Probably somewhere in the 60s and damp, but I’m writing this early so who knows. It’s probably not 89F though.
Meant to get to sleep, but wasn’t really tired. Read the fourth book in Horton’s series about the collapse after the terror attacks, his Borrowed World books. Read the whole book. Probably shouldn’t have started it at 11pm, but I didn’t really think it would suck me in. It did. His writing continues to improve.
And I miss my dad. I’ve been skirting the issue most of the last couple of days, but it caught up with me. I’d turn a corner and expect him to be calling to me with a question or suggestion. So I kinda didn’t want to be alone with my thoughts in bed. Caught me anyway, and now it’s 4am… and I’m still not sleepy. Tired, but not sleepy.
Duty calls however. Kids, wife, and guest will all be up in a few hours and want breakfast. That’s the daddy’s job, at least here and now. I better try and get some sleep or I’m gonna be one unhappy, grumpy camper.
n
30º and cloudy according to the new smarty-pants watch I got yesterday. Pretty happy with it.
Sympathy for missing your Dad. I still miss mine all the time. I get reminded of his lessons all the time.
Just updated WordPress on two of my sites. The very first thing I saw was an “ad” promoting the new editor (Gutenberg). I still don’t like it. I’m just a fossil, I guess. Give me a box to put things in & I’ll put them in there. I don’t need your help making the boxes.
Christmas dinner was a roast (best one the wife has done), broccoli casserole, and a sweet potato. She got a very spicy horseradish sauce to go with it. It was enjoyable to watch my son try it for the first time… Of course, it got me a few times as well, but you’re not doing it right if there aren’t a few tears….
It’s fondue for us tonight. Swiss specialties mostly seem to involve melted cheese in one form or another. I’ll eat too much again. Ah, well, I played 2 hours of tennis today, which ought to help a bit…
Well, I’m up. Unhappy and grumpy alright, and add in sore.
Kids fed. Wife at work. I’ll be looking at my list.
Lost most of the morning already. Dang books. Dang anxiety.
n
I lost my Dad 44 years ago and still have thoughts of him. Hang in there Mr. Nick.
Supper last night was the Turkey Plate special at the Red Rock cafe. Simple Christmas this year. Next year we are all flying to Philly for Christmas with daughter number 2*.
*No pun there, Mr. SteveF
Wife went to the Hospital Christmas Eve by ambulance.
She began having severe chest pains and, having had previous heart attacks, decided to take immediate action. I got home from running a last minute errand to find volunteer firemen and EMTs all over the place and an Ambulance in the drive. So off to the Hospital. Everyone was wonderful to her and gave her immediate attention. Tests showed no signs of heart attack but kept her overnight for observation. During the night she passed a kidney stone. Verdict is that the stone triggered the symptoms. Got her home late yesterday and we are all resting. No Christmas dinner this year. Just thankful it was a scare and not the real thing (again).
@hcombs, what a scare. Very glad to hear there was a much less intrusive cause. Hope she is feeling back to normal soon, so you can celebrate.
n
Wife went to the Hospital Christmas Eve by ambulance.
She began having severe chest pains and, having had previous heart attacks, decided to take immediate action. I got home from running a last minute errand to find volunteer firemen and EMTs all over the place and an Ambulance in the drive. So off to the Hospital. Everyone was wonderful to her and gave her immediate attention. Tests showed no signs of heart attack but kept her overnight for observation. During the night she passed a kidney stone. Verdict is that the stone triggered the symptoms. Got her home late yesterday and we are all resting. No Christmas dinner this year. Just thankful it was a scare and not the real thing (again).
Wow, glad she is ok now. My 35 year son is having trouble with kidney stones and describes the pain as a something beyond tolerable.
xkcd: “Feathered Dinosaur Venn Diagram”
https://xkcd.com/2090/
Heh.
Explanation:
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2090:_Feathered_Dinosaur_Venn_Diagram
And I miss my dad. I’ve been skirting the issue most of the last couple of days, but it caught up with me. I’d turn a corner and expect him to be calling to me with a question or suggestion. So I kinda didn’t want to be alone with my thoughts in bed. Caught me anyway, and now it’s 4am… and I’m still not sleepy. Tired, but not sleepy.
I’ve still got both of my parents, they are 80 and 77. Both are stage 4 cancer and in remission, Dad for five years and Mom for two years. I guess that makes them survivors.
