Well, never got any rain, or even any real overcast yesterday, and temps stayed high. Funny thing is we have a TS forming in the Gulf, and due to impact the “northern” Gulf today. Heavy rains possible, and all that. No evidence of it when I went to bed. I guess we’ll see. (This time for sure!)
Spent the day at home with the kids and the puppy. Didn’t get any of my auction set up, nor am I likely to complete any of that today. I would like to get my pickup dropped off for repair, since I’ll be gone for a week, this would be an excellent time to have the work done. To be honest, I have no desire to spend a week in Florida. Getting the kids there, and spending time with mom/grandma is a good thing, much to be desired though. So I’m going. Life is what happens while we are waiting for something else. The kids are excited, and my mom is about to pop, so that’s cool. Puppy will stay with friends who used to watch our other dog and various small rodents. He’ll have some other dogs to hang with for the week too.
————————————————————————
Long time readers here will remember (if they cared enough to notice) that I have a fascination with infrastructure and why things are the way they are. OFD and a couple other frequent commentors did too, and we had some good recommendations for interesting books*. I’ve been involving the kids in my interest by pointing out stuff around us- the survey markers for underground utilities, the pipeline warning posts, antennas and cameras, sensors for traffic lights, that sort of thing. Or that the street layout in our neighborhood has weird angled streets, because there are pipelines that cross it, and they are ‘in between’ lot lines. In other words, the house lots and streets were laid out to avoid crossing over the pipelines. And then angled buildings got built on the odd shaped lots that sometimes resulted. If you didn’t know about the underground pipelines, you wouldn’t know why the buildings look like they do. I want the kids to understand that this stuff doesn’t and didn’t “just happen”, it almost always came to be the way it is because of other things, and sometimes what we see is the echo of something long gone, or the shape of something hidden.
The QWERTY keyboard layout is one of those. It was designed to slow down typists, because the mechanical hammers in typewriters would get jammed if you typed too fast. We’re still stuck with it, despite that reason going away long ago, even in mechanical typewriters when the selectric ball, or the daisy wheel were invented.
The relationship between film reels, the 33 1/3 RPM and album size chosen for LP records, and the length of pop songs (until recently) is another chain of choices that shapes the world around us, while the original reasons are gone. (The speed and size of LP records were chosen to hold the amount of sound needed to match a movie film reel – which itself was probably sized by other arbitrary factors. Pop songs were the length they were because that’s what fit on a 45 RPM single, which is what jukeboxes used, and you wouldn’t have a hit if people couldn’t play it on the jukebox…)
There are a ton of other things like that just in the music business (like the CD hole being the same size as a 5 pfenig coin, because that’s what the engineer thought looked about the right size, and then DVDs followed the same form factor, and blurays too, with all kinds of tricks played to fit the content onto them…) If you are old enough to remember when CDs came in tall sleeves, do you also remember when people started to complain about how wasteful the ‘excess’ packaging was? Well, the packaging was designed that size to fit in the same bins and fixtures that record stores used to hold vinyl LP albums in. As the stores phased out the vinyl and the bins, the CD packaging shrunk to its current form. DVD packaging fits on the same shelves VHS tapes used to fit on in the stores and the rental places….
These sorts of things happen in the built environment too, with past decisions echoing down through time, shaping the world around us in ways that we no longer recognize. I’ve been occasionally listening to a podcast called 99% Invisible, about just those sorts of things in design and the world around us. There is a book “The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design” that complements the podcast too.
James Burke’s Connections was the first thing that made me aware of these sorts of chains of events, leading to something that is very different from, but completely shaped by what came before. Connections also made it clear that you couldn’t just “drop back” to the lower level of technology, because the systems that supported that lower level wouldn’t be there. The older systems or design constraints were removed when no longer needed, but the influence remained.
I’ve been thinking about how to look at the larger world through the same lens, and also the smaller world of people and relationships. We know some of what shaped our world from history books. WHICH books, and which stories have left their marks on us is important. (I had no idea until relatively recently in my life that Lincoln wasn’t universally regarded as the hero President of the Civil War. Heck, I had only a vague notion that people in the South had reasons other than racism, and being ignorant, for fighting at all…) Some of those constraints and influences become embodied in our cultures, our shared history, our worldview, and our prejudices.
The people we know, our own relationships, the organizations around us, they are all shaped by those constraints and pressures and perfectly good choices (or bad choices) that came before, but that might now be completely arbitrary or even detrimental.
Looking for those things, identifying them, EVALUATING them, and discarding them if needed – that’s what we need to do to make our way in this world, to get through this period of great change. All of the crazy around us is there because of something. All of the things and people around us have been influenced and shaped by those prior events and decisions. We don’t HAVE to let the echos of the past remain unseen and unknown, shaping us without our knowledge or consent, in ways we wouldn’t choose if given a choice. Knowing that there is a ‘why’ is a place to begin. Look for those echos in yourself, your relationships, your institutions, your culture, and your beliefs. Choose consciously to accept or reject their influence. Try something new.
And of course, keep stacking.
nick
*
–I can’t find the one OFD recommended, but this one is good-
‘A Field Guide to Roadside Technology’ by Ed Sobey
–‘Connections’by James Burke — the book and dvds.
–I’ve watched a couple of this guy’s vids, and this one caught my attention last night.
“Why do hurricane lanterns look like that?” youtube channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tURHTuKHBZs — presenter is kinda annoying but his content is top notch.
I’m minded of the quote, Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.
Long time readers here will remember (if they cared enough to notice) that I have a fascination with infrastructure and why things are the way they are.
Your kids might be old enough that they wouldn’t’ be bored at this place. On our last trip, my daughter kept singing “Electric Love” from “Bob’s Burgers”.
https://www.edisonfordwinterestates.org/
It is a bit of a stretch as a day trip from Sarasota due to the limited hours and driving time involved, but I’ve you’ve never been, you’ll learn some interesting things in both the museum and on the tour.
