68F and forecast calls for clear sky today. Fell asleep at my desk last night and got right into bed when I woke briefly. IDK if it was the drug cocktail or just normal tiredness, but it wiped me out.
Hip and lower back hurt around the injection site, but my shoulder feels better. Fingertip is still swollen and sore.
Plans for today involve cleaning up here, mainly. With the cleaning service coming by for a deep clean, I won’t be back in bed, like I really want to be.
Time to make the kids breakfast.
More in comments later.
n
Strange problem with the new house: In cold weather, the kitchen sink occasionally smells of sewage. We had a really warm March, and this never happened. The weekend was really cold, and this morning the smell was back.
My best guess is something to do with the vents on the roof, but honestly, I'm kind of clueless. Plumbing is not my thing. Any ideas? We are still in the guarantee period, so I can report the issue, but I'd like to be able to report something more specific…
The tiny apartment we bought, to serve basically as a guest room, hasn't seen any TLC in a long time. Patched screw and nail holes. Bought caulk, because the stuff that's there is so old it's falling off, so I'll redo the caulk this week. Fixed the toilet seat. Pulled out an ancient and unused phone cable. Need to bring home some paint samples and match the wall color. Etc.
The kitchen faucet works fine, but it's loose on the sink, and damned if I can figure out how to tighten it. The cable that runs from a lever on the faucet to the drain (to close the drain) is missing a metal clip that would make it work. I could probably make a replacement, but the cable hasn't been used in so long that it is impossibly stiff. I'd lubricate it, but how to get the lever off the faucet? So I sent pics of everything to our plumber. Did I say that plumbing is not my thing?
Windows 11? Although Adobe and Intuit could give Microsoft competition…
I really hate the way Win10 hides the directory structure. I don't use it myself, but I have to help students install an IDE, and it want's the real, actual path to various Java libraries. Add in the translation to German, which displays German directory names, even though (most of) the directories _actually_ use English names, and the chaos is complete.
Mind, the Mac is no better: students using makes don't even understand that they _have_ a file system. I'll ask them: "Where did you put the libraries you downloaded?" and they look at me like I'm speaking Martian.
That said, all systems have their problems. Since I updated to Ubuntu 20.04, the printer-driver behaves weirdly. Basically, it will print a document and then crash. It restarts 2-3 minutes later, then crashes after printing the next document. I don't print much, so it's not really a problem, but…weird…
My wife would probably say that one is enough. Maybe more than enough. 😉
I seem to have missed a "mass shooting". A car got in a disagreement with someone and shot up a crowd.
–This means honest people will have to endure more infringements on our Constitutional rights, while thugs continue as always. The laundry list of restrictions wouldn't do a dnm'd thing about this…
And you have to get all the way to the end of the article to learn the truth.
So not a "GUN" violence problem at all, but a "GANG" violence issue. Maybe we should restrict where violent gang members, or maybe ALL gang members (since they treat everyone with a gun the same way) should face draconian restrictions.
n
And the countdown until it falls down the news cycle as the perp is identified as a protected class begins in three. two. one ……..
>> How do you do ctrl-a ctrl-c on Android phone ?
Long press on the text until the dialog pops up. Tap “Select All.” Tap “Copy.”
Overdrive gearing. My guess about the reason for 55 MPH returning is to eliminate that advantage in the EPA tests for CAFE.
That's how the coverage worked with the shootings in Austin during the last weekend of SxSW.
They will always put a mass shooting on the national wire in the hope that the mug shot ends up being that of a white man. Like this one. He's like the "Holy Grail" of what they want.
https://mugshots.com/US-States/Florida/Hillsborough-County-FL/Brandon/Glen-Alan-Nagy.4695502.html
No shooter, but a creepy stalker/pervert, one of my Colonel Bat Guano neighbors from Florida and supposedly a leading expert at the Pentagon on Korea. Your tax dollars hard at work.
>> How do you do ctrl-a ctrl-c on Android phone ?
Long press on the text until the dialog pops up. Tap “Select All.” Tap “Copy.”
