78F and saturated. All my windows are covered in condensation. That’s never a good sign.
This week blazed by. I got very little done on any front other than starting school.
A few more things were added to the grocery shelves (not literally, the shelves are empty, stuff is going into bins stacked under a tarp until I’m sure the rat problem is over. This makes it much harder to know what I’ve got.)
I did rotate 3 cans of gas and discover that some had evaporated, so that’s something.
Garden is still failing in slow motion.
World is still here, but the rate of change seems to be accelerating. Lawlessness among certain parts of the population seems to be increasing dramatically. The cops are learning a hard lesson at the moment. We’ll be living with the aftermath of that lesson for a while. (Us vs. them only works until ‘they’ realize you can’t be everywhere, or see everything, and depends on the largest parts of society thinking they are more “us” than “them”. ) 800,000 sworn officers of all types in the whole USA. 1.2 million CHL holders in TX alone. Someone get me a number for ex-cons in the USA…
With that cheery thought, what have you done to get ready?
n
78f and 73% humidity, headed to the 90s today. In other words, normal for Memphis in August. No rain in the forecast till next week.
Our great granddaughter reminded me yesterday that her favorite rock star, JoJo Siewa, will be in town next month. If her other custodian will give permission I will take little Addie. Personally, I can’t stand JoJo, don’t enjoy her music, dancing, or frantic speaking pattern. She seems to be one of those people who is famous for being famous.
The wife convinced me to buy light weight body armor from AR500 Armor. Better be safe that sorry. I also ordered another 10 oz of silver from AMPEX.com. I always buy newish Morgan one OZ silver dollars simply because I like the design.
Talking to our friends still in Hong Kong is like talking with people in a war zone. Most are working from home to keep off the streets and the tension is incredible. The Chinese National Police are massing on the border in Shenzhen. They can quickly over run the mainland parts of Hong Kong but there is only a single tunnel under the harbor and that can be easily blocked to prevent access to Hong Kong island proper.
I loved living in Hong Kong but am incredibly glad we are no longer there.
For the past several days, I have been getting “Connection Timeout Error” whenever I refresh this page. And it happens for quite a while, so I go off and do something else. Just wondering if others have had this same difficulty.
For the past several days, I have been getting “Connection Timeout Error” whenever I refresh this page. And it happens for quite a while, so I go off and do something else. Just wondering if others have had this same difficulty.
Ditto.
I’ve been getting the timeout error for two days.
Lawlessness among certain parts of the population seems to be increasing dramatically. The cops are learning a hard lesson at the moment. We’ll be living with the aftermath of that lesson for a while. (Us vs. them only works until ‘they’ realize you can’t be everywhere, or see everything, and depends on the largest parts of society thinking they are more “us” than “them”. ) 800,000 sworn officers of all types in the whole USA. 1.2 million CHL holders in TX alone. Someone get me a number for ex-cons in the USA…
Perhaps if the Prog administrators of our big cities would stop demonizing their police forces we wouldn’t be seeing shameful spectacles like the recent incident in Philly.
Scary: Hackers just found serious vulnerabilities in F-15 fighter jet
Scarier: “They even found bugs that the Air Force had tried but failed to fix after the same group of hackers performed similar tests in November without actually touching the device.”
Hey Rick, I’m getting 20-30 seconds of sit and spin “waiting for ttgnet.com” while trying to reload the page….
Other sites are mostly loading quickly with the occasional blog taking a few seconds. Nothing like here. IE does the same, and it’s box stock, so it isn’t any addons.
I’m using 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.8.7 for dns
n
Yes, I also have had connectivity problems.
On the other hand, I have not had any connectivity issues.
Real estate deal of the century! Trump tells his aides that he wants to BUY Greenland from Denmark for its natural resources and strategic location
Why not offer to swap Puerto Rico for Greenland? Think of all those warm, sunny vacations the Danes could be enjoying! 😀
re: connectivity here…
I’ve seen some over the last few days. Thought it was hosting problems with some of their virtual servers. The Dreamhost status site (www.dreamhoststatus.com) says that there are still some issues, but mostly resolved.
So, on the theory that maybe the DNS servers I use are affecting things (although other sites are not slow, so not sure if that is a valid theory), I changed from the Google DNS server (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.1.1) to the Cloudfare DNS servers (1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1).
And cleared my DNS cache (at the command prompt, IPCONFIG /FLUSHDNS ), and the site appeared to load faster on the next load.