Our last trip coincided with GE’s delisting from the Dow and the sale of the appliances division to Haier. It was a bit depressing to think about looking at items from the glory days of the company.
The Ford history presented is a bit more limited. That house was held in private hands until the late 80s, and, 30 years later, the estate is still researching the Ford family activities in the area and working with Haverty’s (another interesting story!), among other vendors, to restore the interior to be period correct down to the last piece of furniture. The garage has a few cars, including an early example of the legendary straight six engine.
(Ford had a test facility near Fort Myers, but that doesn’t get mentioned.)
If you’re stuck for a place to eat afterwards, downtown is an easy drive.
This place is a franchise restaurant concept which has been long in development by one of the local groups. Florida still has coal fired power plants — imagine that! — and coal fired pizza.
https://www.caponescoalfiredpizza.com/
“A Field Guide to Roadside Technology”:
https://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Roadside-Technology/dp/1556526091/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1624019830&sr=1-1&tag=ttgnet-20
“Infrastructure: A Guide to the Industrial Landscape”:
https://www.amazon.com/Infrastructure-Industrial-Landscape-Revised-Updated/dp/0393349837/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=0393349837&qid=1624019710&s=books&sr=1-1&tag=ttgnet-20
Also, I’ve posted this place before, but it is worth repeating since most of the aircraft have interesting background stories.
A bit far from Sarasota, but it is worth considering as a day trip if your schedule in the near future coincides with the limited hours.
https://www.fantasyofflight.com/
The owner is … odd. However, the collection is fantastic, and the standard is that everything either flies or is undergoing restoration to flying status. If you’re really lucky, you may see other parts of the facility, including the largest single inventory of WWII Allison aircraft engines in the world.
The collection is simultaneously an argument for/against inheritance taxes limiting dynasties in the US IMHO. Enjoy while it is available.
Off to the orthopedic doctor this morning for the knee. The problems started almost six weeks ago. Between my stubbornness thinking it would go away, delays getting into the VA doctor, the VA delay in reading the X-Rays, the VA delays in getting an appointment, delays in the orthopedic office scheduling an appointment, I am finally here.
The stubbornness was due to me not doing anything to the knee. I did not twist the knee, I did not fall on the knee, I did not hear, or feel, anything snap in the knee, I did nothing to cause the issue. I figured it was just another ache of getting old.
The pain was really severe for awhile and has since subsided. I can mostly walk without a significant limp so the issue has moderated some. I still have discomfort and the knee feels tight, not as loose as the knee used to feel. May be just fake perception.
I am really hoping to get an MRI, maybe a brace or sleeve, at the worst an injection of Penzoil 10W40 in the joint. I really, really, as in desperately, don’t want invasive surgery if such can be avoided. The VA indicated that there was nothing wrong with the actual joint, X-Rays showed nothing, manipulation showed nothing. But this was a general doctor and not from a specialist.
@Nick – If you ever drive to Florida, Airbus apparently offers tours now. We missed it opening by a month last year.
https://www.flightworksalabama.com/tour
Boeing did a lot of stupid things in the last decade, but the tanker deal fiasco that left Airbus with an idle Mobile facility may be the biggest blunder of all.
Off to the orthopedic doctor this morning for the knee. The problems started almost six weeks ago. Between my stubbornness thinking it would go away, delays getting into the VA doctor, the VA delay in reading the X-Rays, the VA delays in getting an appointment, delays in the orthopedic office scheduling an appointment, I am finally here.
Getting the VA specialists back on the job beyond tele-visits has been tough.
Covid was a problem, but the change of portrait in the lobby has been another part of the issue. The VA seemed to be an area of special interest for Trump.
For Biden the VA is just an annoyance. A block of people that use the VA who would never vote for him and are just a drain on the treasury where he thinks the money would be better spent on buying votes from liberal freeloaders. Some days I don’t think Biden can spell “VA”.
For Biden the VA is just an annoyance. A block of people that use the VA who would never vote for him and are just a drain on the treasury where he thinks the money would be better spent on buying votes from liberal freeloaders. Some days I don’t think Biden can spell “VA”.
You would be surprised at how many Biden voters there were among VA patients. The Trump/Russia conspiracy stuff plays well in certain age groups. My wife hears it all.
Despite her uber-liberal voting record, Tulsi Gabbard played *really* well with that crowd as did “Doors”, MJ Hegar, the famed vet/Dell C-suite exec who went after our fossil Congressman with the proven track record providing the most support in Central Texas for … the VA!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi6v4CYNSIQ
On second thought, maybe it was the “Goodfellas” riffing. 🙂
What’s everyone using for consumer UPS? Something on the smaller side. APC?
What’s everyone using for consumer UPS? Something on the smaller side. APC?
APC, but the battery on the UPS for my server and primary desktop swelled after a couple of years which I didn’t notice until the alarm started one day after it was too late.
I replaced the core battery, intending to get a new UPS, but that was almost a year ago.
At least the battery was swappable.
The smaller APC on my cable modem/router has been flawless. OTOH, it is just enough backup to run the network devices and a MOCA adapter that feeds my home office connection across an unused coax segment.
@Chad; currently this from APC: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0038ZTZ3W/?tag=ttgnet-20
Several years old and still working fine (knock on wood).
Paid much less ($125) than the currently listed price, but this may now be an outdated model.
I use APC exclusively. They have a ‘scratch and dent’ website that can save money, and they used to have a trade in program too.
n
So, BA, how many other times in your history have four pilots all died so close together?
