Cold again, after temps rose above freezing for a WHOLE DAY in Houston Texas… this globull warming is killing me.
It was 28F when I went to bed.
I spent yesterday doing silly things so you don’t have to. Strike that, I’m too short to fill those shoes.
I did do some experimenting, which I duly chronicled in the comments yesterday evening. The clothes came out clean and fresh smelling, and the kerosene heater I tested worked fine- except for being out of kerosene. I swear I have a white and yellow round 5 gallon can somewhere, but I couldn’t find it when I went looking. If I was desperate for heat, I’d siphon some from my other construction heater. I’m not desperate at all though, so I’ll just buy some the next time I see it. I like flexibility and redundancy for heat, water, and cooking. Honestly, all the other things too, but especially those.
I helped out several neighbors with plumbing issues and did some of my own. What made it possible was having the parts in storage. The local stores are empty of the kinds of things people need right now. Even pros can’t get parts. I’m a firm believer in having stuff you might need close by where you can lay hands on it. Like what? You know your gear and your stuff better than me, but I’ll list some here to start you thinking…
Plumbing parts.
I think you should have a variety of fittings and some pipe on hand in a couple of pipe sizes. They should be whatever you have in your house, and what is common in your area. Besides fittings and pipe, you should have the glues, tape, solder, and tools to put the parts to work in a simple repair. You should also have a toilet seat, toilet tank flush system replacement kit, toilet bolts, and a wax ring. You should have some of the flexible hoses to connect faucets and the toilet. Some of the quarter turn shut off valves, and a spare hose bib. Plumbers putty. Sprinkler parts if you have sprinklers, replacement heads, riser pipe, sharkbite repair fittings, and some sprinkler pipe fittings too, as well as at least one valve and solenoid. You should have some garden hose repair ends, and some other hose parts like washers and nozzles. If you have gas appliances, you should have at least one ‘gas appliance installation kit’. All of this and more will fit in one flip top bin…
Electrical parts.
You should have a couple of light switches, outlets, and at least one GFCI outlet that match what’s in your house. 25ft of Romex or similar for wire. Replacement ends for extension cords. 10ft of lamp cord and lamp repair parts, like a harp, a bulb socket, and a 2 prong plug. You should have light bulbs for all your fixtures. Tape and wire nuts. Next level, have a spare 20amp breaker for your panel.
Automobile parts.
At least one complete oil change for each vehicle. Replacement windshield wipers. A tire plug and patch kit, and a tire inflator. One headlight bulb. One set of tail light bulbs (assuming your vehicle uses bulbs). One complete filter change (air, cabin, oil). Spare fluids, including the “leak stop” ones for each system. Fuses that match your vehicle. If you can swing it, one set of mounted spare tires, but at least one extra tire (can be used, or one you took off, it’s an emergency backup after all.)
General repair parts.
Screws, nails, bolts, nuts, washers, “plumber’s tape”, bailing wire (rebar tie wire); glues (white glue, yellow woodworkers glue, cyanoacrylate (crazy glue), gorilla glue, five minute epoxy, and JBWeld metal repair); tape- masking, blue painters, good duct tape, electrical tape (3M only), zip ties, aluminum tape for ducts; a couple of 2x4s, and half a sheet of 3/4 plywood. Depending on where you are, you might want a piece of window glass and a glass cutter with a can of glazing compound and some points. Drywall compound and a leftover piece or a patch kit. And paint. Kilz primer, and some spray cans in black, white, brown, tan, your house color, and one florescent color. White latex interior paint or whatever your walls are.
Sewing and clothing repair parts.
This is a whole separate topic, but a selection of needles, stout black thread, a couple of buttons, shoe goo, a roll of velcro, some safety pins, and a few buttons salvaged off stuff you threw away are a minimum. I have 18″ of black thread on a needle wrapped around the golf pencil in my altoids tin everyday kit. SUPER handy to fix some web gear, or a tear. I also have a kit of iron on clothing patches in my travel bag for quick fixes of tears in clothes. ‘Fusible interfacing’ is like an iron on glue for cloth and can be used to hem pants, or attach patches.
And finally, buckets, lids, and plastic sheeting in clear and black.
It’s a big list but it doesn’t have to all show up at the same time. I bought most of mine at yard sales and estate sales, or by picking up more than I need when I go to the hardware store for a project. It took a while to build up a fairly comprehensive stack…
Ideally you already know how to use those parts to make simple repairs, but if you don’t, there are several good books on household repairs. Home Depot and lowes both have a display rack with some of the books and you can leaf through them to see what level they’re aimed at.. and Goodwill almost always has several of those types of books on the shelf. But even if you don’t have the skills, knowledge, or desire, you might need to have the part so that someone else can do the work. That is certainly playing out here in Houston this week.
The usual caveats apply, seek out expert advice if you don’t know what you’re doing, read books, watch videos, watch home improvement shows on tv, and consider what could go wrong before undertaking something new. That said, there is tremendous satisfaction in fixing things, and they are already broken, so sometimes you might as well give it a try. And sometimes, you might be the only one available TO try.
Keep stacking! It works!
nick
Spare fluids, including the “leak stop” ones for each system.
Some manufacturers’ vehicles and/or newer cars are very picky about fluids such as transmission and power steering.
And the “leak stop” fixes can do serious damage in … Hondas (?).
Research what is appropriate for your vehicle.
@Brad
“Can confirm. I was present for an impressive one in Dallas, in 1981 or 1982. Inch-thick ice everywhere, and seriously cold. This isn’t a “100 year” event; it’s more like “every decade or three”. This time seems more catastrophic, because of the power failures, which then cascade into other failures (like burst pipes), but it actually isn’t, and shouldn’t have been.”