— except that this doesn’t work with the comment box editor because it does something funny to intercept right clicks… on my android phone, it just flashes then your choice is “paste”.
n
Downtown Oakland, at 2:00 AM, local bars. The "class" of the perp is obvious. No sane person is in downtown Oakland at night.
—if true, having his daughter grow up to be a procurer and [probable] accomplice to [probable] blackmailer makes a lot of sense.
n
@Nick: They think ("at least") two guns were fired, but there were 220 shell casings? Imagine firing more than 100 bullets from a handgun – and tell me true, just who carries around 10-12 pre-loaded magazines?
To generate 220 shells casings, there must have been 10-20 people shooting. That's a full-out gun battle.
I'm no plumber either, but stinky drains usually means it's going to rain. The low pressure affects all water, and holds gases that otherwise dissipate. We notice it slightly in one of our bathrooms.
It should not be lasting or unduly offensive, though, so maybe the trap is not deep enough to be keeping the gases in the pipes from escaping?
The closed captioning on YouTube is like reading Ladle Rat Rotten Hut. I don't know if these are human-deciphered or automated voice translation, but they need a wider … and more mature … vocabulary.
A few examples from the Sherlock Holmes series with Jeremy Brett:
"Chill out Watson Sierra sunshine…" for: "Chin up Watson. Sea air, sunshine…"
"manner a little giraffe" for: "manner a bit gruff"
"a problem with his sword" for: "a problem of this sort"
"This is hot sun but off the top more" for: "Mrs Hudson, we're off to Dartmoore"
"I'm office of friends" for: "I'm ever so frightened"
"Tweet the boys": for "Wake the boys"
"And this camel is your horse": for "And this, Colonel, is your horse"
Automated. Human deciphered would require money and a staff with native Englsh ability, preferably UK-based with that series.
Crackle has the Cumberbatch series streaming for "free" right now if you don't mind limited commercials.
Very few things I've seen on TV in the last 20 years top that series' "Scandal in Belgravia".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTf7DDb6KL0
When Steven Moffat is good, he's very good.
I own a very cool Japanese comic book adaptation of the episode.
Remember that many people of the Spray-N-Pray persuasion like very large capacity magazines. You can get Glock 9mm magazines over 30 rounds and the ridiculous double drum magazines hold 100 rounds.
So it could have been 2 people with a minimum number of magazine changes. Probably more like 4-8 people.
@brad
Sounds like you have an iced up vent stack.
That's the direction I was thinking, but…what can you do about it? Wrap the vent pip in insulation?
You’re pretty moderate for temps. My guess would be that the stack is undersize or it may be partially obstructed. My first step would be to snake or rod it out from the top. I know just enough to be dangerous, so consulting with a pro is in order.
Rick, I got a 500 ISE when attempting to view a page.
URL: https://www.ttgnet.com/journal/2022/04/04/mon-apr-4-2022-more-later/#comment-232390
IP address at the time may have been 74.109.177.70 ; it rolls frequently and I didn’t think to check at the time.
Time that my browser timed out: 10:15 EDT
Time of page request: approximately 10:13 EDT
@brad, blocked vent was my first thought too.
Some sort of screen in the end of the pipe, that sticks up for a bit, so it can't be easily blocked should do the trick.
If drains aren't used frequently the water can evaporate out of the traps. Look for floor or bathtub drains in particular. It might happen to you in winter if the air is very dry. Pour some water down the drain to refill the trap and see if that does the trick.
Vent pipes that are taller than the snow load are really all you need, and possibly a cover to keep stuff from falling directly into them. If that's a problem in your region, your neighboring houses should have the solution visible.
n
When my parents built a house in Florida, a piece of lumber fell into the exposed vent stack and obstructed the pipe for the guest bath. No one realized the problem for about a year, until we had … guests.
I'll second the recommendation to consult a pro.
When my parents built a house in Florida, a piece of lumber
fellwas thrown into the exposed vent stack by construction workers.Fixed it for you.
At a previous property I had slow draining into the public sewer. I searched the property for an access chamber, which I found under a boundary hedge – full of builder's rubble, likely from the new build next door. Cleaned it out and put a new cover on the chamber. This wasn't the problem however, it was tree roots in the pipes.
