Will be traveling to Fla soon with the family, and I’ve got stuff to do before we go. Still debating whether to carry or not. I might need the weight in my bag for tools to help dad, and the pistol and safe adds 10 pounds. No theme parks this trip.
I’ve got to shut down all my auctions too while out of town. That usually costs me one month to two months of sales. Not sure why, but I think ebay’s search results penalize me somehow when I do.
I’ve been thinking about writing a small engine basic troubleshooting, repair and maintenance post for here, but I’m not an expert. I can usually get things running though, and small engines will make the world go round in a disaster. I have to find the right ‘voice’ if I do.
nick
Oh, neat visualization of global trade at this link:
https://blueshift.io/international-trade.html
n
added- africa really is ‘the dark continent’ with south and central america right behind.
Take a look at the FEMA daily brief for today to see an update on PR and the USVI recovery efforts:
https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/USDHSFEMA/2017/12/12/file_attachments/928050/FEMA%2BDaily%2BOps%2BBriefing%2B12-12-2017.pdf
TL:DR
Still have a long way to go before they are ‘recovered.’
n
Cool link @nick. What a great feeling of power to grab the earth and spin it around, I left it with the North Pole on the right and North America sitting at the top.
I was absent yesterday as our senior cat (Abigail, at least 17 years old) slowly and peacefully passed. My Wife and I took turns holding her in our laps’. We rescued her from the jaws of two pit bulls (that was their last attack). She was the Grand Dame. It was really haunting yesterday as all the other cats sat peacefully in the living room with us as Abbey was passing. I like to think they were paying their last respects. When Abbey passed each of our cats came by in turn for one last touch. Cats do have feelings. This morning is unusually quiet and her favorite chair sits empty.
Thanks for the update @Barbara. Continuing prayers, hope, peace, and love.
@OFD we know you are out there, just don’t like you being incommunicado. Best wishes and prayers for you too. Looking forward to your return.
Will be traveling to Fla soon with the family, and I’ve got stuff to do before we go. Still debating whether to carry or not. I might need the weight in my bag for tools to help dad, and the pistol and safe adds 10 pounds. No theme parks this trip.
I’ve never worried about I-10 or I-75. in FL Gainesville is kinda creepy anymore, but that’s avoided easily enough.
I’ll be in the Tampa and Sarasota areas. Weird mix of boat bum, retirees, and poor white trash outside the city. I’ll be trying to avoid Tampa proper.
n
@dadcooks, sorry to hear about your cat. Lots of domesticated friends passing lately, here and elsewhere that I frequent.
We share our lives with them and imbue them with our love and attention, and it hurts when they pass. People without pets do not understand.
nick
Nick: Please do write that troubleshooting guide. I’m a klutz with machinery and would love to have a simple guide or checklist to go by.
Barbara: Thanks for the regular updates. We are all pulling for him and you.
I’ll be in the Tampa and Sarasota areas. Weird mix of boat bum, retirees, and poor white trash outside the city. I’ll be trying to avoid Tampa proper.
I grew up around Tampa and lived there continuously until 2010. If the real estate bubble didn’t trash East Hillsborough enough, the Amazon warehouse sealed the deal. Riverview is going “slum” fast.
If we go back to FL to live permanently, Tampa Bay is off the list.
Barbara, it sounds like things are slowly proceeding in the right direction. Hang in there, it will get better!
DadCooks, sorry to hear about your little friend. It’s the price we all have to pay for their friendship and love.
In the middle of a move here, suburban to exurban. Still in California. It’s been a bigger job than I remember, but it’s been 25 years since I moved. I’m not the man I was and I have a lot more *stuff*!
Mr. DadCooks, I really feel for your loss. I blubber when one of our companions passes. 17 years is a ripe old age for felines and canines.
Let’s hear a shout out, Mr. OFD. Worried about you.
Folks, my Wife and I appreciate all your kind comments for our Abigail.
Barbara has an update regarding Bob:
http://www.fritchman.com/journal/?p=4707
Got my heavy freight shipped. Lo and behold, the freight forwarder was actually early. That NEVER happens. In this case, he called for directions early enough I could get there on time. SOOOOOooooOoooo glad I don’t have to sit around waiting for the truck.
nick
@ed, my wife has been looking at houses and making ‘moving’ noises. The recent flooding in Houston put a stop to that for a while, but it’s started up again.
