Cooler, and hopefully no rain. Yesterday threatened rain all day and in all the places I went. The sun finally broke through late in the day. I’m hoping for better weather today, but your guess is as good as mine. [51F and 89%RH at 9am, 61F at 11am, sunny]
Mom’s PC got here, so I have to get that sorted out and back to her, but I won’t waste any nice day on it. I’ll fight that demon after dark. No way she needs it before Tgiving anyway. (I can leave it off the network if I have it locally, and prevent any background updating. Maybe get the pagefile sorted out, as I suspect the disk is full and can’t page properly.)
As I’ve noted before, I’m seized with the feeling that time is short. So many pieces are in motion in ways that they haven’t been for decades. So I put some more cans on the shelf and bought another 50# of rice. About 40# fits in a five gallon bucket, so that’s something to consider, even if 50# is cheaper than 40. You might want to buy 2 bags of 20# if you can fit the entire contents into one bucket. It’s kinda like my feeling on #10 cans. No way we can eat a whole can before it goes bad, so I buy normal cans of food. I’d rather pay more per ounce, and use it all than get a deal on the big can but waste it. It also helps me with spoilage to only have smaller cans at risk. Something to consider for your own situation. Another example is the “bachelor” size (single serving) cans. I bought them when I was single, because I wouldn’t even eat a whole 12 – 16 oz can and the smaller cans meant less waste, even though the per ounce cost was higher. For $/oz actually eaten, they were a better deal.
One of the things I’m hoping to do today involves rotating some new cans to my secondary site, and bringing some of those 4 year old cans to the house. And taking the new bucket of rice to the secondary site. It occurs to me that while I’ve got lots of water storage there, I don’t have a potable water hose, or a sediment filter there. I should probably got that set up over there too. And maybe rotate out the fuel I have stored there too. Wouldn’t hurt to have some other ‘supplies’ there as well, but I don’t have a real secure place for them. Off-books supplies shouldn’t be stored with on-books supplies, or what’s the point? It’s always something.
Anything “sticky” in the med kits needs to be checked and replaced as needed. Some loses the sticky, some gets extra sticky. Age and heat (like a car kit) are killers for the sticky and other soft plastics. It’s been a while since I went through the kits.
In meatspace I’m signed up to learn a whole bunch more about how our school district works. Everything the district does impacts my kids directly or indirectly. And even though I think bad times are already started, and will only get worse, I also live as if the future won’t be horrible. So while I’m working on backup food, heat, water, and security, I’m also looking at where the kids will be in school in several years…. under the assumption that history shows us that things mostly stay the same (until they suddenly don’t.) The ‘suddenly don’t’ might not come in my lifetime, and I have to be prepping for that too.
So what have you guys done this week?
n
Work gave us a “cut unnecessary expenses” conference call meeting this week. I wonder if that extends to hiring 27 year-olds at a higher pay grade than mine to do less work.
Doing a post mortem on the interview the other day, I dug into the online compiler site that the candidate used, godbolt.org. We’ll have to explicitly ask them not to use those sites in the future since using the site violates the spirit of our in-person coding test using just command line tools, and the available collaboration features not trackable in browser history are an invitation to the unscrupulous to do something sneaky.
We got word at work this week to “cut unnecessary expenses”.
Dunno if that extends to hiring the 20-something Fancy Lad College graduate at a higher pay grade than mine. Nothing more has been said about that interview.
The crazy thing about our contracts is that customers get to generate revenue from our systems while they nitpick us over final acceptance/payments.
That doesn’t sound good….
n
Our acceptance documents said basically that if the customer was able to use our system, and do work for a period of time, then final payment was due.
Of course our payment terms were pretty sweet for us. 50 on signing, 40 on shipment, 10 on completion and acceptance. We didn’t have a (corporate) huge incentive to finish…
n
And they’re still burning cops in chile
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7717463/Riot-police-engulfed-flames-demonstrators-hurl-petrol-bombs-protests-Chile.html
Is there anywhere in the first or second or third world that isn’t in turmoil?
Rough justice: Cop in Colombia KICKS woman in face during anti-government protest that left three dead and almost 100 arrested
n
The insanity in the world HAS to be caused by something.
Sweden: we’re going to starve and freeze our OWN parents and grandparents, and allow them to live in filth, in order to provide housing, food, and money for foreign strangers, who now make up 1/4 of our population. Because ‘reasons’.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/sweden-price-migration
There is a very real sickness in society when this is the choice made.
n
From @SteveF yesterday:
Lynn, I have a .30-06 BAR (single fire only, 5-round box magazine; I wish I had a genuine BAR, full-auto with the big mags). Which I’ll probably never fire again. My right shoulder didn’t fully heal and it hurts rather a lot if I poke in one spot, right about where a rifle stock rests. I’d probably be rendered nonfunctional if the recoil of a heavy rifle hit it. And my left eye still isn’t exactly useful for things like aiming at targets smaller than the broad side of a barn. I probably oughta sell it but can’t quite bring myself to do it.
Same gun probably except mine is .308 and 50+ years old. I have not shot it since 1979 and have no desire to do so without putting a huge recoil pad on it. It is a beautiful rifle though. I am fairly sure that I could shoot five deer with it with one bullet if they all lined up.