Nah. This was 45 years ago, custom construction, and the builder lived in the neighborhood.
Slab on grade. Two story house, wood frame. It happened.
You're thinking of Florida construction like the stucco shacks that people pretend are worth $500,000 which replaced the orange groves along I-4 and down the west coast since the 80s.
Cans of opened tunafish "accidentally" left inside walls were a favorite gag.
The all time best, however, will be Chinese drywall. When we left Florida, the insurance companies were still not sure about how far remediation would go.
Musk buys 7.3% of Twitter, making him the largest shareholder.
Stock goes up 19%, nearly three times the amount he invested. (Ok, 2.6x)
Next move:?
How about:
Musk: Immediately cease screening, reinstate all banned users, admit it was a bad decision based on alignment with leftist political goals and a desire to unduly influence public discourse, apologize, and resign.
Implied threat: Do it or I walk and start my own platform.
Thank you! And we agree, the series is fantastic. We own the first three years of the Cumberbatch series on DVD, through "His Last Vow". Martin Freeman is the best Watson EVER. The first episode, and the one where Sherlock reappears after being "dead" are my favorites. Oh, and The Sign of Three was great fun: I usually stop watching there.
After reading the reviews, I deliberately haven't bought or watched series 4, as it sounds darker than we like. Not to mention killing off one of my favorite characters. One of the best parts of the earlier episodes was the humor, and it does not sound like that is present in Season 4.
Musk isn't going to rock the boat. He can't afford for the truth about the Cybertruck and the magic $40,000 number to leak out now. He's going to let Ford take the hit for pricing on their Jesus truck first.
No one is going to begrudge The Real Life Tony Stark manipulating the stock price for personal gain, however.
IIRC, Season 4 opens with the Christmas special. For about 45 minutes, that is the coolest piece of period Holmes ever put on film IMHO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEVgqykJjrg
All my current “research” says I’m F’d wrt the septic. The enzymes only work if they can get to the slime. My field acts like it’s totally solid.
The youtubes all say the water jetting will blow the pipes apart but that doesn’t make sense. You don’t have to have the pressure very high. The material that is moved can flow back up the pipe to the tank to be vac’d out. Ordinary garden hose pressure should remove material…
The system is at 2x to 3x normal lifespan depending on who ask and was not maintained.
n
Got this email from medicare.gov today:
Who is paying for this and who is getting rich off of it? 8/month!
All of the mass market test kits I've seen were Hecho en China, no US company names anywhere in sight on the packaging or instructions, including the two I've received from my current employer.
@Nick, how about just replacing the leach field? That should be much cheaper than also replacing the tank. A smaller than desired tank could be adequate for your intended use: less than full time occupancy.
Around here, I know of a couple of properties where the systems have had no maintenance for well over forty years. We have done preventive pumping of ours a couple times over forty years. One difference is that our soil is dry and reasonably permeable. Not as permeable as you might think for desert, because there is a significant clay content.
Water jetting your leach field may clear the pipes, but the gravel around them might be clogged, so only do it if it is cheap. I have never heard of water jetting; here people simply replace the field. Of course, most of our neighbors have at least two acres, and well laid out septic systems are not encumbered by buildings or other obstacles.
I need to ask our local store to ask his supplier what they've done to our local gasoline. BOTH our vehicles suddenly went from averaging 20 – 21 MPG to only 16 MPG, all at once. And it's still happening.
Most likely, they've changed our mix. Could be the EPA has put our county into a different category, or else they are "testing" some new adulteration. Could be just a higher ratio of ethanol… while the labels have always read "Up to 10% Ethanol", it's not always been that high.
I've switched back to only using ethanol-free, even though it costs $1 more, as that usually gives us a few more MPG. I drive so seldom that it will take a couple of months to get all the regular adulterated gas out and only pure stuff in the tanks, so it will be a while before I see the difference.
And where is the hollering for a Windfall Profits Tax??!?!??!?!
That looks like fun. I'll find it to watch!
For a long time, the Brett Sherlock seemed dated. But I'm rewatching it for the first time in years, and really enjoying it. Brett was insufferable (nearly as insufferable and annoyingly smug as the Midsomer Murders replacement "John" Barnaby), but I'm noticing his good humor more this time around, and appreciating the Watsons more (still not as fun as Freeman tho).