There are cycles to climate. One is about 30 years. The result is a clustering of events (several cold snaps in Texas in the 1980’s, record snowfalls elsewhere, drought, etc.) which then recede in the rearview mirror and are outside the experience of the next generation of the public and the people in charge.
Then it happens again. In the extreme events the 5P’s become 6.
A “boil water” notice showed up in my email the other day from our MUD, but I didn’t see it until last night. Apparently, I was correct that the water was briefly cut off Tuesday night due to pressure problems.
I’ve been working all week, and my wife has been remote, helping to clean up the VA backlog in Texas since Wednesday afternoon. I guess we were just expected to say “scr*w it” and stream Baby Yoda on our phones starting Monday morning, waiting for the next directive from all of these private sector employees masquerading in Texas as public servants who were paid to think about these possibilities but failed to do so.
The public-private utility model in Central Texas has failed spectacularly. As I learned at ERCOT, there is no public sector job secruity/pension, and the private incentives to do the job at a high level aren’t there either.
The MUD also “suggested” reserving water for drinking and toilets. Reading between the lines — no showers or other cleaning.
If I’m expected to be productive, I’m taking a short shower.
Gotta wonder what the MUD office staff does all day. My bill is considered late if it isn’t in the box at 9AM on the due date since they only only check the payment drop once a day, walking in to the office from the parking lot. $20 late fee.
Every male in my school carried a pocket knife. As in your situation, no one got stabbed. In fact I carried a rifle to school on the bus. No one batted and eye. It was needed for a school play. I also discharged that rifle in school using a starting pistol blank. Principal made me remove the firing pin until the school play was over. A real starter pistol was used off stage in the play as a starting blank in a rifle is actually dangerous.
I carry a Leatherman Skeletool. The blade is less than 3 inches, which is the requirement to be allowed on the local Army base. It also has pliers and a screwdriver (interchangeable bits). It is a rare day when I don’t use it for something. I also bought a set of additional bits to go with the basic phillips and flathead ones. They stay in the car.
@drwilliams: I think that’s key. Those of us with gray hair have the benefit of experience. Younger people haven’t, so it’s easy for them to think something is happening for the first time. Because it is the first time, for them.
This is also why I generally take the “global warming” stuff with a giant grain of salt. Been there, heard the doomsday predictions, and they keep…not coming true. Should we actually take care of our planet? Sure, of course, goes without saying. But CO2 is not the biggest problem, heck, it may not even be in the top 10.
When I created the table I created that column as nullable with a datatype of date and no default value. When you browse it it plainly shows null in that column. However, when you query it you can’t use “IS NULL” or “IS NOT NULL” and get proper results. You have to use “= ‘1900-01-01′” or “<> ‘1900-01-01′”. I had to Google the heck out of it and found a post on a developer forum where a guy suggested casting/converting the NULL value to see what you get. So, I tried that and got 1900-01-01 (when what I should have gotten when casting NULL is NULL). It’s the weirdest thing. I suppose that explains why our RPG developers are scared to use NULL in anything. They avoid it like the plague. After Googling the heck out of it some more it seems it’s a somewhat known problem that NULL in a DATE field doesn’t play well. I can’t believe I’ve not had the issue before now. I typically use SQL Server or MySQL for most of my database needs and rarely use DB2 for i. 🤯
True that.
I remember back in high school that a major ice age was predicted. My state of Oregon was going to be covered in sixty feet of ice within 30 years. (height and number is probably wrong) Need to prepare now. I remember the predication of half the US becoming a dust bowl.
It goes well beyond just climate. I have lived through a dozen plaques that were going to kill half the population. All major predictions of doom. Yet here I am, still kicking.
In all of these cases the common factor has been money. Someone, or something, moving money from someone else’s pocket into their pocket. Or moving money from one country to another country. Thus I get real suspicious of the predictions.
Al Gore did not get elected so he found another scam. Made millions in speaking and investments because of his failed, and high inaccurate, climate predictions. According to Al we should have all been suffering through draughts, ice caps completely eradicated, summers where people are dying by the thousands from excess heat. None of it came true, not one of his predictions. All it did was fatten his wallet.
I used to think that old people were just crotchety and bitter because they were old. Now I are one. We are not crotchety and bitter, we are just highly skeptical of anything claimed by the government or others with an agenda and money is involved.
@nick; you should capture this comment and put a link to it somewhere for future newbies…
So I see a bit of a discussion regarding knives and guns at school. Here are 2-cents from a certified crotchety old man, curmudgeon if you will.
All during my K-12 school days, 1955 through 1968, I always carried a knife, every boy and most girls did. Never a stabbing, until 1970 when the school systems had to bus in folks of no moral character or IQ to “be fair”. (Yes, the “to be fair” crap started in the 1970s.)
In fact, my high school and all the high schools in the Northern Chicago suburbs had gun clubs and in-school shooting ranges. There were shooting competitions between the schools, just like the other sports. I carried my Marlin 22 magnum single-shot bolt-action 3x scope to school every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I was a pretty good shot and won several inter-school competitions. Like the knives, our guns were taken away in 1970.
Those were the days.
32ºF and sunny in SA. Power, water, and ‘net are still working. We didn’t get the promised rolling blackout. Pipes all seem OK. Friends that live in Boerne, TX, are still out of water. Count your blessings.