I can’t imagine/am horrified by the thought/ of moving all my stuff. SO don’t want to do that…
n
Nick: I will be having to move in bout 12 – 18 months. Don’t want to deal with it. Putting off even thinking about it. Will be downsizing dramaticaly as we go into retirement mode but I’ll still have far too much STUFF. We traveled around the world for 9 years, living in three countries, with not much more than we could stuff in our suitcses. Since we came back to the US we have filled a 4 bedroom house. Stuff owns you – you don’t own it. Sigh.
In the right circumstance, a move would be a big help. If we had a craft room, a lot of my ‘maker’ stuff could move from my office piles/garage piles/storage piles to a well laid out space where they would be easily usable.
A lot of accumulation needs to be actually put somewhere to be of use.
I’m unlikely to get much in the way of a craft room though.
nick
(I’d like OUTBUILDINGS, but moving to more land is really unlikely.)
If we had a craft room, a lot of my ‘maker’ stuff could move from my office piles/garage piles/storage piles to a well laid out space where they would be easily usable.
Uh, yeah, sure. Dream on. Several years ago my b’day present was a roll-off dumpster rented for a month. Seven, maybe eight, feet deep. I filled it to the brim. I had plenty of clear space in the EDC and feed shed and the house for maybe a year. Everything has “puffed up” since. So much for easy access to most of the feed shed….
I’m going to fake a batch of Chicken Cordon Blue for supper. I don’t have Swiss cheese so I’ll use Monterrey. Might add a bit of blue cheese crumbles…
And… someone had a ham sandwich today. Ok, Plan B is jamon serrano. Which will work better than sandwich meat.
The jamon serrano is air-dried ham, product of Spain. I acquired several (er, 20 is several, right?) packages for free one day at work. The stuff sold for ~$4+ for a 3 oz package and it was all headed to the trash because tomorrow was the “best before” date. So, can I have this if it’s going to the trash? No. Can I take care of your trash? Sure!
My wife keeps threatening a dumpster. Costs a lot though, and every time I say “write my company a check.” Sooner or later she’ll call my bluff.
That said, I’ve removed a couple thousand pounds, maybe 3 or 4, of scrap from my driveway over the course of the year. The last trip was one pallet of stuff torn down and was 450 pounds of aluminum and copper.
I shipped a pallet of lifting equipment today that was 800 pounds, and I made 8x my purchase cost. Stuff is leaving. Just not fast enough…
n
My dumpster was around $900 for a month. The idiot part on my side was not knowing more about selling scrap other than trading in crushed beer cans.
Now, I’m alone in this house that we bought 50 years ago. I’m 12 miles and 20 minutes from my daughter, SIL, and two grandchildren (now 15 & 17). I’ll never move and it will be theirs.
dkreck can explain how they will inherit and retain my Prop 13 tax assessments and liabilities. (Concisely, after they transfer deed, their square footage goes up about 40% and property tax down by 80% relative to their current home.)
Some of this “metoo” look at me I was raped! stuff is getting ridiculous. Are you an adult woman with agency, or are you a weak and easily manipulated puppet with no responsibility for your actions?
“Trish Nelson said that she reached her breaking point in 2012 after going out to smoke a joint with Friedman in a car outside the restaurant, and suddenly being forced to fight him off as he started kissing her. “
Kissing. After getting high. In a car outside workplace. “Hey let’s sneak out get high and fool around a bit instead of working!” “Ok, but no tongue.” <– but I guess that would be too honest, so now they're calling attempted kissing (in a venue where that might be easily predicted as a possibility) rape.
This is what "rape" looks like in the rest of the world:
"Mother of raped and murdered five-year-old says she'll 'never be able to get the sight out of my mind' as she describes finding her daughter with sticks inserted into her mouth and body
Geeta Devi said she woke up at 6am to find her daughter missing from home
When she found her daughter gone, she was 'screaming and crying' with grief
Geeta said she has never seen such a 'horrendous scene' when girl's body found
The toddler was found lying naked in a pool of blood by the side of the road
The devastated mother of the five-year-old girl who was abducted, raped and murdered in India has spoken of the moment she found her naked body."