We shall see if that change affects things as I continue to monitor the site. But perhaps those that are having slow issues here can report on the DNS servers they use, and perhaps change their DNS servers temporarily and report on the long-term result (several accesses to the site during the day).
I’m going to get after Dreamhost later today – after I resolve my login issues with their control panel area.
Swan Eaters: rat boy display
https://www.gocomics.com/swan-eaters/2019/08/16
Because they carry disease ! And they leave their poop and pee everywhere.
Alley Oop: time travel trouble makers
https://www.gocomics.com/alley-oop/2019/08/16
That is a serious citation !
“The Best of Jerry Pournelle – eARC”
https://www.baen.com/the-best-of-jerry-pournelle-earc.html
“SHORT STORIES BY A MASTER OF SCIENCE FICTION! Includes over a dozen stories by SF legend Jerry Pournelle, and remembrances by Pournelle collaborators and admirers.”
“For the better part of five decades, Jerry Pournelle’s name has been synonymous with hard-hitting science fiction. His Falkenberg’s Legion stories and Janissaries series helped define the military sf genre, as did his work as editor on the There Will Be War series of anthologies. With frequent collaborator Larry Niven, he co-wrote the genre-defining first contact novel The Mote in God’s Eye, which was praised by Robert A. Heinlein as “possibly the greatest science fiction novel I have ever read.””
“Now, for the first time, all of Pournelle’s best short work has been collected in a single volume. Herein you will find over a dozen short stories, each with a new introduction by editor and longtime Pournelle assistant John F. Carr, as well as essays and remembrances by Pournelle collaborators and admirers.”
Do your preps include end of life or are you waiting until it’s imminent? Be kind to your family and get the foundation (will, clear last wishes, etc) in order well before you need them.
Traveling for family emergency last week and this. Mom is going to be spared death by alcoholism because she was diagnosed late July with terminal stomach cancer.
This is merciful.
Family gathered and we had the most peaceful visit I can remember as an adult.
I give her credit for being prepared. Her will and estate appear to be in order, and she is facing this with a stoic dignity and grace I did not expect based off last years Very Bad Behavior.
Sometimes cancer doesn’t suck.
In cheerier news “The Worlds” are taking place in Glasgow now. They are live-streaming the bagpiping and posting the completed competition. The worlds best pipers gathered for a weekend. Great music.
https://livestream.com/innerear/theworlds2019/videos/195109715
“Griddy customers upset over electricity prices during recent heat wave”
https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/griddy-customers-upset-over-electricity-prices-during-recent-heat-wave
Wow, I thought being able to buy directly from the Grid in Texas would be a savings. I am glad that I did not find http://www.Griddy.com when I got a new contract from http://www.EnergyOgre.com earlier this year.
Traveling for family emergency last week and this. Mom is going to be spared death by alcoholism because she was diagnosed late July with terminal stomach cancer.
This is merciful.
Family gathered and we had the most peaceful visit I can remember as an adult.
I give her credit for being prepared. Her will and estate appear to be in order, and she is facing this with a stoic dignity and grace I did not expect based off last years Very Bad Behavior.
Hi Jenny, no matter what, I am sorry about what is going on with your mom. It will be difficult. My mom has been in the hospital since April and it has been tough on us.
“Goodbye PCs, it’s been nice knowing you. Hello, desktop as a service”
https://www.zdnet.com/article/good-bye-pcs-its-been-nice-knowing-you/
“We’ll still have PCs on our desks, but with the rise of desktop-as-a-service and software-as-a-service, we’re returning to smart-terminals and time-sharing services.”
Yup.
“We’ll still have PCs on our desks, but with the rise of desktop-as-a-service and software-as-a-service, we’re returning to smart-terminals and time-sharing services.”
Yup.
Replacing Quicken with GNU Cash was a priority for this year, but it looks like I’ll end up eating another year of the subscription.
Another Fry’s update from the same people who made the video I posted yesterday.
Spooky that it hit today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8bEcgJRShw
Sorry to hear about your Mom, Jenny.
As for the rest, the will is done. I have a pre-paid funeral plan…. but.
It’s a plan with nice coffin and flowers and the rest. Cremation is cheaper so keep the change. Scatter me around the yard or put me on a closet shelf. Either works.
“Epstein’s Tribute to Bill”
https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2019/08/15/epsteins-tribute-to-bill/
“Mr. Snerdley, have you all seen the painting of Bill Clinton decked out in a blue dress wearing hot red high heels draped over an armchair that was supposedly in the home of Jeffrey Epstein?”