I’m reading snippets of plugsy McSpongeBrains proposed Immigration Bill. Geez. Why not have ICE Agents hand out Social Security cards and blank birth certificates (fill in any US hospital) and proclaim them Citizens of the FUSA. It will be fun watching what Dumbocrats will balk. Probably those who don’t get pork shoveled into their State.
Went to high school in the 60s. We had a gun club, most pickups had gun racks, and everyone had a pocket knife. Fights in the back parking lot were frequent but no one ever used a weapon. We were a different people then, no school shootings or bombings. In fact, if someone had tried to shoot up our school, the football team would have sought him out and pounded him flat, not hid cowering in the corner. A different people.
I’ve had one of these on my keys for years but have more than once been caught in an entry check. Fairly silly considering the small size.
Threw one in the trash at a water park rather than walk a mile back to the car. (of course the employees may have taken it.)
Once at a hockey game but my son-in-law took care of it. Turns out he placed it in a planter outside but we forgot about it after the game. My daughter went by the arena a couple of days later and retrieved it.
https://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Swiss-Classic-Pocket-Knife/dp/B00004YVB2/ref=sr_1_49?dchild=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4L2BBhCvARIsAO0SBdY0IYwqr27MBzz2e-xSiD-yBisNLpgpui-Q3f0q8mn6E5bSm77qSSgaAu8oEALw_wcB&hvadid=409999070087&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9031719&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=3503459768600738382&hvtargid=kwd-25908110&hydadcr=24634_11410134&keywords=victorinox+cybertool&qid=1613746064&sr=8-49&tag=ttgnet-20
32f and sunny here in Indian Country today. All major roads are cleared and power is looking good. Some water mains have burst causing outages but not my neighborhood thankfully. The worst is behind us. Now we can review what preps worked and what didn’t. I learned a few lessons. Top item on my list is more reliable power.
The money for the MIL’s house finally got wired to her account. The threat of legal action apparently lit some fires. MIL is incarcerated (according to her) at Blue Skys, a senior living facility located west of I-410 on highway 90. She had intermittent power for three days, now power is steady. Blue Skys is probably the nicest place the MIL has ever lived. But she still complains. Is quickly turning the place into piles of junk just like her old place. Kept stuff from the old place that made absolutely no sense. She kept grocery store receipts from 1970 forward. Several bags full of receipts.
But MIL is now in a safe environment. She was no longer capable of taking care of her house and it was really beginning to show. Wife and I don’t expect her to last through the end of the year.
MIL has a cell phone that after much effort has her old home phone number attached. But she has real problems using the phone. Thinks she can’t learn, therefor does not learn. So I purchased the cell land line thingy from Verizon, shipped it to her, with a phone attached. We told her when she receives it to just plug it in. So MIL looks for a phone jack and tells us there is none in the place. After she has the device for a couple of days we will move her cell number (old home phone number) to the cell device. Then get a new number for her cell phone. We cannot swap because there are different providers involved. At that point cell phone should only be used when outside the facility and as emergency backup.
Everything MIL has done in this entire process has made the process much more difficult than it should have been. From pushing decisions until it was almost too late, flat out refusing to do some needed actions, keeping stuff that was unnecessary, and generally being a real pain to deal with. I have her taxes ready but she refuses to let me e-file. Fine. She has a refund so the deadline is about three years in the future.
Marina “Counselor Troi” Sirtis Tweets:
No do Kalifornia, fcuktard, where you live and work. And, Butto for Governor? Geez, come out of your bubble.
Ted “Zodiac Killer” Cruz is getting *pounced on* by ProgLibTurds, for his quick trip to Cancun. Yeah, he poked the pooch on that one. No word from the MSM on Killer Koumo, the nursing home killer.
A 501 c 4 is a “social welfare” non-profit. What they do probably qualifies under IRS regulations. There are a bunch of types of non-profits besides charities: fraternal organizations, social clubs, etc.
About the Baen flap. One of the authors that publishes via Baen has written a defense of Baen. What makes this different than most is that Flint is a self-described socialist with the bona fides for that.
@Ray
Re: MIL
The experience you’ve had, and what my aunt and uncle went thru with grandma (frantic call to 911 after she was moved “I’ve been kidnapped”) have me convinced there is a moral obligation to have full plans with trigger events in place for oneself BEFORE you reach your more senior years.
It’s inconvenient at best, cruel at worst, to put your kids thru making decisions one should make for oneself while fully competent. Triggering events that you have previously set AND discussed with your kids well ahead of time (am I eating an entire bunch of bananas at one sitting? Execute plan x with my blessing; am I leaving the stove lit and unattended y times a week? Execute plan c; etc) so they can fulfill your intent when your weakened faculties won’t permit it. I don’t know how formal I’d make it. There’s probably some kind of value in having POA in place sooner rather than later, though turning over decision making too soon makes me uneasy.
I don’t know precisely what our plan or specific executing events will look like. I do know I really don’t want to put our solo kiddo thru these decisions on her own. She will likely be in her thirties when we start our aged decline. It’s something my husband (am I still permitted to use that word in today’s wokeness?) discuss. It’s a discussion we need to have with his folks. They’re currently in great shape physically and mentally, but his mom just turned 80, so.
Regarding Cruz, my wife and I were talking about it last night.
I don’t think he or anyone needs to ‘wear sackcloth and ashes’ because of things he’s not directly involved in. The OPTICS of it are bad. But I don’t want him moping around full of fake emotion and interrupting people who are working either.