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/06/four-healthy-british-airways-pilots-die-one-week-airline-says-no-link-covid-19-vaccine/
Happens all the time right? If you had four deaths in a meatpacking plant in a week from unknown causes OSHA would shut the place down. ANY workplace with that many deaths in that short a time would be getting a VERY thorough look over. But not an airline? And not among the ten thousand ground staff, but the hundreds of pilots?
n
@Lynn: Where we buy PCs?
Falcon-nw.com – the company that Alienware (before Dell) wanted to be.
Super high quality gaming machines that double as superlative workstations (and really expensive, but worth it, unless you can build one like theirs). Had 4 over 20 years, all still alive and running.
I’ve been using APC:
Modem/router/Mac Mini/Drobo has worked flawless for years.
Main TV/Apple TV alerts now and then when the power flux’s and won’t stop pinging until I reset it.
Trashcan Mac/Big Drobo for some reason just shuts off once a week. I turn it on to full charge showing. The Trashcan has been forgiving.
Alienware gaming PC no problem.
Ah yes. Deja vu all over again.
https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-06-18
Well shirt(-r). Knee needs replacing. Scheduled for July 22nd.
Good luck Ray. Those go pretty well nowadays, like hip replacements. They Ortho guys’ stock and trade.
Yeah, gives the old name “sawbones” its old meaning 🙂
Seems odd the normal doc didn’t see it if it’s bad enough to need replacing…
I had arthro on both knees about 15 years ago, and they are aching again, and giving me occasional trouble. I just had chewed up cartilage removed though.
Did the rehab religiously and recovered quickly. The relief from pain and the added mobility were astounding.
n
well, my nvr software issued an update yesterday, so I’ve done that. It was supposed to include fixes for some video streaming issues, but I still have tearing where I had it before, so either I haven’t quite done the full update, or it was for a different issue.
The update process was simple, download the .zip, unzip in new folder, run command. Upload saved config and cam definitions and I’m back up. I guess if it hasn’t puked overnight, I just let it run and hope they fixed the crashing issue.
n
Just got my FEMA daily brief, and it looks like NOLA is in the barrel for this storm.
Cameron to Panama City, 1-3 ft. Actually the center is Mobile Bay, with 2-3 ft forecast along the coast. I’m assuming that is storm surge…
n
Wow, I hope all goes good, Mr. Ray. Keep us posted and follow your rehab religiously.
Well shirt(-r). Knee needs replacing. Scheduled for July 22nd.
Best of outcome to you. So much for not wanting anything invasive.
Not to sound negative, but among my acquaintences roughly 50% are no better after knee replacement. Some are worse. This ranges from folks in poor condition to serious amateur athletes. You did not mention details, so I can’t go further.
I have a compromised knee, but won’t consider anything unless it gets a LOT worse. No pain, so not a constant reminder; just poor strength. I can still walk miles in a day, but running overstresses it.
Well shirt(-r). Knee needs replacing. Scheduled for July 22nd.
These days, the biggest risk with those is infection from the hospital environment. Don’t be surprised/offended if they discharge you fast. My wife’s uncle was out within 24 hours of surgery, and I was stunned at how clean his incisions were when my wife did an unpaid consult.
Everyone I know who has had replacement was very pleased with the end result and recovery time.
Juneteenth now a Federal holiday. Thanks, plugs. How many votes does he think the Dumbocrats gained by this. Another paid day off for goobermint peons.
Juneteenth now a Federal holiday. Thanks, plugs. How many votes does he think the Dumbocrats gained by this. Another paid day off for goobermint peons.
Flying under the radar is the official name of the Federal holiday. We now have two Independence Day weekends within a two week period.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/16/house-passes-bill-to-make-juneteenth-a-federal-holiday-sending-it-to-biden.html
Many state/local governments strictly limit fireworks sales during the year to a couple of weeks around New Years and the 4th. I wonder if the laws will be changed to expand the time window by two weeks in June.
Am I the only one that expects celebrations to get out of hand?
n
@Lynn: Where we buy PCs? The last round I bought for my wife and I were Acer Predators from an online retailer. Technically, they are “gaming” machines (complete with funky looking cases), but they are quiet, and they’ve run utterly reliably for the 3-4 years we’ve had them.
Thanks all !
https://www.amazon.com/Acer-TC-895-UR12-i7-10700-Processor-Professional/dp/B08BWND9J9?tag=ttgnet-20
I have heard that from others. The technology, the knowledge, the materials used, have all enhanced the procedure. I will have the big scar, about 6 inches from the top of the knee to below the knee. I asked about the small incision method and the doctor says those suck for total replacement. Too much messing around and limited visibility.
He did look. Looked at the knee alignment, the X-Rays and immediately saw the problem. Even pointed it out to me on the X-Ray. Gap between the joint on one side is gone where it should like the gap on the other side of the same knee. This may explain my hip pain after walking as I may have unconsciously been favoring one side of the leg over the other.
Pain is fairly low now and mobility is not too bad. I do tend to not extend myself when doing things and am much more cautious to avoid more pain. The pain when it first started, just out of the blue, was significant. To the point of almost screaming. That has subsided although I still have some pain.
Yes, that was a big letdown. The doctor did offer a cortisone injection but stated that is only relieving the symptoms, not fixing the problem. Doing so would only delay the inevitable. He felt it was better to do the replacement now before I have other health issues. I agreed.
I am scheduled for just one overnight stay in the hospital. They have the patient walking within an hour after recovery and several times during the day. The next day is more walking, instructions, then discharge.
I have heard many people say the same thing. To the point of wishing that had done the procedure months or years ago. Mine was a little different. No issues at all until about six weeks ago. Overnight the severe pain started and I procrastinated because I had done nothing to the knee. After two weeks I tried for a VA appointment as I figured that would be faster than private as they are really backed up. A week later in the VA, off to the hospital for X-Rays. VA delayed in reading the X-Rays and getting me scheduled for a private surgeon. That took several days. Then I was given an appointment out in August. I complained, loudly, and was given an earlier appointment.