That worked in the old cowboy and Indian movies. One shot and 18 Indians would fall off their horse, dead. The next 38 shots from the same rifle without reloading was to just scare the rest of the Indians.
“Climate Myths” by John Stossel
https://townhall.com/columnists/johnstossel/2019/11/20/climate-myths-n2556733
“”How dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood!” insisted teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg at the United Nations. “We are in the beginning of a mass extinction!””
“Many people say that we’re destroying the Earth.”
“It all sounds so scary.”
“But I’ve been a consumer reporter for years, and I’ve covered so many scares: plague, famine, overpopulation, SARS, West Nile virus, bird flu, radiation from cellphones, flesh-eating bacteria, killer bees, etc. The list of terrible things that were going to get us is very long.”
“Yet we live longer than ever.”
Hat tip to:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/11/22/climate-myths-by-john-stossel/
“How dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood!” insisted teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg at the United Nations. “We are in the beginning of a mass extinction!”
What the h*ll has happened to comedy? Greta has been *coached* to deliver those speeches like Brother Isaac in “Children of the Corn”.
Letterman would have roasted her alive 30 years ago. SNL too, under the exact same production team.
Even a decade ago, Greta would have received the Clutch Cargo treatment on Conan’s show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIvf-y0D7jY
“Something’s Happening Here” by Sarah Hoyt
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2019/11/23/somethings-happening-here/
“For someone who grew up in the seventies and where I grew up, we’re living in very strange times.”
“People are rising up. All over the world. In Iran, they’re rebelling against the mullahcracy. In Hong Kong those poor kids lasted much longer than we expected, and the media could not keep them quiet. In France the Yellow Jackets go on despite media blackout. In Holland and Germany (Germany!) the farmers are taking to the streets with their tractors. And yes, in the US the Tea Party though reviled, lied about and infiltrated arguably started it all, and arguably had the greatest influence in growing the sullen resistance of the people.”
Lazy day today. I need to get a bag of feed for the emu. I looked at the forecast and heck, she has enough to get to Monday.
One trip to town. Fill the truck, fill a gas can or two, fill a diesel can, visit the feed store, and then Hoover’s for pellet stove fuel.
T-day is taken care of. We’re charring steak on the grill and having nuked baked potatoes. Might get fancy and open a can of veggies. Might not.
I bought a pack of 6 d-cells at Tractor Supply. Their brand. $10.50. What? I tried looking at Wal-Mart but the idiots on scooters insist they have right of way. shrug, happy holidays to you too.
Might get fancy and open a can of veggies. Might not.
The wife feels that green bean casserole is vital part of any Thanksgiving meal.
Lazy day today. I need to get a bag of feed for the emu. I looked at the forecast and heck, she has enough to get to Monday.
Have you seen the Liberty Mutual emu commercials yet ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFu0Pmv-_KU
Funny that I just bought a box of .308 blanks…
—
just finished watching Ender’s Game. Love the book. Liked the movie. Of course they had to pare the book back, but the missing stuff was not essential to the story of Ender. Really good effects. NAILED the battle school. Could have been longer if it fit more story in, but it was very enjoyable. I hope I can resist re-reading the books.
currently 47F and chilly willie out.
n
“The wife feels that green bean casserole is vital part of any Thanksgiving meal. ”
–yes and sweet potatoes with brown sugar, marshmallow and butter, and CANNED cranberry jelly. Although I will accept IKEA Lingonberry jelly as an alternative.
n
just finished watching Ender’s Game. Love the book. Liked the movie. Of course they had to pare the book back, but the missing stuff was not essential to the story of Ender. Really good effects. NAILED the battle school. Could have been longer if it fit more story in, but it was very enjoyable. I hope I can resist re-reading the books.
I’ve read about ten to twelve of the enderverse books. Have two more on my shelves in my SBR (strategic book reserve).
48 F here and dropping. Suppose to be 41 F in the morning on the way to church.
Only canned cranberry jelly – with the ridges intact. Perfection.
Yes, if you can’t see the shape of the can, it ain’t right!
n
Hah, across the street neighbor turned on their Christmas lights. HOA is gonna write them a nastygram. I’m itching to get started on this year’s lights. No real idea what I want to do yet, but I’m sure I’ll come up with something.
n
Hah, across the street neighbor turned on their Christmas lights. HOA is gonna write them a nastygram. I’m itching to get started on this year’s lights. No real idea what I want to do yet, but I’m sure I’ll come up with something.
Cr*p. Really? Some of the neighbors around here have had lights up and active nightly since the weekend after Halloween. Who cares.
Dunno about Houston, but, living in FL, I always found it ironic that the people who were most interested in restricting my freedom through the HOA had mortgage paperwork issued by Pentagon Federal Credit Union and/or Grow Financial (credit union at the base). The people running the “wars” at the Doug Neidermeyer-type commands at the base were also in the most debt.
“Thank you sir, may I have another.”
A big tragedy is that the jellied Bird’s Eye cranberries no longer have a number stamped into the bottom of the can. One of my brothers had permanent dibs on the number.
“One of my brothers had permanent dibs on the number. ”
–awesome
The little things matter most.
n