Someone please tell me a single thing he could or should be doing that would make a difference.
n
Marina “Counselor Troi” Sirtis Tweets:
“Don’t get me wrong, my heart bleeds for what Texans are going through right now but the mean girl in me says you get the government you deserve and they have voted Republican, across the board, for the last 20 years. #BetoForGovernor”
California money is going to try again to win statewide in TX with Robert Francis.
getting ready to head over to the rent house. I’m going to throw a bunch of stuff in the truck, just in case.
Daughter one has a sore throat and feels miserable. No fever, but white patches in the back of the throat. I guess the wife will be headed to the doc in the box with her while I’m (hopefully NOT) doing plumbing.
Joy. And pain. Sunshine. And rain……
n
Someone please tell me a single thing he could or should be doing that would make a difference.
The real target is Abbott.
Cruz made a mistake flying commercial. I think he believed, like everyone else, that the weather wouldn’t be a big deal by Wednesday morning beyond the ice on the roads.
@Jenny #MIL
In the UK there is the Office of the Public Guardian with whom you can register a health and/or finance Power of Attorney at very reasonable (circa $100 each) cost; a pretty clear set of documents provided for the purpose. I recommend to all I know to have these is place – NOW, you never know what might happen. In the UK if you don’t have a POA registered while still of sound mind, you have to go to the courts, which is a much more costly affair and takes time. Your attorneys are not allowed to act whilst you have sound mind, without your agreement.
Also, are you aware of ? fivewishes.org I came across these some years ago and liked their approach.
Not a MD fan but…
https://ogdaa.blogspot.com/2021/02/tennessee-car-problems.html
I have done a lot of that with my son. Told him what I want to do, and when it should be done. I have also told that if my future demise goes the way of previous relatives, I will lose my mind first. I have told him to ignore anything cruel or angry I say to him during those times. It is no longer me he is dealing with as I am no longer myself.
It is an unpleasant discussion for certain. Dealing with the aunt taught me a lot, some of it very hurtful, some of it very angry. I also found out the government does not make it easy to do what is right as their interests are not our interests. My grandparents went the same path although I had nothing to do with that, just got the narrative from my mother.
I have informed my son where all the critical papers are located. I have told him how to find financial accounts. He has emergency access to my password file to get passwords and user names to critical accounts.
I have told my son that he will not take care of me, as in his home or my home, under any circumstances. If I need care get a professional facility. Don’t hamper his life trying to take care of me.
I have also told my son that if I become incapacitated that no extraordinary measures will be used to extend my life. I will instead be given medication to eliminate the pain and discomfort, breathing assistance for comfort. No feeding tubes allowed. Water if necessary orally or by IV. Otherwise let nature take it’s course.
More than likely he would have made things worse. He is not an expert, just lip service. Unless he can spew more hot air than normal he would have only gotten in the way. Others probably left the area for some place with power, why not him?
What sets him apart is being sneaky and then back pedaling when caught. A simple honest answer would be refreshing.
“GLOBAL WARMING: Kerry Says Paris Climate Accord Isn’t Enough, We Will All Die In 9 Years”
https://nationalfile.com/global-warming-kerry-says-paris-climate-accord-isnt-enough-we-will-all-die-in-9-years/
““The scientists told us three years ago we had 12 years to avert the worst consequences of climate crisis, we are now three years gone, so we have 9 years left,” said Kerry.”
What a tool !
And I go by what the Old Testament says, if a prophet prophecies do not come true then stone him or her. And I am really tired of this crap.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com
One can only hope he dies in 8 years and avoids the rush.
Once you’ve had that concept brought to your attention, it’s astounding how often it comes into play.
I’m with you, dude.
Some money quotes from the article:
Rejoining is plugs’s way of saying “I’m a Globalist! America last!”. And, China is a developing nation? WTF, over?
Kiss your tax dollars goodbye.
Well if we hear from @brad that he’s resorted to using some of that beer to flush then pretty much it will be TEOTWAWKI.
That’s just it. The optics are horrible and, unfortunately, that’s all that matters in this day and age. Keep in mind the MSM is desperately trying to turn Texas blue. This was a gift for them and their agenda and they’re going to beat it to death.
From yesterday:
Finally for a sample of Oz journalism, here is todays opening piece on Bill Gates’s crusade on climate change from a leading Australian journalist.
Eh, this sounds like an opinion columnist writing a lead for an interview of someone s/he likes who shares his/her opinion on a topic (and also decided to take a gratuitous dig at someone s/he dislikes). I can be wrong about that (though I hope I am not, it is important to keep fact/news and opinions clearly separate), but I very much doubt this was a “news” story. Of course, I also don’t regularly consume Australian media, so what do I know?
Hot shower, flushing toilet. The joys of civilization.
Telemedicine screen said – treat symptoms unless fever, then come by for an exam. Daughters have been so healthy they really get upset by even very minor sickness. (touch wood)
Now to load up the truck and face the lion….
n
Hah, first neighborhood group request for a hose bib. I knew they would realize it at some point.
Fortunately, I’ve got a dozen? two dozen?
And I turned my old Christmas decor (made out of 1/2″ CPVC pipe) back into plumbing supplies. I’ve got 50 feet of the most common plumbing material in our area…. {evil grin}
n
OK, that’s just weird. I was a COBOL/DB2 developer for years, mainframe not i-series, but null is null. If you have a field in the client database for “date-of-death”, it better be nullable with no default and hold the correct value of “null” while that person is alive.
Well…he could have stayed in Cancun…one less person using electricity in Texas.