So I have not been living with the discomfort that long. I knew something was wrong and it was not just a bruise after a couple of weeks. Pain is nature’s way of telling someone that something is not right.
I have to go to another doctor appointment, then a two hour class at the hospital, mandatory or surgery is not done, then another couple of hours for pre-op testing. All this on the same day.
Lynn, once you get out of your emergency computer mode, consider a spare or two. You probably already have, so I’ll be brief. A working business needs a way to prevent downtime. Having a couple of spares is a trivial cost for a business the size of yours. Since you (the owner) seem to spend some, probably a lot, of time there, add a little more. Yeah, I know.
When I was working, we usually had a computer set up in a common area. It was usually one that had been replaced by a newer one, but still had plenty of life left. For many years, we had no IT support, so I designated someone to take care of it. It was sometimes used by visitors. YMMV.
I have friends who have given me their “old” home computers. I always suggest they keep it as a spare. Any working computer is better than none, and takes the pressure off finding a quick replacement. Not one has taken my advice. Fortunately, I don’t do their IT support, so they don’t call me with emergencies.
I also have to remind myself that a tablet or even phone can fulfill the role of a spare. With the right peripherals, a phone can be a good substitute for a computer… for a while.
Ray, I was interrupted three times while writing my last post, and forgot this:
Your good outlook is important, and your posts sum that up. I wish you the best outcome.
People who put off knee replacements for too long frequently end up needing a hip replacement as well. Compensating for a “bum knee” takes its toll on the hip.
Mail though, will be delivered both today and tomorrow, as USPS is saying not enough time to plan for a suspension of service. The peons, and their union, will not be happy.
Be wary using your work laptop for anything non-work related.
More often than not, ‘Big Brother’ is watching.
Both brothers have had their knees replaced. Younger brother was a commercial pilot during that time and after recovery continued flying. Both have indicated the results were amazing. Once one has gotten past the therapy which both stressed as being extremely important and work through the pain even if it involves screaming and tears. They had knee issues for awhile whereas mine was sudden. I could last a few more years with injections but that just delays the needed repairs. Do it now while the health is good.
I am not looking forward to the procedure, yet at the same time am very much wanting to get it done and over with. Going under into oblivion always concerns me. Last time for kidney stones I had a hard time waking up. But that is supposedly a very deep state of anesthesia, much more than what is used for a knee. On the other side of the coin a friend went in for a minor procedure, was put under, and never woke up. But he had heart and other health issues.
As someone indicated, the biggest threat is probably infection. I will be given a private room. One positive of Covid is that sanitation at the hospitals is now at a very high level. So the risk is probably somewhat reduced from the past. And I grew up on a farm, drank from a creek, ate unwashed vegetables fertilized by manure, swallowed (accidently) manure, exposed to manure dust, open cuts that were just washed with water (from the creek), etc. I probably have more anti-bodies than a lot of people.
Yes, I suspect that is why my hip sometimes hurts in the muscles after walking a distance. Same side as the knee.
These sorts of things happen in the built environment too, with past decisions echoing down through time, shaping the world around us in ways that we no longer recognize.
I’m minded of the quote, Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.
After my first heart attack, I investigated why we only had a single heart system. I actually found a paper from a MD comparing the single pump versus the dual pump systems. It came down to calories, the single pump system requires 150 calories per day. The duel pump system requires 250 calories per day. BTW, our brain is the chief user of energy in our systems at 300 calories per day. And, there are cavitation problems with dual pump systems when the body is at rest. And until 150 years ago, mankind lived in a perpetual short good times / long famine times.
As you may know, I am a Christian and firmly believe in Intelligent Design. I believe that God designed us for the tough times. He gave us the largest brain possible and put in a single pump system, expecting us to work around the issues.
This place is a franchise restaurant concept which has been long in development by one of the local groups. Florida still has coal fired power plants — imagine that! — and coal fired pizza.
Texas still has several coal power plants. Only half of the coal power plants have been shutdown.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Lake_Power_Plant
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Grove_Power_Plant
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WA_Parish_Generating_Station
are just a few of them. I worked at Martin Lake Steam Electric Station for a few months in 1985 and 1986.
What’s everyone using for consumer UPS? Something on the smaller side. APC?
I had a couple of early failures with APC UPSes and moved to CyberPower UPSes. They are not any better other than I have not had any early failures. I like the fancy digital displays.
https://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP1500AVRLCD-Intelligent-Outlets-Mini-Tower/dp/B000FBK3QK/?tag=ttgnet-20
Several of our power outages of late at the office have been quite long, 15 minutes or more. The screaming UPSes around the building are quite unnerving.
Then how do you explain Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris and Chuck Schummer?
Just got my FEMA daily brief, and it looks like NOLA is in the barrel for this storm.
Cameron to Panama City, 1-3 ft. Actually the center is Mobile Bay, with 2-3 ft forecast along the coast. I’m assuming that is storm surge…
n
The storm surge for Hurricane Katrina was 27 feet. I’ll take 1 to 3 feet any day of the week.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina
“After making a brief initial landfall in Louisiana, Katrina had made its final landfall near the state line, and the eyewall passed over the cities of Bay St. Louis and Waveland as a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 120 mph (190 km/h).[10] Katrina’s powerful right-front quadrant passed over the west and central Mississippi coast, causing a powerful 27-foot (8.2 m) storm surge, which penetrated 6 miles (10 km) inland in many areas and up to 12 miles (19 km) inland along bays and rivers; in some areas, the surge crossed Interstate 10 for several miles.”
He gave us the largest brain possible
Then how do you explain Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris and Chuck Schummer?
Their brains are … abnormal. AOC appears to have been shorted 50% from the normal.
Am I the only one that expects celebrations to get out of hand?