Just one more thing in life that you can not unsee !
As for the rest, the will is done. I have a pre-paid funeral plan…. but.
It’s a plan with nice coffin and flowers and the rest. Cremation is cheaper so keep the change. Scatter me around the yard or put me on a closet shelf. Either works.
I have not really decided what I want done with my remains. I have thought about being buried close to my grandparents and greatgrandparents over in Wharton, Texas (about 30 miles away from here). My parents are both still alive so I have no idea of what they want or where. For some reason, cremation kinda bothers me.
I am coming up on the ten year anniversary of my first heart attack so that should prompt me to do something.
Nah.
Just one more thing in life that you can not unsee !
Rush is incorrect. Lewinsky’s dress famously came from The Gap.
For some reason, cremation kinda bothers me.
Understood. On the other hand, you are dead so it doesn’t matter.
I know where one Grandpa is. I know where Granmama is. After I’m gone, no one will know who they are. Just a name carved into a rock.
Hmm. Well, I have other things to think about and hopefully 30+ years to be thinking.
Just one more thing in life that you can not unsee !
We went to the Portland Erotic Ball during our sentence -er- tenure in Vantucky. Bill would have fit right in wearing that outfit.
One older guy spent the evening walking around the event naked. My wife said, “I thought costumes were mandatory.”
“He has a top hat.”
We got a bit of rain this afternoon, more if you were in the wrong place. I was on the south and east sides, and I got clobbered more than once. It seemed to follow me all the way home.
Temps dropped but went back up. It’s 88F atm.
Picked up some auction items. No real preps, unless you count heavy duty extension cord, which I can use with fans and my little gennie if needed. I’ve got LOTS of extension cords.
Passed on some cast iron pans and griddles. I think I’m full up.
It’s so hot that yardsales have been fewer in number this year. I’m hoping for a couple tomorrow when I’m out running errands.
In another auction I’m bidding on half a dozen Mr Buddy propane heaters. Mine had the valve fail a couple of months ago. The sun faded the plastic and made it brittle. Cool dark place! Words to live by.
Wednesday night found some more spoilage in my stores. I had a bad can of carrots. There was rust on the rim from the damnable rats and it squirted when opened. I may end up dipping cans in lacquer to seal the ends. It’s so humid here that I can get rust even without rats.
Flexibility and creativity are the watchwords. I’m bidding on a highway sign. NOT because I need a sign, but because it is a nice basis for a little trailer, and it comes with a 6 battery bank, charge controller and two solar panels. It’s probably worth more as an arrow sign, but if I can get it cheap, it is chock full of prepper supplies. And something to watch for in SHTF or things get post-apoc….
n
hey nick
https://www.orcam.com/en/
this kind of stuff
thanks
I finally bought a new faucet for the kitchen. The existing faucet leaks from under the handle. And sometime leaks under the sink. I have a dish pan to catch the leak.
The old faucet is an Eljer. I like it, the handle has nice edges. Yeah, weird. But finding parts locally isn’t a thing. I can’t complain, I installed it 20 something years ago.
Went to Home Depot today. Easier to get in and out of than Lowes. By time I found the faucet section and by time they were done closing aisles and beeping forklifts around, I was pretty much at f*** this shopping thing. I bought a Delta joystick faucet. $50. Chrome. No sprayer. It’s pretty as much as a faucet can be pretty.
There may have been Moen models but the last time I paid any attention Moen was more of a “lift and turn” thing. I didn’t look. There were several Glacier Bay models but the few of those I have bought seem to be seconds. Functional, but “not quite right” as in the fitting for the aerator is soldered in a bit crooked.
So, yeah. $50 and done.
No sprayer? The water valves under the sink are sort of high or in an odd place, I’ve never decided. But to use the sprayer on the old faucet almost always requires you to pull a bit and then twist the hose one way or the other to not be hooked by a water valve. Pain in the you know. So, the pain in the you know is going away.
My plumber’s putty is a dried brick. I need to buy fresh. Er, no, I’m not going to use silicone caulk like the directions say. I expect to replace this faucet in 20 years or so and I can’t see pissing my 80 year old self off /that/ much. I’m grumpy enough now.
Speaking of aerators. As usual, the directions say to remove the aerator and run the water for a minute to flush and manufacturing trash. So I removed it. It says it’s rated for 1.8 gallons a minute. WAS. I popped out the restriction washer with the 1/8 hole.