Thought Jenny might enjoy this:
All-White Moose footage
As mentioned here before, Moffatt/Gatiss "Dracula" is wildly uneven but also worth the time. Netflix has that one.
If you start watching the first episode and things seem a bit dull, wait for Sister VanHelsing (!) to drop the money line. And you will know what I mean the moment you hear it.
And parents, the money like will also serve as a litmus test as to whether you want your kids seeing the rest. Younger than high school will be a problem IMHO.
@JimB,
no anaerobic systems are being allowed at the lake. Replacing the leachfield apparently counts as "new". The soil is pretty much clay and I don't think it would pass a modern perc test.
I really don't like the aerobic systems because of the mechanical nature, need for electricity, and spraying your property with the result.
We have a 75ft setback from the lake for any septic at all, so the spray area needs to be up near the buildings. The second lot provides an obvious place for tanks and such but keeping them out of the exclusion zone, and also out from under any future buildings is harder.
One of the issues was that the crust layer was allowed to build to a foot thick, so solids were able to enter the field, I think.
I have a feeling I'll be meeting someone out there this week, and cr@pping in a bucket.
n
I've been listening to "modern" Holmes stories in the car while driving. They were created for the radio show and feature Basil Rathbone… They are sponsored by a wine company and the sponsorship is an interesting time capsule. "If you don't know what wine to serve, serve Petri wine."
n
I don't what's going on but Facebook Market Place sellers are not answering my attempts to buy.
I want to get a drill press. This week end I sent 8 sellers responses asking questions and for addresses and pick times. I've included my phone number. Only response from Friday morning until today.
The one response to my question of model number told me to read the posted tag (which was the motor tag) which had nothing about the model.
Man, the heartland prices are jumping. Downtown OK City IHOP pancake combo is $11.99 and coffee is $2.99. Plus 8% sales tax plus tip. $20 brunch.
One of the issues was that the crust layer was allowed to build to a foot thick, so solids were able to enter the field, I think.
How big are the lots?
Yeah, you knew that old septic was hosed. Nobody likes the leach fields anymore, they just don't work very well in non porous soil.
Saw a Denny’s ad this weekend for all you can eat scrambled eggs and fixin’s for $6.99.
I was discombobulated this morning but after a couple sandwiches and another pot of coffee I am recombobulated and ready for the afternoon.
Congratulations!
The area post TSA at the Milwaukee Airport is clearly labeled, with a big sign: RECOMBOBULATION ZONE 😉
Possum trapped on my shelves out on the patio. Dog has him "treed". Stupid possums won't just leave with their freeze instinct.
n
You don't even want to know what we paid for a breakfast for four at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas a few weeks ago. We had been eating things bought at Kroger all week, but my wife wanted a "nice" breakfast on the last day.
Just my three pancakes were $20.
When we headed downstairs, I was told that we were attending the free drug company-sponsored breakfast. I should have known that was a scam because I haven't seen one of those since Obamacare passed and limited gimmies provided to doctors by the pharmaceutical reps.
I will admit that the gimmies were out of control. We drew the ethical line at nice meals in return for an hour of our time, but one sponsored event at a conference at a Disney hotel included a lap in a car at the Richard Petty Driving Experience which took over the racetrack after Indy car racing and Disney had a falling out over logistics (read: not enough alcohol provided) following the first race on property.
no anaerobic systems are being allowed at the lake. Replacing the leachfield apparently counts as "new". The soil is pretty much clay and I don't think it would pass a modern perc test.
Sorry. I only have experience with soil much better than that. There must be a way. Maybe a holding tank, but a headache and the need to empty it like an RV.
We have a 3,750 gallon aerobic system at the house. We fill it to the top every 2 or 3 days and then the sprinklers put over a 1,000 gallons over the back yard. You just don't realize how much water you use in modern society.
@Lynn
Something about you being full of it popped up there for a second, then I remembered “Let he who is without ….”