Juneteenth has a tradition of getting out of hand in St. Petersburg, FL, particularly in the areas south of Central Avenue.
I’m not sure what the day is like now in the city, but I wouldn’t suggest heading up there this weekend from Sarasota. The cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg are Prog-run anymore.
If the Lightning aren’t home this weekend, the downtown core of Tampa would also be classified as “fuggedaboudit” IMHO.
I’m looking forward to June 19th. That’s the day that all patriotic Americans celebrate the executions of traitorous commie scum.
I went to visit my wife at the Austin VA this afternoon. The Wuxu Flu precautions make it seem like the bodies are stacking up in the street.
I swear I saw “Doors” herself in the lobby, talking to one of the Vets in what appeared to be “campaign” mode. If it was MJ Hegar, she’s lost weight.
Tanned. Rested. Ready. Maybe Dell wants to take a shot at buying the Governor’s Mansion.
“The point of a war college is to teach war”
https://gunfreezone.net/the-point-of-a-war-college-is-to-teach-war/
“The U.S. Naval War College is now giving lectures on Critical Race Theory.
Here, an instructor explains that White privilege is White people receiving “free WiFi” while people of color are forced to pay double for it.”
We, the USA, are going to lose WW III because of this nonsense.
o much for not wanting anything invasive
Yes, that was a big letdown. The doctor did offer a cortisone injection but stated that is only relieving the symptoms, not fixing the problem. Doing so would only delay the inevitable. He felt it was better to do the replacement now before I have other health issues. I agreed.
The orthopedic doc gave my wife a week’s worth of cortisone pills last week. When the pills ran out, her knee started hurting again the next day.
“2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe”
https://www.carprousa.com/2021-Jeep-Wrangler-Rubicon-4xe/review/337358
“Powertrain
Under the hood, you’ll find a 2-liter inline 4-cylinder engine that combines with a 17-kilowatt lithium ion battery that powers two electric motors. This power plant is mated to an 8-speed automatic. Together they put out 375-horses and an amazing 470-pound feet of torque. You’ll hit 60-miles per hour from a dead stop in just 6 seconds. Like most EVs, there is instant torque when on all-battery power, yet you can go cross country on the gas engine, unlike a pure electric.”
“What You’ll Pay
Total MSRP on this Wrangler is $61,295, but this vehicle does qualify for a $7500 Federal Tax Credit. Fuel economy is rated at 49 MPGe when on electric, and 20 combined on all-gasoline mode.”
“Charging and Range
Let’s talk charging for a minute. If you plug into a regular 110 outlet, full charging takes about 12 ½ hours. If you get a level 2 charger, you can get a charge in 2 ½ hours.
If you want to drive all-electric, you will have 21 miles of range, before it seamlessly switches over to a hybrid.”
I had no idea. And at $61K MSRP, I will pass.
But this may be what Ford should have produced with the hybrid F-150, a plug-in option. The hybrid F-150 does not have a plug-in option and the total electric F-150 does not have a range extender option.
And what is MPGe ?
I had a Trip-lite UPS years ago. The battery went bad, a used riding lawnmower battery sort of worked but the UPS was either broken or didn’t have enough oompf to charge the battery.
I then had a Belkin that was not all that great. Since then, CyberPower.
Provantage works for me. https://www.provantage.com/cyberpower-cp900avr~7CYPR029.htm
$109.95. You can match the price on Amazon but…. I try to spread the money around.
As for run time, the monitoring software says my PC named Moa and the NanoBeam and a 4 port switch and the router and the remote power switch and the actual Ubiquiti radio up on the pole for Internet, plus a Squeezebox 2, are all drawing about 46 watts while running SlimServer. Add 20 watts with the monitor on.
Call it 50 watts. UPS is rated for “Load Capacity (Watt) 560 W” for 5 minutes at full load, I’m running about “a lot longer”.
Their PowerPanel software on this PC shows a 58 watt load. That’s PC, monitor, a switch, a NanoBeam, and a Ubiquiti UniFi. 51 minutes runtime. Although the beeping will make you crazy.
At the bottom of the page the “CyberPower Replacement Battery 2 x 12V/7AH Batteries 18 Month Warranty”, $70.57 plus tax. The local feed store sells the same for about $14 each battery.
RE: UPS
Thanks for you input, everyone. I went with an APC BE550G. We’ll see how it goes. It’s certainly not for anything critical.
Yeah, let’s not.
We had a used when bought ’84 or so Jeep Cherokee. It was from AMC/Renault just about the time Chrysler bought Jeep. Two door. Four banger, manual transmission and curses upon whoever put the clutch slave cylinder on top of the tranny. Lots of fun replacing that sucker by feel. More curses upon the auto parts joint that sold crap.
It had the rocker recliner seats. Forward and back, the seat back angle could be adjusted. All normal boring stuff. But the entire seat could tilt. They had the same seat chassis in the ’85 Renault Encore and Reliant.
Great fun on South Padre up around Beach Entrance Six or Seven. There was almost always some fool in a Suburban stuck. As in the body was sitting on sand. That little Jeep in 4-low would pull them out. Good times.
“U.S. LawShield’s Texas Constitutional Carry Guide”
https://www.uslawshield.com/texas-constitutional-carry-v2/
“KNOW THE LAW
You could say Constitutional Carry is as simple as carrying without a permit…but you’d be wrong. There’s a reason why gun owners refer to this law as “complicated carry”—it can be an easy trap with severe penalties for the uninformed and irresponsible. Don’t be one of those people.
Uncover the truth about your gun rights with U.S. LawShield’s Texas Constitutional Carry Guide. This book breaks down the essential information gun owners need to know and uncomplicates the new Constitutional Carry law in an easy-to-understand way—prepared by attorneys that have protected tens of thousands of law-abiding gun owners over the past decade.”