That stuff might be good in town, in the kid’s bathroom, but on a well? That cycles on at 30 and off at 50? How long do I have to wait to fill a pot of water when making spaghetti?
Darn hot today. The dogs walk out and turn right around to come in. They may be spoiled.
In another auction I’m bidding on half a dozen Mr Buddy propane heaters. Mine had the valve fail a couple of months ago. The sun faded the plastic and made it brittle. Cool dark place! Words to live by.
Plastic will go brittle in Houston-level heat/humidity even if kept in a dark place.
Cool has to be part of it.
@ayj, wow, that thing is sophisticated!
I will keep a lookout for anything like that.
What I see fairly often are the devices that use a camera and a stand to enlarge a book onto an LCD screen. The last time I saw a portable version, was almost 8 years ago.
For what it’s worth, I use my phone as a magnifier all the time. I point the camera at the small object and zoom the image. Sometimes I take a picture and then zoom the picture too.
Sometimes I need to do so even with my glasses on 🙁
n
yes it is, so, I guess the only way to buy that is new or at an estate, and it works very well. Yes, I know but think about an 86 year old lady (my mother) and there isnt a lot of things.
Right now I bought an 55″ TV son she could see tv shows and movies, but, as you may know, maculopathy is a race between age and blindness.
thanks
Speaking of aerators. As usual, the directions say to remove the aerator and run the water for a minute to flush and manufacturing trash. So I removed it. It says it’s rated for 1.8 gallons a minute. WAS. I popped out the restriction washer with the 1/8 hole.
That stuff might be good in town, in the kid’s bathroom, but on a well? That cycles on at 30 and off at 50? How long do I have to wait to fill a pot of water when making spaghetti?
My water well is set for 45 psig and 65 psig. The water tank holds 120 gallons but is suppose to have air in half of the space. That should give it a 20 to 30 gallon run before turning on the well pump.
If I add another office warehouse then I have to add a 10,000 gallon holding tank with a new pump to provide system pressure. Plus a diesel or propane generator to run the new pump and the well pump, about 20 kw. The 10,000 gallon tank will provide 10 to 5 fire truck fillups.
I have yet to see a 10,000 gallon tank that will take any pressure so the water well will be strictly on level control for the new 10,000 gallon tank. Then the 120 gallon surge tank and new pump will provide pressure for the system. I am also wondering about freeze control, I have seen it at 8 F around here so that 10,000 gallon tank will need some insulation and maybe heating.
Yikes Lynn, that all sounds like money to me.
n
Umm, dat not good…
“India hints it could use nuclear weapons FIRST in war with Pakistan as tensions flare over Kashmir and hundreds clash with police in disputed region
India committed in 1999 to not being the first to use nuclear weapons in conflict
Defence Minister Singh said Delhi might change its policy amid Pakistan tension
Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP stripped Indian-administered Kashmir of autonomy
The only Muslim-majority region of the country is in its 12th day of blackouts”
I probably don’t want to know where he hung his hat.
MIL is going to buy a new car, shocked I tell you shocked. Will use the dealer south of her at I-410 and I-35. A Toyota dealer north on I-410 had a slightly better offer but MIL would have difficult dealing with the massive traffic in the area. A few dollars more is worth it for the convenience.
Dealer started out high, of course, it’s their job. I counter with the offer from the other Toyota dealer. They accepted. But MIL was upset at the offer for her used car. It had been in a major accident, close to being totaled, and that really reduces the value. Of course the other idiot’s insurance does not pay for reduced value, same as other insurance companies. When a car loses $3K in value because of the accident, even though repaired, the other insurance should be responsible. Cretins.
Anyway, MIL balked at the offer and we walked out the door. No counter offer from the dealer. Later in the afternoon after the wife and I replaced the clothes line (did I mention it was hot, 104F outside?) we came back in the house. MIL said she thinks she wants to buy the car and asked my opinion. I stated she did not like her current Ford nor did she like the dealer who has done the repairs. I told her that with a new vehicle she will have zero maintenance costs for two years. She will have better safety, better reliability and a better vehicle.
I then told her that the wife and I would go back to the dealer and tell the dealer she was upset at the price. We would ask for another $500 off the price. We did and the dealer agreed. We had told the dealer we would go to the other dealer and the dealer did not want to be undercut by another. So the deal sheet was presented to wife and I and MIL agreed.
