Pretty much the same as yesterday, lots of humidity, some small amount of moisture from the sky, and some sun to keep things a bit too hot… that’s my forecast anyway. It would be nice if the rain held off.
Stayed in Houston this weekend despite having been away from the BOL too long, and having stuff up there that needs to be done.
So I was motivated to work my list here at home.
Got the wall closed up where the water heater used to be. It’s just temporary, because we’ll need to get back in there when the house gets re-piped with pex. And in theory, there will be a cabinet in front of the wall patch so you can’t even see it. It will probably be the same as now in 5 years, if I’m honest about it.
Got the bird netting up over my blueberry <s>bushes</s> sticks. I’ve got berries on a couple of the plants already, so it was time. That net is so nasty to work with, it gets stuck on literally everything and you can barely see or feel it. We don’t think of netting as a weapon, but the Romans used nets in the Colosseum. I think there might be a use for stronger netting inside a fence, for example, as a defensive measure. You’re gonna get tangled up but good, especially if you don’t expect it to be there.
Got one raised bed cleaned up, two bags of dirt added, and zukes and peas planted. Got another cleaned up, added the two bags of dirt, but they were wet and mucky so I’ll wait to plant until today or tomorrow when it’s dried out a bit. I removed and potted several ‘volunteer’ trees from the bed. I’m pretty sure they are the ornamental chinese cherry we have along the fence, and if they survive, I’ll find somewhere to put them.
I’ve got one more raised bed to clean up and plant, and I’ll save a couple of ‘volunteer’ oak saplings from that bed too. I’ve got space for trees at the BOL.
Did some weeding, pruned the apple tree. The peach needs some pruning too. I cut all the dead branches out of the potted grapefruit and got rid of the dead lime. There is room for another raised bed on the side of the house now that the orange and grapefruit trees are gone. I’ll have to think a bit about that. I have some plastic tubs that would make good beds but they look bad. It’s basically next to the neighbor’s driveway and right outside their kitchen window so I have to consider the appearance out of neighborliness.
Wife and child returned from camp, much dirty laundry was piled on the machines. Both of them had a good time.
This week will be more catch-up locally, and pickup of some more stuff for the BOL. It’s mostly lighting this time, but also a gas powered chainsaw. There are some big limbs and trees that need to come down at the BOL. I have a dozen non-running saws, and it’s time to just buy a new one that doesn’t need fixing. I have enough projects.
Speaking of projects, I picked up a 12v fan for a car radiator for $6. I have been picking up 12v stuff when it’s cheap and useful. It will go in the pile of “solar system” stuff. Seems like a good idea to have some things that run on 12v natively if we ever end up on the solar for any length of time.
Along those lines, I’ve been rotating my charger and topping up all my random 12v batteries this weekend. I have a matched set of three that stay connected to a smart charger/maintainer, but I also have a bunch that I’ve been lax about charging. They are big industrial lead acid batteries that I got at auction a year or more ago. They’ll be part of the solar project if I can find a reliable charge controller for the right price. I’ll keep rotating through them all of this week.
There’s always more to do.
—
The title is a classic form of story telling, common to soldiers, cops, and others who were in the right place to get a good tale… I’m sure there must be some good stories out there… this being the anniversary week of the Rodney King Riots in LA. They were one of the formative events in my prepping journey. Watching the city burn from your front porch while the smoke blows in through the door will focus your attention on safety and security issues like very few other things could. Lots of people were ready, I was not. I didn’t have enough guns or ammo, something I never really want to feel again.
Stack something today. One or all of the ‘three Bs’, a skill, or a contact, doesn’t matter, just DO it.
n
Just bought a new Honda Jazz (Fit) Hybrid here in the UK. Might be of interest to others comparing with the UK market.
Located a car in the UK (rather than 3 or 4 months delivery for a new order). Got about a 3% discount on list price. I agreed a GBP7.5K trade in price for a 7 year old Jazz in good condition (compared with GBP3.5K when I last upgraded 5 years ago with very similar model).