It is a 28 page PDF. Worth reading. I need to go to one of their seminars again.
Looks good! And really, all you need is enough to have time to save your work and shut down.
But this may be what Ford should have produced with the hybrid F-150, a plug-in option. The hybrid F-150 does not have a plug-in option and the total electric F-150 does not have a range extender option.
And what is MPGe ?
Department of Energy funny business number. It means something for CAFE calculations.
I’m thinking of the chicken in the “South Park” episode showing how the Fed sets the discount rate.
As for the Jeep, I’m wondering where the engine came from.
Fix It Again Tony?
Thanks Brad. Now we are really complete.
Lynn, I think that you are now just where you started.
Improvements:
1. Five of the office PCs are now running Windows 10 Pro x64 and Act! 2021.
2. The Act! file server is now running a 2 TB SSD for faster response
3. The office manager’s PC is not crashing five times a day anymore
4. ???
Still needed:
1. build a new I7 PC for me for Windows 10 Pro x64 (parts on my desk)
2. replace the source code file server with the test PC
3. replace the hard drive in the accounting pc, maybe the entire pc
@Nick
You mentioned James Burke’s “Connections”. Good series. There were a couple of one-off sequels, and at least two books that didn’t spawn tv.
I’d highly recommend the 2008 BBC 4 mini-series “The Story of Maths” with Marcus du Sautoy. Only four episodes, the first is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJbChZrXDJE
I noted the Winnie Mandela quote at the top of the Western Rifle page you linked to yesterday. For those not familiar, it’s worth looking up the use of “necklace” in that context.
@Greg
I had a client in Orlando some years ago that was renting a small portion of a huge building for a manufacturing process. The building was constructed by GE in the 1970’s for flashcube manufacturing.
Jack Welch was the darling of the business press in the 1990’s for his turning GE from manufacturing to a finance company. Noel Tichy co-authored a book “Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will” that followed Welch over several years. Today they would call it “unprecedented access”.
It was a good book and I had several copies. When Jack’s protege’s started getting big bucks for taking the helms at other companies, I heard that one of them had been disappointed that his idea of putting a heliport on the main office building so he could save time commuting had been nixed. He had been mentioned briefly in Tichy’s book in an episode that was not flattering at all, so I gave one of my copies away with the comment “You want to know what to expect from this guy? Read this.” The forecast was accurate–boy wonder didn’t last long but did a lot of damage.
@JimB
“consider a spare or two”
I run both PC and Macs. I keep the one previous of each as spare for at least a year, and in some cases have waited the year and then twinned the PC by buying a used version and loading the software. Takes a big edge off the emergency.
@SteveB
It was particularly satisfying to have declassified files in the 1990’s and later provide absolute evidence of the Rosenberg’s guilt, blowing up the decades-long myth.
Still needed:
1. build a new I7 PC for me for Windows 10 Pro x64 (parts on my desk)
2. replace the source code file server with the test PC
3. replace the hard drive in the accounting pc, maybe the entire pc
Save a PC for the intern to use to test your product with Wine and a RHEL 8 clone.
The Pirate Ship Saga ends (for me).
The pirate ship didn’t sell for reserve, sadly. But someone, from the clues in the description, tracked down my friends and offered them their reserve price, cash, outside the eBay system.
This is amusing because it’s exactly how my friend bought it in the first place!
I’ve spent a couple of weeks, in beastly heat, rehabbing it – tires, lights, etc.
I’ve been dealt with long lasting J&J side effects – muscle pain for even minor efforts, for 3 weeks now, so it’s been unpleasant.
But: they came, they admired, they paid, they left with it! In 115F weather.
Here is the buyers web site, it’s a hoot:
https://www.sheroesentertainment.com/
https://www.abc15.com/news/region-west-valley/surprise/1-killed-3-others-shot-and-9-more-injured-in-west-valley-shooting-spree-police-say
My older son lives in Peoria and thankfully he/wife/kids were not involved.
Police finally released details on the shooter who is in custody.
And this was interesting from his statement to the cops:
Tricarico told officers when he left his home Thursday morning, he went to a car wash where a man followed him in and pointed a gun at him. Realizing he didn’t have any ammunition for his rifle, he reportedly went to a sporting goods store and purchased four boxes of ammunition.
Guess some rounds on shelves out there at retail.
@edh, I got the J&J&j shot too, and I have been having far more upper body joint pain than I ever had. I had shoulder and elbow pain in the days after that shot for really the first time ever. I still find myself occasionally wondering why my arm weighs 100 pounds and I can barely lift it, or why my shoulders hurt inside. I thought I was overly sensitive and imagining it. You’ve been having something similar?
n
I’ve had a sore throat for weeks too.
https://www.abc15.com/news/region-west-valley/surprise/1-killed-3-others-shot-and-9-more-injured-in-west-valley-shooting-spree-police-say
–that is a stunningly well written, coherent and informative article. At least one potential victim shot back.
I’m not buying the “went to a store and bought 4 boxes of ammo.” Unemployed “security” at a bar had an extra hundred bucks? And there were 4 boxes on the shelf?
n
“Winnie Mandela quote”
–yeah, I saw that too. She was and is a sweetheart. Goes along with my earlier observations that the right will be the terrorist, insurgent, rebels. Things will get out of hand quickly. I don’t think anyone here would start out like dear Winnie, because we have guns and things that get ‘splodey, but it could easily end that way.
n
*and by sweetheart, I mean psychotic murderous bitxh.
@Nick: The effects I see are extreme muscle pain, in the muscles I use for anything but the most minor task.
Holding a hose to water trees just hurts. But carrying a 20# landscape block burns like doing a full gym workout after a month off. Arms, shoulders, chest, hands.