Cruz also could have been honest (oww, ouch, slap my hand for putting ‘honest’ in the same sentence as a Congress Critter ™ ), said the trip was a lapse in judgement and as good parents not only is he coming back on the next available flight but so are his wife and kids and they all will immediately (if possible given current weather conditions) spend the weekend doing some sort of storm-related community service to benefit those less fortunate than they are.
Not making a trip that has “bad optics” at this time because that is a distraction to everyone else that has real problems to deal with. Senator Cruz, I don’t doubt, has sufficient resources that he should be able to “cruise” (sorry couldn’t resist) through a few days of cold weather. If instead this is a difficulty for him, he should have stayed and accepted this as a learning experience for his own situation (preps!) and the situation of his less well-resourced or unprepared constituents. In Canada, we had a number of politicians support a no unnecessary travel, especially foreign travel, advisory who then decided it would be OK for them to travel to Florida / Mexico / Caribbean locations over Christmas and New Years. In each case the public has asked for and gotten “heads to roll” (dropped from positions in cabinet or committees) for not walking their own talk. Now, Senator Cruz is not guilty of that behavior, but he is coming close and should think on this a bit.
But Cruz’s dog was home with a security dog.
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2021/02/supplied-with-cruzs-address-by.html
Should be in your flammables cabinet.
All too often I’ve experienced (and heard similarly from neighbors) licensed trades people having to, in the middle of a job, send the low man of the crew off to Home Depot for some part that years back would have certainly been in their truck. The cable guy is usually better equipped than the plumber or the electrician.
Not stored in your unairconditioned garage or attic (esp. in TX). In any case I prefer the synthetic rings, especially for us old folks – for some reason the seem to sell us the heavy toilets 😉 and with the synthetic ring you get more than one try for proper placement. I use this one: https://www.homedepot.com/p/SANI-SEAL-TOILET-GASKET-Toilet-Gasket-Flexible-Waxless-Seal-Universal-Fit-BL01/203564758
I’d say a spare for each size breaker in your panel.
All the more reason to pay attention in History class in high school.
Triggering events that you have previously set AND discussed with your kids well ahead of time
I have done a lot of that with my son. Told him what I want to do, and when it should be done. I have also told that if my future demise goes the way of previous relatives, I will lose my mind first. I have told him to ignore anything cruel or angry I say to him during those times. It is no longer me he is dealing with as I am no longer myself.
I take it that you and your son are getting along now ?
Hot shower, flushing toilet. The joys of civilization.
I maintain that the first sign of civilization is pressurized drinkable water at your house and business.
The second sign of civilization is a Colt Peacemaker. I’ll take four please, that was good enough for Josey Wales. I lost all mine in the Brazod River while canoeing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Single_Action_Army
Yeah, just heard from my DBA friend and he basically told me the same thing. But Google is often faster than waiting for an over-burdened resource.
Hah, first neighborhood group request for a hose bib. I knew they would realize it at some point.
Fortunately, I’ve got a dozen? two dozen?
And I turned my old Christmas decor (made out of 1/2″ CPVC pipe) back into plumbing supplies. I’ve got 50 feet of the most common plumbing material in our area…. {evil grin}
There is infinite demand for any free product.
“Outages Morph Into Outrage As Texans Slapped With “Mind-Blowing” Power Bills”
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/outages-morph-outrage-texans-slapped-mind-blowing-power-bills
“Royce Pierce told Newsweek he owes electric company, Griddy, $8,162.73 for his electricity usage this month. He said that’s a massive increase from his usual $387 bill.”
I am sorry but anyone who buys electricity from http://www.griddy.com is just stupid unless they are hedged. We went through the multi-thousand dollar electricity bills a couple of years ago in the summer. Griddy has zero hedging, you pay what any other direct customer pays on the Texas electric grid. Which BTW, is a tenth of a penny right now for each kwh. 0.1 cents/kwh. 1.0 $/MWH.
http://www.ercot.org/content/cdr/contours/rtmLmp.html
I had one person tell me he buys Griddy with a home generator and just rushes home and starts the generator every time the prices jump. That is crazy.
“We’re not the crazy ones”
https://gunfreezone.net/were-not-the-crazy-ones/
Congresscritter Lauren Boebert is a little over the top but definitely not crazy.
I see your null and raise you three more:
https://nshipster.com/nil/
And asking the Houston PD for a lights and sirens escort to the airport…and a Police escort out of the airport terminal after his return flight.
BTW, folks in TX, I presume barber shops have long since reopened there? Just askin for my shaggy-lookin friend Ted here…seems he had to cancel his appointment at the shop in Cancun for some reason.
Those discussions happened several years ago. Relationships are a little better but still on a precipitous edge.
BTW, folks in TX, I presume barber shops have long since reopened there? Just askin for my shaggy-lookin friend Ted here…seems he had to cancel his appointment at the shop in Cancun for some reason.
Barbershops have been open since … May (?) … in Texas. They were closed for six weeks after the lockdowns started, but they reopened in time for graduation ceremonies at the high schools.
Dadgumit, the tenant just found two broken copper water pipes in the warehouse. Both are 18 ft above the ground of course. He is going to patch with PEX.
“An Open Letter To The Old Time Fans at WorldCon” by Larry Correia
https://monsterhunternation.com/2021/02/19/an-open-letter-to-the-old-time-fans-at-worldcon/
“Dear WorldCon,”
“You are cowards.”
“Several years ago, because some of you were angry at me for getting a bunch of people you don’t like award nominations, us lowly deplorable outsiders with the incorrect kind of politics, you treated my publisher, Toni Weisskopf, like garbage. Years later, after you thought the controversy had safely died off, you felt bad about how you acted and tried to make amends. You invited her to be the Guest of Honor. Only you have no concept of honor. And you screwed her over again.”