Of course today is a new day. She may back out but I don’t think so. It is a little irritating she won’t spend money to improve her life and for things that will make life easier. She has the money and I tell her to not save it so that someone else will inherit the money. The money is hers and should be used for her.
So today, maybe, we head back to the dealer and MIL gets a new car. She will finance through her credit union and pay off the loan in a month with some money she has coming from an investment. Getting a private loan saves $1K on the price of the car, a 2019 Toyota Corolla, lowest trim level possible.
Did I mention it is freakin’ hot in San Antonio?
They accepted. But MIL was upset at the offer for her used car. It had been in a major accident, close to being totaled, and that really reduces the value.
Any *car* built in the last 20 years is done when it receives that much damage in an accident. I had a 93 Probe which received a pretty solid hit in a rear end collision. After the repair, the car looked ok, but it was never right.
And if the air bags deployed, fuggedaboudit.
See what CarMax in San Antonio will offer for the old car. They’re generally low with the estimate but the rep will explain the numbers in brutally honest detail.
I’m not taking trades to a dealer again after my wife’s Exploder deal.
MIL is going to buy a new car, shocked I tell you shocked. Will use the dealer south of her at I-410 and I-35. A Toyota dealer north on I-410 had a slightly better offer but MIL would have difficult dealing with the massive traffic in the area. A few dollars more is worth it for the convenience.
Dealers separate their service and sales, and the money for ToyotaCare and warranty repairs comes from Toyota, not the dealership. If you got a better deal north, the south dealer’s service won’t treat her any differently when she shows up for the maintenance. Toyota would ream them if the dealer was unprofessional providing covered services, *especially* in San Antonio where they have a big plant — you never know who is an employee or a relative.
The Toyota dealer where I bought my new Camry botched the install on the front license plate mount and played games to cover up the situation. Needless to say, I don’t go there for service. The other dealer doesn’t care as long as I pay the bill.
(10,000 miles for an oil change interval makes me nervous. I paid for the first one at 5,000.)
Just remove the north dealer’s plate frame.
That’s good practice for two reasons. First, they just look tacky. Second, no free advertising.
The dealer can see where the car was purchased in their dms (dealer management system), though service writers don’t care. More warranty or cash work only makes them more money – that’s all that matters.
My last post took around 30 seconds to post. I’ve also been experiencing slow page load times the past couple of days, and it continues this morning (Saturday.)
My first took 5 seconds, second took 30. The refresh before this comment took 3 seconds. That’s better and not an issue for me but 30 is nuts.
Tracing route to ttgnet.com [64.111.126.127]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.254
2 2 ms 1 ms 1 ms 172-14-48-1.lightspeed.hstntx.sbcglobal.net [172
.14.48.1]
3 2 ms 3 ms 1 ms 71.149.23.114
4 11 ms 14 ms 15 ms cr1.hs1tx.ip.att.net [12.122.103.46]
5 8 ms 14 ms 14 ms 12.122.2.197
6 11 ms 7 ms 14 ms 12.123.18.229
7 7 ms 7 ms 7 ms 192.205.36.102
8 38 ms 39 ms 39 ms 207.88.14.181.ptr.us.xo.net [207.88.14.181]
9 39 ms 39 ms 39 ms 209.48.43.58
10 41 ms 42 ms 41 ms ip-208-113-156-4.dreamhost.com [208.113.156.4]
11 42 ms 41 ms 41 ms ip-208-113-156-14.dreamhost.com [208.113.156.14]
12 40 ms 40 ms 40 ms apache2-quack.taliaferro.dreamhost.com [64.111.1
26.127]
Trace complete.
Got a comparable deal from the dealership close to her home. Maybe a couple hundred dollars difference. Not worth the hassle.
Within $50.00 of what Toyota was offering. That major accident, came within $200.00 of totaling the vehicle, insurance company would not budge on the $200.00. Personally, I would have taken the money from the insurance company (there was no lien) and sold the car for scrap. But old folks set in their ways cannot understand the options. Keep thinking of the old ways and don’t realize times have changed.
No airbag deployment as the impact was from the rear which does not generally cause airbag deployment. Wish they had deployed as the car would have been totaled.
I don’t mind the dealer plates. What I hate are the decals affixed to the rear in really strong adhesive. Worse are some used car dealers that use rivets to attach a plastic plate.
Anyway, she made the purchase. Wife drove the car home and then we left for New Braunfels. MIL drove the car to the base exchange and said the A/C was not working well. Looked at the car and she had the fan down low and the temperature control turned half way up. Sometimes she is so clueless.