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5170859/Mum-murdered-tot-says-shell-never-forget-sight.html
n
@paul – Score!
n
I don’t understand how one can rape a little girl. Or a little boy. Other than being a sick “fart” with a tiny tiny dick.
Man I’m hating this prog nonsense. Leave my freaking shows alone.
“‘The trippiest, scrappiest and most rule-breaking adventure yet’: Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi breaks all the sci-fi boundaries
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-5172099/Star-Wars-Jedi-review.html”
What does the un-named reviewer love the most?
” upending the traditional power dynamics of heroes and bit players in the Star Wars galaxy.”
The apprentice outshines the master. (young female hotness vs old white male)
” there are even moments of animal rights reflections creeping into the galaxy”
and of the director – “Abrams’s finest touch in his zippy and nimble reboot was in his diverse casting”
But that’s not enough, “It’s [the ‘scrappy maintenance worker’] who voices the film’s abiding message, one that – as the first ‘Star Wars’ film of the Trump era – has affecting resonance. The Resistance will win, she says, ‘not fighting what we hate’ but ‘saving what we love.’
—
About the only thing they left out was a global warming message. And my wife wonders why I haven’t bothered to watch any of the latest trilogy…
n
@CowboySlim
Now, I’m alone in this house that we bought 50 years ago. I’m 12 miles and 20 minutes from my daughter, SIL, and two grandchildren (now 15 & 17). I’ll never move and it will be theirs.
dkreck can explain how they will inherit and retain my Prop 13 tax assessments and liabilities. (Concisely, after they transfer deed, their square footage goes up about 40% and property tax down by 80% relative to their current home.)
Praise to Saints Jarvis and Gann. (although I wrote the $1250 first installment check on mine last week. I know, low compared to many places but about twice what I started out with 27 years ago when I bought this place)
Now any other fellow Californicators out there, lets go after Moonbeam’s gas tax increase
http://act.reformcalifornia.org/petitions/cartax/html/gen/
And the audience bursts out in crocodile tears.
Best and continued good wishes for all friends unable to type here today.
I was very fortunate to be comped a trip to Tuscon last week. I don’t know if it was the first class ticket or early check-in but managed “Pre” status with the TSA. Sailed through with a minimum of fuss both ways, including a 15lb bag of tech and a wide range of expedient EDC supplies. Met up with some sharp things ordered here and delivered there.
Been a while since I flew and scored a window seat. The afternoon flight from the regional hub in Minneapolis to Phoenix provided a view of the incredible wealth spread across the landscape. Irrigated crop circles gradually, slowly gave way to mountains and desert. That view was even more impressive on the return, night time trip. I’ve always loved that light show with the towns’ street lights looking like distant galaxies shot from Hubble.
Didn’t get to see the military’s airplane junk yard as they are now requiring 10 days for a background check which is ridiculous. Played tourist otherwise, including a Titan Missile silo turned into a museum, and lots of rocks.
=====
We moved every couple years when I was a boy, so the upset and logistic nightmare doesn’t bother me now. Just something to endure. Although, as an adult, the moves have been increasingly less frequent. I’d like to relocate and have been scoping out ways and means for quite awhile. Even with “only” a 2 BR apartment, packing up is not going to be fun in any way, shape or form.
=====
Some prepper cheer, lake bottom toys:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/RxByt4yHZ22Pl9EJ2
Nice toy collection.
n
@dadcooks Prayers for Abigail
“Some of this “metoo” look at me I was raped! stuff is getting ridiculous. Are you an adult woman with agency, or are you a weak and easily manipulated puppet with no responsibility for your actions?”
It’s a new version of the old double standard. An underage female goes to an unsupervised party where there will be alcohol and underage males. If she is sexually assaulted (or can’t remember giving consent, which would be tainted anyway due to being underage, or intoxicated, or peer pressure, etc) it is the fault of the equally underage and intoxicated males, because they will be held responsible for their actions. The fact that the female put herself at risk is considered to be of no significance, because there are males to blame for any harm that might befall her.