Dad is worried about me walking at night where we live because of the coyotes and “crazy people”. He wants me to carry a pistol while out walking whereas I do not because of sweating, weight, and printing. So he gave me three new revolver pistols for Christmas, told me to pick one, and give the other two back to him. The pistols were all .357 magnum: S&W M640, S&W M360, and a Ruger GP100 seven round snubby (2.5 inch). I like them all but I still do not want to carry while walking for exercise.
xkcd: “Feathered Dinosaur Venn Diagram”
I’ve been kicked by emu. Ostrich? I’m not going near one. I just look stupid.
Hopefully.
“Democratic left plays a long game to get ‘Medicare for all'”
https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Democratic-left-plays-a-long-game-to-get-13491005.php
“But the Kaiser Family Foundation found in March that 59 percent of Americans favor “Medicare for All,” a figure that’s grown in recent years, while 38 percent oppose it. Support fell to 53 percent, though, when it was dubbed a “single-payer plan.” Meanwhile, 72 percent favor a “Medicaid buy-in for everyone” and 75 percent favor an optional “Medicare for All” proposal that also lets people who already have coverage keep their plans.”
Those stats are probably cooked but, it is just a matter of time before Medicare for All ™ is enacted. The only question that I have is how are we going to pay for it. My son thinks that we will raise the Medicare tax a token amount and put the rest on tbills.
Hat tip to:
https://drudgereport.com/
Arlo and Janis: old polaroids
https://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2018/12/26
Yeah, be careful of donating things without inspecting them for private information.
Those stats aree probably cooked but, it is just a matter of time before Medicare for All ™ is enacted. The only question that I have is how are we going to pay for it. My son thinks that we will raise the Medicare tax a token amount and put the rest on tbills.
QE Infinity. The Treasury hasn’t been able to sell sufficient t-bills to cover the deficit in years so the Fed buys the paper to keep a lid on rates for mortgages and car loans.. Whats another 30 Trillion?
My wife went to the VA in Temple to get fingerprinted and undergo a physical today. Kinda surreal once you roll through the gates of that place. The future of medicine for everyone.
I’ve been kicked by emu. Ostrich? I’m not going near one. I just look stupid.
Hopefully.
Aren’t ostriches about double the size of emu’s ?
” 59 percent of Americans favor “Medicare for All,””
wow, 59% of americans are too ignorant of reality to be allowed to vote.
” be careful of donating things without inspecting them”
I always look at media that I buy at yardsales, etc. Only found bikini pix once, and they were from a vacation, with a lot of people, and no nudity. Sometimes I even run a recovery against it, just to see… have not found anything.
I would like to know what a bitcoin wallet looks like. Maybe I could retire if I found the right thing….
n
I would like to know what a bitcoin wallet looks like. Maybe I could retire if I found the right thing….
Old hard drives coming out of an academic environment, circa 2012-13. Figure a stamped production date of 2012. Lots of students experimented with mining Bitcoin when it was easy.
Don’t poke around on old hard drives with a Windows system.
At least double if not more. A big emu is 160 pounds.
I opened the fence a couple of months ago. Opening gates was too complicated for the birds to figure out. “Smart”, emu ain’t. I had five birds. One wandered around the backyard for a couple of days and one day went into the creek. A week or so later another went down the “road” between pens. So, both to the back of the land.
The kids have a deer feeder and game cams. There’s at least one emu eating deer corn.
The last three birds wander around. Up the driveway a bit, behind the boat shed, but stay pretty much in sight of the house. Two hens and a rooster. All that sex stuff gets complicated this time of year so I don’t know how it’s going to work.
The dogs are cool. They would go in the pen when I fed the birds. The cats are cool, they drink from the water tub in the pen. The birds are cool to watch.
I’m thinking if the hens lay and the rooster sets, I’m going to snag the eggs and put them in the incubator. I might hatch more than four out of ten eggs. Feed them, tame them, and turn them out when they are a bit past three months old. We will see.
wow, 59% of americans are too ignorant of reality to be allowed to vote.
59% of Americans want to depend on a Kroger pharmacist to monitor their diabetes and daughter’s birth control.
I’m not kidding when I say that empowered pharmacists have been part of the attempt by my wife’s former management to cover the care lapse since we left Vantucky.
Friend of mine bought a used computer at a computer show, sometime in the middle 90’s. When we got the machine back to his house I decided to do some exploring on the hard drive.