Real men do not treat ladies like this.
Hat tip to:
https://gunfreezone.net/an-open-letter-to-the-old-time-fans-at-worldcon-monster-hunter-nation/
It’s thawing here, sounds almost like rain from the trees. Chunks of ice, but.
After all of this, the power went out about noon. What the heck. Dragged the wagon up the hill through the snow to the boat shed. Loaded the generator, checked the oil, filled the gas. Pulled the wagon through the snow and then downhill. Almost fell on my butt one time. Connected it to the house, and it finally started. It took a few pulls to get gas to the carb but once it sputtered, it started on the next pull. The choke is picky but, 35F, so…
A couple of hours later a PEC truck came down the drive way and then left. Half an hour later the power was on.
Now I know how the pellet stove acts if the power goes out. More smoke in the house than I expected but not enough to actually see. It re-started just fine.
Something is wacky with my wiring. Or my memory. The well should have run. But I did have 220V from the generator more or less and almost everything in the house worked. The UPS for my PC would not turn on. But this is the first time using this generator to power the house. My bad for not testing. I’m not standing on wet ground to investigate.
I have a plug-in volt meter. I bought it for the travel trailer. On generator, one kitchen outlet showed 130 and bit more volts. The other outlet showed 120V. On normal power, both show a needle width below 125v.
The gennie needs attention beyond an oil change. It hunts enough to make lights pulse. That might be the problem with the UPS.
Plumbing wise, other than the half inch CPVC to the kitchen sink splitting one morning and the same to the washing machine doing the same the net day, not too bad yet. I’ve capped the pipes. I’m not going to fix this when I can’t feel my fingers. On a possible bright side, the water heater has flushed twice now and perhaps cleaned out some sediment.
Yeah, PEX. I need to study that. The guy at Home Depot showed where the fittings are. Said they are pricey. But glue them onto the existing pipe shove some PEX in and it clicks when seated. And you are done.
Ok, need to insulate, too.
The hot water godzilla under the kitchen goes up and over and up and over more and up again. Like, FIVE elbows. I’m in the mud thinking this is bull processed grass and if it’s ok for flex lines under the sink, why not under the house?
The bull droppings to connect the hot water to the washing machine are just as bad, just FOUR elbows.
🙂
Yeah, PEX. I need to study that. The guy at Home Depot showed where the fitting are. Said they are pricey. But glue them onto the existing pipe shove some PEX in and it clicks when seated. And you are done.
The only problem with PEX is that mice and rats like to chew it and then you have a drip. Or a flood. Otherwise, PEX is the cat’s meow.
“Why Women Are More Likely To Be Seriously Injured In Car Crashes”
https://www.carprousa.com/Why-Women-Are-More-Likely-To-Be-Seriously-Injured-In-Car-Crashes/a/1815
I am so glad that I got my wife into a Toyota Highlander two years ago. I had to physically haul her to the Toyota dealership (I am not kidding, threats were involved on both sides). Now she loves her Highlander. But she misses her fire engine red Honda Civic five speed coupe. It is taking up space in our garage and has not been started in over a year.
Can I have it? gift, grift, grift.
It seems to be time to replace a couple of UPS’s.
Both are CP900AVR units. A few days ago one suddenly decided it was over loaded. I’m going by the LEDs on the front. I unplugged everything and waited. Today it seems to stay on but chirps every few minutes. No over load light.
After today’s power failure, hey, does room temperature matter? 50F should be warm enough. The UPS in the EDC turns on long enough for the switch to blink lights as it boots. Then off. Yes, I know the batteries are bad. I have replacements. Darn thing should still turn on and at least be a surge suppressor.
I have to re-plug everything so I have more internet than tethering my phone.
Well, off to Provantage.com. After the hell of the deal I got for my printer, I’ll give them some money. $233 for two, delivered? I’m good.
My parents now have pressurized water in their pipes in their home in Port Lavaca. The city is having real problems as they appear to have a major pipe break somewhere. Not good, one of many, many in Texas.
It is taking up space in our garage and has not been started in over a year.
Can I have it? gift, grift, grift.
Shoot man, I want money for that car. After I start it and get it stickered and registered again. The last time I ran it, it had the good old check engine light running.
“The Left Explodes with Rage at DeSantis for Order to Lower Flags to Half-Staff for Rush Limbaugh’s Memory”
https://beckernews.com/the-left-explodes-with-rage-at-desantis-for-order-to-lower-flags-to-half-staff-for-rush-limbaughs-memory-36927/
Cool !
“Power outages to be limited to 12 hours for Texas customers, utility commission orders”
https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-power-outage-update-outages-limited-to-12-hours/285-eb793fc1-8cbd-4bb6-b17a-b6bf381a6466
“HOUSTON — The Texas Public Utility Commission issued an order saying that no customer should be subject to a power outage of more than 12 hours long.”
“The order was issued Wednesday night after many people in Texas had already gone days without power during the winter storm.”
My parents did not have power for over 60 hours while they looked across Lavaca Bay at the bright shining Formosa Chemical plant in Point Comfort, TX who had apparently shut their entire steam system down when it hit 32 F and was pulling 300 MW noninteruptable from ERCOT via AEP.
I was in OTS at Lackland in early ’73. We had about 6 inches of snow that screwed up the training schedule for over two weeks. Since we had no access to outside new I don’t know what the impact was to the rest of the state (region). It seems to me that a lot of people don’t understand the difference between weather and climate.