That’s why, if you’re a man in college at a party with college women and you hook up with one of the women, drunk or otherwise, you should kill her after you have sex. (Or before, I guess.) That way you can be sure she won’t retroactively withdraw consent.
OK, morally that’s questionable at best, but in today’s environment can you give a good legal reason it’s a bad idea? Take all the time you need to come up with an answer…
Between the stupidity and sex drive of youth, alcohol, and digital cameras, I’d be in trouble.
The kids living it though grew up in the environment, and presumably know the ‘rules of the road’. Diminished capacity might not let them FOLLOW them, but they must know the battlespace….
n
Man I’m hating this prog nonsense. Leave my freaking shows alone.
Mark Hamill stars as the “Fat Jedi” so there will be no fat jokes in SW. Is there hope for fart jokes at least? Global Warming Is Real!
Thanks Barbara for the update.. RBT is always in our thoughts and prayers.
Concern for Mr.OFD is mounting. Hopefully he is just out of comms range.
Also sad news re Mr.DadCooks’ Abigail and Mr.Paul’s Schwartzer.. Our last German Shepherd passed 2 years ago and I miss him terribly.. well, all 3 of them in fact.
@Nick.. Happy to help with the small engine info if required..
Star Wars film: We’ll see. I have nothing against strong female characters, nor against passing the torch from one generation to another. Maybe it’s a good movie, we’ll see. But I have to say that Rogue One was a whopping disappointment. The female lead wasn’t particularly talented, and attaching a black guy to her as a side kick? The actor couldn’t act, he was just deadwood along for the ride, presumably because of his skin color.
Feminism has truly jumped the shark, though. Just as an example: I occasionally read the advice column on slate.com, and one of the recent letters was from a self-described “fierce feminist” who was annoyed when she and her husband drove home in separate cars, and he didn’t specifically follow her, to make sure she got home safely. Feminism has mutated into a celebration of female weakness and victimhood – really, it’s bizarre that women are buying into this crap.
I bet if he specifically followed her to make sure she got home safe she would have written an equally irate letter complaining that her husband had no confidence in her driving skills.
Victimhood is the current fashion. The ‘Villain’ is white men, as always.
@Mr K, thanks for the offer. I’m a bit hesitant because of my lack of expertise, and would frame the article as “if I can do this so can you” because of that. I’ve fixed and maintained a bunch of different small engines, from my own lawn mower and gennie, to a rider that was a complete non-runner and a variety of suck and blow lawn machines. As the sage once said, spark-air-fuel. If you’ve got all three it will run. I think it’s an essential skill, doesn’t take a ton of knowledge or special tools, and is very satisfying too. (at the level of fixing what you’ve got with maintenance parts or just work, not fixing blown engines.)
And it turns out I’ve got a pretty typical project in the lawn mower from my rental house, which appears to have normal neglect based issues.
However, I’m going out of town for a week, so any article will be delayed at least that long.
nick
Heh. “I’m a drunken, snaggle-toothed hillbilly with an eighth-grade eddercation. If I can get this solar panel set up, so can you!”
“I’m a drunken, snaggle-toothed hillbilly with an eighth-grade eddercation. If I can get this solar panel set up, so can you!”
I’ve seen some of the drunken hillbilly how-to videos. Not as good as the Canuck that showed me how to pull the brakes & axles on my truck.
@Nick – the real value of videos like that are the little things. Things like “there’s a screw in here – take it out before tugging this cover off or you’ll buy a new cover” are the most valuable lessons I’ve seen. There’s one on replacing the pull cord on the Honda generator. Invaluable. Done by a teenage kid that wanted to share his knowledge.
And all of that means I need to get my daughter to hold the camera so I can show folks how I fixed the shifter on my bike. Little things that will save someone else time & effort. Totally worth it.
And a plug/beg – do the small-engine repair stuff. There’s not enough of it out there. I know. I’ve looked.
try Mustie1 on youtube. He’s enjoyable to watch, builds really cool rat rod style mopeds and minibikes, is a VW collector and rebuilder, and does a cr@p ton of small engine troubleshooting and repair.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcSeeATlWJJbXpOZRYOfaDg
hours of binge watching…
n