Found out the computer belonged to a lawyer. Lot of legal documents that were probably of little value other than private information people may not have wanted shared. Most of the documents were the type that needed to be filed at a courthouse such as wills, property purchase and sales, etc.
The real treasure trove was the tax returns of several people. Full returns included account numbers and financial institutions, SS numbers, address, birth dates, etc. Some of these people were very wealthy (relative to me).
I told my friend he should send a letter with a copy of the first page of the return to all the clients. He should inform them that their lawyer had released their information and exposed the information to others. Additionally recommend these people should file charges against the lawyer maybe to the point of losing his law license.
Instead my friend took the high road and contacted the lawyer. The lawyer was really upset and said he gave the computer to the company on the promise the company would clean the hard drive of information. The lawyer asked my friend to please delete all the information which my friend obliged. I on the other hand would have asked for a couple hundred dollars in compensation for my time. Lawyer rates, $200.00 an hour with no fractional hours. If they can bill at that rate, they can spend at that rate.
For most people I would have just deleted the information. For a lawyer go after them with both barrels. If the computer had belonged to a congress critter I would have gone to the media fully loaded. No mercy.
This is worth the time to watch–
“This presentation illustrates examples of criminal “pre-assault” indicators. Recognizing, understanding and correctly acting upon these indicators is crucial to our security.”
https://youtu.be/XPbCw9pV90c
all of the indicators with video in one place.
n
” 59 percent of Americans favor “Medicare for All,””
wow, 59% of americans are too ignorant of reality to be allowed to vote.
Can I simply state that the last national election pointed that out without question ? As of January 2019, California is repped in the House by 100% of democrats. That did not happen in just a vacuum, people want Uncle Santa. That movement is spreading.
I just had an idea.
Get rid of property taxes. On my house. On my land. And in some states, on my car and on my boat. NO property taxes. I own it and exactly why do I have to pay rent to keep it?
Use small words.
But, hear the screams of for THE CHILLRUN!
Ok, so gov “needs” the money. Jack up the sales tax. Maybe 30% instead of 8.25. Maybe 70%. You buy it, you pay the tax.
Tax processed food, like potato chips and candy. Oh, but the po’ chillrun…. well, maybe plant a garden and not pay 70% sales tax on a pound of tomatoes…
Regressive? So what? The folks it would regress on are already paying the money in their rent / house payment/ utilities.
Overall, it would be a wash. Just a sales tax. You buy, you pay.
If gov is getting all of their money with a right up in your face sales tax, I think folks might notice. Notice the sheer waste….
Get rid of property taxes. On my house. On my land. And in some states, on my car and on my boat. NO property taxes. I own it and exactly why do I have to pay rent to keep it?
Mr. Paul for President!
Paul 2020!
I’ve always said you can’t “own” land any more in the FUSA. Some goomint fukstik agency will tax you. Don’t pay, they take your shit.
Paul, while we are jacking up the sales tax, eliminate withholding and the “employer’s share” of all taxes and fees. Pay everyone their full amount, and make them pay their full taxes and fees monthly to the various thieves XXXXXXX gov agencies. Charge high late fees for those who can’t pay because they are irresponsible. Not my original, but I like it.
Front page of Drudge:
Dow +1,086 some people just got rich or richer.
At gubpoint, of course. Let’s take their gubs away first!
Well there are some Republicans left out here. Kevin McCarthy for one. Several flipped after the election. DMV registrations, top two primaries, and ballot gathering and to name some of the shenanigans.
Well there are some Republicans left out here. Kevin McCarthy for one.
Sorry, I was under the impression that all the republican house members in California lost their seats. Some in very questionable post election ballot practices.
Now I see that it was all of the coastal House seats:
https://www.cnn.com/election/2018/results/house
Well, the payroll deduction thing, I’m of two minds. Pay folks their whole pay. But do the deduction thing as a “savings plan”.
Err, when I was starting out I was broke ALL of the time. A can of tuna to add to a box of mac and cheese was good stuff.
Just be flat out like “Dude, I’m actually paying you $35 an hour but after all the BS, it looks like you get $15/hour.
Paul, while we are jacking up the sales tax, eliminate withholding and the “employer’s share” of all taxes and fees. Pay everyone their full amount, and make them pay their full taxes and fees monthly to the various thieves XXXXXXX gov agencies. Charge high late fees for those who can’t pay because they are irresponsible. Not my original, but I like it.