RE Pocket knives at school: Every everyone (students and teachers, male or female) had one. I know I was carrying one before I was Cub Scout.
PEX is fine if you use compression rings. SharkBite PEX fittings that snap to together are for temporary use. SharkBite uses a O-rings that will become brittle and leak.
I got a building permit for my shop yesterday.
I had a needle biopsy on my prostate today. Not fun. One to three weeks before I get the results.
“The world’s second-most popular desktop operating system isn’t macOS anymore”
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/the-worlds-second-most-popular-desktop-operating-system-isnt-macos-anymore/
“Chrome OS’s rise in market share has been swift and decisive.”
I am having trouble believing this.
I had a needle biopsy on my prostate today. Not fun. One to three weeks before I get the results.
Sorry to hear that. Three of my friends (58 to 65) have had their prostates removed in the last three years.
“The Left Explodes with Rage at DeSantis for Order to Lower Flags to Half-Staff for Rush Limbaugh’s Memory”
The Left has hated on DeSantis for nearly four years. From his perspective, nothing is new.
“Chrome OS’s rise in market share has been swift and decisive.”
I am having trouble believing this.
Schools issue Chromebooks since Windows 7 went EOL and 4 GB laptops really can’t run Windows 10.
I stopped using Window Laptops a long time ago. I use desktops and servers but for moving around I have two Chromebooks. Both are Acer one a 16″ foldover with touch screen that can be used klike a lare tablet. I use that one at home mostly. The other is a 14″ aluminum case. Thin, light weight which goes in my bag. Good for many things and the dirty secret is it does RDP so I’m able to just connect to a window desktop or server to support my clients.
Not if you were to see the number of Chromebooks issued to students in elementary and high school. Really low end systems. But they work for the classroom. I suspect that Google is subsidizing much of the cost to get the students hooked on the machines. Much like Apple did with MACs in the colleges.
Students carry the same physical Chromebook with them through high school. Considering the price to the district was less than $100.00, after 4 years of use, and abuse, the machine is not worth $10.00. Yet the school spends a lot of money to collect the machines, wipe then clean (physically and internally), then offers them to recyclers. In my opinion just give the machine to the student and save the hassle of collecting the machines.
“Chrome OS’s rise in market share has been swift and decisive.”
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/the-worlds-second-most-popular-desktop-operating-system-isnt-macos-anymore/
I am having trouble believing this.
Schools issue Chromebooks since Windows 7 went EOL and 4 GB laptops really can’t run Windows 10.
So the article is casually using desktop to include laptops also ? I was under the impression that the desktop category did not include laptops. I just reread the article and am confused. But I think that you are correct, the “desktop” category includes both desktop and laptops.
Get with the 21st century, old man. The 1980s are way behind us.
I think the categories usually used are now: servers (mostly rack-mount but may include towers under your desk or in the wiring closet), personal computers (laptops, desktop, and high-power tablets which can run the desktop version of Windows10), and phones and tablets. The categories are blurry, which wouldn’t matter as much if sloppy journalists didn’t compare lists from different sources which drew the boundary lines differently.
So the article is casually using desktop to include laptops also ? I was under the impression that the desktop category did not include laptops. I just reread the article and am confused. But I think that you are correct, the “desktop” category includes both desktop and laptops.
Advanced Chromebooks now have USB-C ports, and a $100 docking station turns them into desktops capable of driving a 4k display.
Get with the 21st century, old man. The 1980s are way behind us.
I am old. I have used almost every computer out there since I got to play Lunar Lander on a Univac 1108 operator console in 1971. I used at least half a roll of paper in a couple of hours while the mainframe operator read a magazine. Dad came in to run some extra jobs at 10pm and stayed until 2am IIRC, I got to tag along since it was not a school night.
I was talking with somebody else today about using an IBM AT with an 370 emulator running MVS back in 1987. They tried to get me off the engineering 3090 as I was the number one user. But the 2 mips was not usable compared to the 75 mips 3090 that I was using. So they moved me to the operations 3090. A week later they moved me back to the engineering 3090. At no point did they try to move me to the distribution 3090 running GIS, it was already overloaded with the huge map of our two million electric meters, distribution lines, and transmission lines on its 300 disk drives. The disk drive floor looked like the egg scene from the Alien movie.
@Nick – I put Linux Mint 19.3 MATE on the kids revamped gaming PC with the DP43TF board and 8 GB RAM.
The machine is smooth, and everything worked on reboot, including the weird WiFi card I bought for $10 at Fry’s in Portland in 2010.
Chromebooks have problems using the full features of Zoom. We use dual audio (English/Spanish). The CBs crap out trying to switch audio channels. They are probably old CBs since we are dealing with San Bernardino lately. The school district is wanting.
plugsy, yet again, sqawking about tRump’s admin:
plugs is just a lying POS fcuktard. Gaslighting to the max. The same lies even the MSM is calling him on (but not too loudly).
@ech
Eric Flint is much more than simply “an author who writes for Baen Books”
First, he’s a very successful author. <–That's a period. Baen is his publisher, he doesn't write "for" them when he writes his books. Editorial parts, yes.
Second, he's far more than a writer in the Baen ecosystem. As an editor he has few equals, and none that have been responsible for bringing works of great science fiction writers back into print. He commented once that he couldn't write longer introductions because of page count. My counter was "C'mon, Eric. You're selling it by the pound and another ten pages weighs about a gram."
He does a very good takedown of Sandford, an inconsequential idiot who is nonetheless part of a typical progressive cancel culture conspiracy based on lies, innuendo, and less-than-half truth.
(Other writer's published by Baen have written responses, too.)