Today after moving a few light dolly loads of accessories (20#?) I just had to sit and watch a young woman jack up the trailer for attachment. Embarrassing, but I just couldn’t move.
It does seem to lessen as the task goes on, and it goes away fairly rapidly, so i’m just self medicating with 2 ibuprofen every six hours.
Remember that Nelson was a piece of garbage terrorist, too. The morons can canonize him all they like. It doesn’t change the facts.
I had a client in Orlando some years ago that was renting a small portion of a huge building for a manufacturing process. The building was constructed by GE in the 1970’s for flashcube manufacturing.
The State of Florida bit on a lot of boondoggles from manufacturing companies in the 70s, the most infamous of which is the Motorola pager plant in Fort Lauderdale. Though, the Lucent/Agere chip plant in Orlando isn’t far behind.
I didn’t know about the flashcubes, but I am aware that the AT&T facility in Lake Mary is an old printer factory.
video of black medical professional unloading on CRT:
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/06/mustsee_tv_black_medical_professional_denounces_crt_at_school_board_meeting.html
“As Left Pushes Gun Control and Defunding Police, Smith & Wesson Has First Billion Dollar Sales Year”
https://thelibertydaily.com/as-left-pushes-gun-control-and-defunding-police-smith-wesson-has-first-billion-dollar-sales-year/
I love my S&W revolvers. I might have four of them. And my Ruger is a fine revolver also.
“Gavin Newsom Assaulted by ‘Aggressive’ Homeless Man on Oakland Street”
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/06/18/gavin-newsome-assaulted-by-aggressive-homeless-man-on-oakland-street/
Oh my goodness, that is just too righteous !
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
better YouTube link to Part 1 of Story of Maths:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb0MSMGSIeY
(yup, got sucked in)
The second season of connections wasn’t as good as the first. He had to stretch a bit more in the cases he made, all the really clear stuff went into the first season.
n
Lynn, once you get out of your emergency computer mode, consider a spare or two. You probably already have, so I’ll be brief. A working business needs a way to prevent downtime. Having a couple of spares is a trivial cost for a business the size of yours. Since you (the owner) seem to spend some, probably a lot, of time there, add a little more. Yeah, I know.
When I was working, we usually had a computer set up in a common area. It was usually one that had been replaced by a newer one, but still had plenty of life left. For many years, we had no IT support, so I designated someone to take care of it. It was sometimes used by visitors. YMMV.
Sorry, I thought that I had answered this. Yes, we have spare computers. In fact, at the end of this upgrade cycle, I will have a Windows 7 Pro x64 PC and a Windows 10 Pro x64 PC in my office. Part of our software release generator does not work in Windows 10 for some reason. And the company has gone out of business, Wise Solutions. I am not eager to change that ability to create a setup.exe file as, it just works.
Also, both of my file servers are just PCs with consoles. Anyone can sit down there if needful and work. It just rarely happens since we usually do not have serious problems, just occasional problems.
Sweet jebus.
“Republican-backed state laws that restrict transgender rights”
–no such thing.
“Arkansas law denying transition care for children”
–worse than Mengele
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9698905/U-S-Justice-Dept-calls-state-laws-restricting-trans-rights-unconstitutional.html
–the newspeak is strong and gaining strength
–how in the world are Dr’s currently PROTECTED from lawsuits brought by adults who were maimed as children? Children can’t sign anything like that.
n
Sorry, I thought that I had answered this. Yes, we have spare computers.
Oops. Must have missed it. Been busy, and something has to get short shrift, as Jerry used to say.
“The effects I see are extreme muscle pain”
–wow, I don’t have anything like that, just occasional pain I didn’t used to have, and joint pain and weakness in joints that have been fine until now.
See someone, get some documentation, and maybe get some relief…
n
Part of our software release generator does not work in Windows 10 for some reason. And the company has gone out of business, Wise Solutions. I am not eager to change that ability to create a setup.exe file as, it just works.
IIRC, installers were “embraced and extended” by Microsoft.
Wise. That’s a blast from the past.
memory failure:
Above I mentioned a BBC series with Marcus du Sautoy: “The Story of Maths”.
It is very good, as are all his TV shows, but the one that I was thinking of as more analogous to Burke’s Connections is a 3-part series “The Code”.
Now, having re-watched the first episode of “Maths”, I am reminded of a Popular Science cover story from about 1968. The author started with a project covering the top of a table with 1″ tiles. In doing so he created a pattern that required no layout tools, simply aligning tile corners beginning with a triangle in the center. Extended beyond the original table top, the pattern would reach a diameter that arrayed 360 tiles approximating the circumference of a circle. The author speculated that the Babylonians, being masters of tile work, may have known of this pattern and that it may have contributed to the adoption of the 360-degree circle.
Back in those days, PS was noted a a magazine containing actual science, not political screed.
Identity of Chinese defector confirmed:
“Experts quoted in the Spy Talk piece essentially say that the defection is just a rumor and that rumors happen all the time, but that if it’s true it’s a big deal but “not game-changing.” Based on conversations with sources familiar with the information Dong has already provided and its quantity and reliability, that’s simply not the case. Not only does Dong have detailed information about China’s special weapons systems, the Chinese military’s operation of the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origins of SARS-CoV-2, and the Chinese government’s assets and sources within the United States; Dong has extremely embarrassing and damaging information about our intelligence community and government officials in the “terabytes of data” he’s provided to the DIA.”
https://redstate.com/jenvanlaar/2021/06/17/breaking-chinese-defector-confirmed-as-top-counterintelligence-official-n398374
With Trump in office this would be the beginning of a perfect shitstorm for the ChiComs. With China Joe and his corrupt family beholden to China, we’ll see.
“Again, according to sources, Dong told DIA debriefers that at least a third of Chinese students attending US universities are PLA assets or part of the Thousand Talents Plan and that many of the students are here under pseudonyms. One reason for using pseudonyms is that many of these students are the children of high-ranking military and party leaders.”