Even city septic systems suck. We bought our previous house out in the county in 2013. Our MUD had a sewer lift station behind our house across the street. It had a 30 foot deep gravity flow sistern with an electric pump to pump it out when it got full. Every year or so the pump breaker would trip and sound this harsh buzzer. I had the tech on speed dial as he gave me his phone number the first time.
Then Sugar Land annexed us in 2017. They promptly fired all the MUD employees. So when the lift station pump breaker tripped, I had to call the Sugar Land general phone number and talk through the phone chain. And the tech that showed up was always new and had no idea where the lift station even was.
Then the check valve for the pump discharge failed shut. So the pump kept on running but just overflowed to the street to the storm sewer. Yes, straight to the Brazos River. I called SL and the tech came out, looked at the toilet paper and brown stuff all over the sidewalk, called his boss and ran away. The next a crew came out, dug everything up and fixed it but did not clean the area. The next rainfall cleaned it up, down the storm sewer.
>> Yeah, simple little thing, I've run screws into my fingers before, didn't think anything of it.
Was putting up some shiplap MDF boards in my wife's 'she shed' with an air nailer and got to one section where I was on a ladder nailing into some 1×2 strapping that was not atop the 2×4 framing and sure as sh!t I had my hand around the 1×2 when I fired the next (2 inch) nail which went through the board, the 1×2 and my pinkie. Dang that hurt. And she made be wipe the blood off the board. Haven't made that mistake again.
>> The area post TSA at the Milwaukee Airport is clearly labeled, with a big sign: RECOMBOBULATION ZONE
And when you wake up in a disgruntled mood and then have your morning coffee you become gruntled.
@alan, I feel ya… I air nailed a brad thru my thumb cross wise, and caught the edge of my ring finger with a 2 inch staple back when I was working in a shop… one leg bounced off the bone and tore the skin on the way out…
n
Talked to another septic company and when describing the situation it was the same response. you need a new system.
Which we assumed, but were hoping against.
n
Nobody wants to fix anything anymore but in this case, I don't blame them. Who wants to get out there and chisel old dried poop out of a bunch of schedule 10 (thin !) pvc pipes ?
It is much easier to backhoe the old crap out of there and throw in all new stuff that does not break when you look sideways at it. Plus, they get a lot more cash out of you.
@Alan
That’s what you call “character”.
If you are interested in what Dr Pournelle's house looks like after the renovation by the buyer (bought in 2021) , check this link. https://www.redfin.com/CA/Studio-City/12051-Laurel-Terrace-Dr-91604/home/5241155 .
House sold in Sep 2021 for $1.75 million. Listed on 26 Feb 2022 for $3.495 million. Continency offer on 3 Mar 2022, final selling price reported on 18 Mar 2022 for $3.740 million.
Lots of upgrades, but probably a nice profit for the seller. The “street view” shows the exterior before renovations.
(reposted from yesterday's comments)
The Android cut/paste/etc is a limitation of the CKEditor4 that is being used. Doesn’t always play well with Andorid systems. Known issue. It’s why CKEditor5 was a big rewrite.
CKEditor5 will be used when I finish with the new theme. Did some work on it yesterday. Some minor tweaking of things. Was going to work on it today, but another project jumped into the priority line without asking.
As for the emoji icons – once you select one, it’s stuck there. No way to unselect. I also think you can’t add another one after the first. I think.
Glad to see it didn't end up as a tear down/replace. $3.74 mil. Geesh.
Our trim notice arrived today. The market value on this house is ridiculous IMHO, but we are 10 minutes from the new Apple campus and 15 from Dell and HP Enterprise.
It's a nice looking reno. Very stylish and of the moment with all the grey and black and white. The purple is a nice touch, but very personal (as the realtors say).
Looks like money.
n
As for the emoji icons – once you select one, it’s stuck there. No way to unselect. I also think you can’t add another one after the first. I think.
Yup. I accidently hit a down thumb emojii instead of the up thumb emojii. Fat fingers. Big hands. Four broken fingers that point weird directions.
Our trim notice arrived today. The market value on this house is ridiculous IMHO, but we are 10 minutes from the new Apple campus and 15 from Dell and HP Enterprise.
Location location location !