But when I hit this bit from Eric:
“Why am I supposed to gasp that another jackass I’ve never heard of by the name of “Pugmak” argues that “Simple competence has been declared white supremacy. Knowing how to do your job and expecting others to do likewise is now white supremacy and workplace oppression.”
it was a bit jarring. “Pugmak” is not making an argument, he is stating a provable fact. Flint not knowing this makes me wonder if he has been writing too much and not paying attention.
Report: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Pushing ‘Anti-Racist’ Initiative in Math
“curriculum states that asking students to show their work and find the right answer is an inherently racist practice”
https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/02/report-bill-and-melinda-gates-foundation-pushing-anti-racist-initiative-in-math/
what total b.s.
Recalls that state legislator more than 100 years ago that tried to pass a law making pi equal to 3.
“There is infinite demand for any free product. ”
–in this case, I fully intended to give it to her, and the wife would have taken $2, but she brought back the ones that didn’t fit AND a gift card to the mexican restaurant down the street. WAY more than I would have asked, even if I was an evil capitalist… (since I didn’t stack that stuff to sell when scarce.) Still, if $10/fitting gets your water back on, isn’t that cheap?
–re: barbershops, I spent a lovely hour or so at mine today after getting the rent house set- NO LEAKS, A MIRACLE! My barber is old school, grew up in the neighborhood, and if anyone knew someone desperate for some plumbing fittings or pipe, I figured it would be him. We chatted a bit, and someone did call him. He asked them for specific needs, and they were supposed to call back. They never did so I eventually headed over to my secondary and pulled some stuff for ebay. I’ve sold a technical book, some cables for cop siren/light bar, and some resistive heater pads for surveillance cams in the last week. Too bad the post office wasn’t working until today. I’ll ship tomorrow…
Weird items to finally sell…
Now it’s taco night. I keep a huge bag of flour tortillas in the fridge, and another in the freezer. They store very well and for a LONG time. Plus, we like tacos.
WRT page count, one of the scifi authors did a very good series of articles on book size. It’s more complex than you might think. He goes into the economics of a sequel vs a long book vs a trilogy and hardback size limits.
Basically, iirc it comes down to the chinese printing presses and binding machines. Up to a certain page count it costs x per page. Beyond that, you have to switch to the bigger presses and bindery, your cost goes to x plus y per page, and then the economics don’t work unless you go to some multiple of your original page count, and unless you are GRRMartin or Peter Hamilton, no one will buy your doorstop.
n
I need to write a piece of software that will visit websites and do random search and downloads based on keyword phrase searches computed from a random selection of Kasey Kassums 40 Forty Countdown song lyrics crossed with the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature and reddit forum posts, encrypt the results, and store it all in the cloud.
Since I don’t stream anything, I should be using the bandwidth for some other form of amusement, and monkeewrenching the system is a pretty good use. Heh. “Polynomial time” indeed.
@Nick
I remember reading part of that. Problem is, a long time ago I observed that “Analysis” begins with “Anal”, and just because someone dresses it up with numbers and pretty prose doesn’t mean they didn’t pull it out of their back side.
But then, I’m old-school and think that doing away with the “reduction to practice” requirement in our patent system helped grease the road to where we are now.
I just took Baen’s 4-volume “The Complete Federation of the Hub” in paperback from my shelf. Highly recommended. “Edited by Eric Flint” on each cover, and we hear from Eric at the end of each book although co-editor Guy Gordon (small print on title page) has longer contributions.
All first printings had $6.99 cover price. Page count is 442, 410, 474, 474 pages respectively.
Don’t know how this squares with the Chinese printing presses, but it seems that there is ample opportunity to add a few pages.
For those not familiar with Schmitz, his was a unique voice. In addition to the Hub collection, there are three other books published by Baen under Flint’s editorship, including his famous novel “The Witches of Karres”. Flint, Mercedes Lacky, and David Freer did three sequels. Two masters and a very good journeyman working together couldn’t get that voice.
Flint also edited a number of volumes of Keith Laumer’s work which are worthwhile for his comments.
I quite liked the 1632 novels from Flint, at least the first few.
Larry Correia often uses him as an example of the lack of a test of political orientation as a requirement for publishing at Baen.
Having watched the Sad Puppies and Hugo kerfuffle and then voted, I’d say that Larry and the Puppies have the right of it.
The whole cancel culture is very dangerous. Witchhunts are repellent to us because we know that we are all witches, at some point, and to someone. Only an person with insane levels of confidence that they are pure could support a witchhunt.
n
Temp is 31F at 1030pm. Weather Radio has a hard freeze warning on for the northern counties.
Galveston is 41F, Huntsville is 30F. There is definitely a drop off as you head north.
n
And now it dropped thru 30F to 29F.
I might open a tap a dribble…
n
And now it dropped thru 30F to 29F.
I might open a tap a dribble…
n
I forgot to open a sink tap or two on the way out of the office tonight. I am hoping that I do not regret this. Seeing the 2 ? 3 ? split open copper pipes in the warehouse shook me today.
One of my guys lives with his mother. They did not have power from Monday morning to Wednesday afternoon. His mom turned the water back on last night and heard a strange sound. She turned the water off and he went up to the attic and found a split pipe above the kitchen. It just got the insulation wet so he pulled that. No plumbers are returning their calls. He has been showering at the office too.
+1000
Google handed out Chromebooks like crazy. Then, on top of that, several school related charities and state/federal grants bought even more.
Both of my kids got chromebooks at school and they use google docs and the rest of the online suite exclusively.
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