Arrest and incarcerate them immediately. Then explain to the ChiComs that it would be a good move for them to get really fukcing transparent about their virus real quick. Prisons are dangerous places. Why, look what happened to Otto Warmbier in that ChiCom client state North Korea.
Be interesting to run some blood tests on those “special” students.
cops working the street racers again.
I’m pretty sure the drug guys are still working drug stuff, but their radio use tends to be more limited, the size of the racer task force means there is a LOT of chatter, lots of speculation, lots of coordinating movement. Scanner stops where there is traffic so even if the drug guys were working tonight, I probably wouldn’t hear them.
Since I rarely go out at night anymore, hearing that the racers are doing ‘street takeovers’ at intersections and locations I know and travel through all the time, kinda gives me the willys. It’s a different city at night, and HEARING it drives that home.
n
Very Wise. VisualStudio setup tools are quite bad and WIX needs a lot of work…
@Greg; she’s gone from the bio page.
https://www.fox7austin.com/person/all
Although someone missed this:
You can see John Hygh on the sports desk on Saturday and Sunday mornings on Good Day Austin with Casey Claiborne from 6-8 a.m. and on FOX 7 Austin’s evening weekend newscasts with Marin Austin.
Doing laundry and getting tech stuff packed. Charging batteries, power packs, kindles, swapping out batteries in FLASHLIGHTS. I still have a little pack that holds four AA cells that says “Newton” on it. It was for the battery pack of my Newton.
I’ve got all my old Newton stuff in a bin. No actual emotional attachment to it so I should probably sell it. I carried it on a couple of tours, used it for faxes, spreadsheets for expenses, and printing to my HP 320 portable. Worked well, but with all the stuff, it was almost as much as a lappy.
Went with a toshiba pocket pc 740? with color, and vga out after the newton. It was nice but I really didn’t use it for much. Still have that and all the accessories and original boxes too. Hmm. Maybe I have some stuff stacked too deep.
n
Many pizza aficionados say this is the best coal-fired pizza in the country:
https://www.totonnosconeyisland.com/
The dough is hand-made daily and whenever they run out of dough is when they close for the day.
Maybe. Probly.
Reminds me I still have a Mac 230c and DuoDock somewhere in the electrons closet. Should fish it out and sell it before the Mac collectors die out or realize that if Tim Cook can sell out Apple’s Chinese users he can do the same to everyone else, doubtless “for their own good.”
Maybe. Probly.
Reminds me I still have a Mac 2300c and DuoDock somewhere in the electrons closet. Should fish it out and sell it before the Mac collectors die out or realize that if Tim Cook can sell out Apple’s Chinese users he can do the same to everyone else, doubtless “for their own good.”
I worked at a family pizzeria thru high school. It was fun, and I ate a LOT of pizza. Still love their pizza too. On Mondays the store was closed but with one other guy, I cleaned the place and received supplies. We ground 300 pounds of cheese on Mondays, and one of the girls would come in early to make dough. We had dozens of tubs of dough rising and being punched down, and put in the coolers on any given day. Making the pies, you could tell how fresh or old the dough was by how it handled.
Sauce was also homemade, with the recipe a secret. Only the owner would make the spice packs, alone in the back. We could make sauce but we just added the spice packs to the tomato paste and water. We used stone crocks to age the sauce in the coolers.
It wasn’t any ‘artisanal’ cr@p, just a normal family place in the Chicago suburbs. Everyone had a place they were loyal to, and they all tasted different.
Dominoes killed that. You can’t make a good pizza in 10 minutes or less. You can MELT or WARM a pizza, but not cook it. Pre-cooked ingredients and convection ovens became the norm to meet the delivery times.
Dominoes doesn’t sell pizza. They sell delivery.
It’s like mp3s and the music business. They sound only “OK” but they are VERY convenient. They are ‘good enough’ for most listening conditions, and most people’s ears. Dominoes and pizza hut delivery are “good enough’, and they are convenient.
n
added- Little Caesars is NOT good enough, btw.
Where do I plug my mouse into my phone??
“Where do I plug my mouse into my phone?? ”
–blutooth!
n
–blutooth!
That’s one way. Or, just use the touchscreen.
Back in the day, I knew people who traveled for business with laptops with all sorts of peripherals. When they were “home,” they had a docking station. I bought a laptop sometime in the early 2000s and used it for personal travel. Mostly used it as a photo viewing and backup device. Back then, it wasn’t easy to get connectivity in, say, an Italian countryside small town, so the rest of the laptop was pretty much useless. I learned to hate laptops because of that and their bulk. Made the jump to an Android phone, and have never looked back.
I am about to get a new phone, and hope the connectivity is as good as my current phone, which has USB On the Go. I can plug a 2.5″ hard disk into my current phone and copy photos to it. The photos are from my DSLR, and I copy its card to the phone’s storage for backup to the hard disk, and for daily viewing. I find its small size so much more convenient than the laptop. With a big phone, I can show the day’s selected pictures at the dinner table if I want. At least that’s what I did on our last big trip, which was in 2013. I need to develop a new strategy going forward. Maybe a small tablet. I really don’t like the nonremovable battery and lack of expandable storage on the newer phones. That might drive me to a tablet. The bigger screen would be a slight bonus.
The phone also wirelessly (or wired via HDMI) connects to a TV or projector for a really big picture. There is much more possible. One trend I don’t like is cloud storage. I usually don’t want that because of data costs overseas, and for privacy reasons. I prefer to store my stuff on my own devices. One concern is now going across borders, though, and cloud storage keeps stuff safer. Decisions. Fortunately, no big trips planned.
Infrastructure: A Guide to the Industrial Landscape
That is the one I couldn’t remember or find on the shelf.
n