Never happen. Now that they have their hands in our checking accounts, the powers that be know that their governmental income would be reduced by at least half.
Do it anyways and consider it one of those onboard lead weight exercise enhancers. In fact, carry everywhere all the time. An armed society is a polite society but it is nice to have some teeth for truly rude behavior.
I use a fanny pack (on the front: a belly pack?) when walking. Convenient and only as heavy as the iron inside.
Now I see that it was all of the coastal House seats:
The Lotus Eater counties. Inland is the real world.
Mr. Paul for President!
Heh. Heads would explode. I have all of you for advice. Big plus.
It begins—
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-26/china-take-over-kenyas-largest-port-over-unpaid-chinese-loan
n
Well…. let the Chinese deal with sub-Saraha Africa. Turn Zimbabwe back into Rhodesia.
Meanwhile us racist and hate filled honkies can sit back and watch the show.
I don’t have an answer.
I use a fanny pack (on the front: a belly pack?) when walking. Convenient and only as heavy as the iron inside.
I tried a belly band. The 44 inches was exaggerated. It fit but is fairly tight. Or maybe I need to lose twenty pounds. I refuse to buy the 54 inch model.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DEGYTC6/?tag=ttgnet-20
Well…. let the Chinese deal with sub-Saraha Africa. Turn Zimbabwe back into Rhodesia.
Meanwhile us racist and hate filled honkies can sit back and watch the show.
I don’t have an answer.
I do. This is not the USA’s problem.
My ISP, Rise Broadband has puked something.
Their speed test isn’t working well.
.6 down and 2. up It should be 5 down and 1 up. Calling them is a mess… enter your phone number four times to get to a recording of bad voip piano music….
I’ve power cycled everything here. Even updated the firmware for the Ubiquity Nano beams. So, no, it ain’t me.
But… my call is Important.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
My power company power cycles my stuff fairly often, and it is still free. A public service!
all of the indicators with video in one place.
Not a coincidence that New Orleans is used to illustrate three indicators. Lots of tourists treat the French Quarter like it is Disneyland.
It isn’t.
Since I don’t drive at all due to poor eyesight I used to walk everywhere I needed to go in the neighborhood. Before attaining my present state of decrepitude I was able to move my large, rather portly self along pretty briskly. Got a lot of the “Can I ask you a question?” indicator to which I replied “No!” without breaking stride.
Only one incident had the potential to have ended badly. One guy who wouldn’t take no for an answer jumped in front of me, forcing me to take a couple of steps backward and trip over a curb and fall on my ass–fortunately on soft grass. Since our little ballet a deux was taking place only feet from a busy highway and since the “perp”, who was more insistent than actually threatening, may have thought that any witnesses would have thought that he’s pushed me rather than me stumbling, he high-tailed it. No damage done except to my dignity.
The only other incident consisted of me being hugged by a very drunk fellow pedestrian at three in the afternoon.
Never packed heat. Didn’t want to carry the extra weight, and besides, the neighborhood, while not the Garden District, isn’t that bad!. 😀
In retrospect, I’ve been pretty damn fortunate in my almost 35 years of perambulation around one of the less-than-stellar areas of suburban New Orleans.
Taxes: when we lived in Hong Kong, they had a flat income tax of 10%, no deductions, no withholding. You get your full pay and it’s up to you to put aside the $$ to pay the taxes in January. Most people don’t. The banks all have special New Year’s loans to help people pay their tax bills. It’s not a perfect system but sure as hell beats our system.
Last time I was new orleans, the hotel concierge marked the no go zones between clubs he recommended to us. His words “It doesn’t look like very far but DO NOT walk there. Call a cab.” That street was the most sinister dark abandoned street I’ve ever seen. It LURKED. The place exuded menace. That was some time ago, and while the street may have changed, I’m sure there are others just like it.
n
It LURKED.
Just part of the Old World charm! 😀
So, can one die of eating too much pumpkin pie ? We’ve almost got the second pie finished.
I’m pretty sure you can die from a LACK of pumpkin pie…..
I’m going to bed.
Hopefully to sleep, perchance to dream, and maybe I’ll catch one of poor richard’s three benefits.
n
Then I should have died multiple times. I don’t like pumpkin pie and given a choice between starvation and eating pumpkin pie it would be a difficult decision.