Immediately prior to taking delivery, I made an appointment with two ‘instant buy’ dealers, to see if I could get more than the trade in value. The first was Webuyanycar. Nominal online estimate of GBP8.35K (I knew I would not get that); took it to the appointment, agent walked round the car, tapped at his tablet and said they would offer GBP7.15K – I stated that I could not see how they could justify such a reduction given the good (for age) condition of the car, but I wouldn’t argue as I would walk for any less than GBP8.1K (I had the other offer, see next, in mind). I also made him aware of the trade in; so he did some more tapping on the tablet and said the best he could do was GBP7.55K (but there is admin and money transfer fees taken from this). So I walked.
I had another online quote from a major UK car dealership (Evans Halshaw), which when getting the quote asks you to select condition, show room, average, sub-average (with an explanation of that that means, dents, chips etc). I had selected sub-average, to be on the conservative side and the offer was GBP7.955K. I took the car to the dealer, very professional young man offered coffee, took the key and went to look at the car for 5 minutes. Came back, said the car was in excellent condition and they would be happy to give me the quoted price. A short time taken to do all the paperwork – all very professional, and a document to sign giving me GBP8K. I mentioned that this was slightly higher than the offer, he smiled and said he just rounded it up! The money was in my bank before I got home. Very positive experience.
Next day I picked up my new Jazz. I really like the Honda Hybrid transmission design, and it works very well. Here’s hoping it stays that way.
@paul, sounds almost like humans doing business TOGETHER, instead of one party trying to steal from the other. Interesting.
n
75F and 93%RH this morning. I think it will be kinda warm and humid today.
n
WRT Rodney King. I got to see the entire video of the incident. The Marines that were training me for Aux Security Force at the submarine base counted as law enforcement and got it for training.
If the LA cops had shot Mr. King it would have been a justified shoot.
Now, I am not condoning the beatdown they gave Mr. King. That was wrong and they should have been charged for that. But I doubt you could find a jury anywhere that would say it was because we was driving while black. Mr. King was fighting with the police and tried to take the officer’s gun several times.
The DA over-charged to make headlines.
My prediction is plugs and Stretch both croak in 2023.
There is nothing like a good war story. Especially if it is embellished: “there I was, flyin’ gunships in ‘Nam.” When you were really hauling rations.
Garden maintenance for me yesterday too. I redid the sprinkler system in the two raised beds. One bed had a split pipe before it entered the bed. I got that fixed, then did new ¾” flexible poly hose for the beds. That will make it easier to make changes and swap out parts. The old setup was glued pvc.
Btw, I’ve been using a sprinkler controller from https://opensprinkler.com/ for several years now. Highly recommended, and much better than the junk at Lowe’s. I don’t open ports for external access, as I have a vpn.
I strongly suspect the Democrats will lose the Senate next year and it’s likely they will lose the House.
If they lose the Senate, I don’t see any way that Pelosi becomes VP. Heck, I don’t see a way she becomes VP with this Senate, since they need at least 1 Republican vote.
President Biden has clear and obvious issues, but I think he will finish his term, barring death or a clearly debilitating illness. So 50% chance. Putting VP Harris in the Oval Office won’t do the Democrats any good. She is clearly out of he depth and not listening to her experts.
Three stories about Bill Gates at the top of the DM homepage = something going on.
-he’s grieving the failure of his marriage and “did the right thing” splitting the money
-he didn’t realize he was helping Epstein and it was a mistake
-he’s powerful and connected to fashion and high society
Looks like some serious ‘reputational repairs’ going on.
n
While I have a few close call stories, submarine life is mostly very, very boring. Punctuated by moments of sheer terror.
Amateurs, dilettantes, professionals.
It’s not sexy, but logistics has won more battles than gunships have.
I’d say WaggEd is at work, but Pam Edstrom died around the time Gates media troubles seemed to start.
There is nothing like a good war story:
Senator “Tailgunner Tom” Harkin.
CLAIM “I flew fighter jets in Vietnam”
REALITY: He ferried fighter jets from Japan to Vietnam
“Dr.” Jill Biden will make sure Biden finishes his term.
Twitter, but this footage of the tornado in KS is outstanding
https://twitter.com/ReedTimmerAccu/status/1520542108033159168
That’s whole houses being sucked up into the sky and torn apart…
n
When working with netting, the first rule is not to wear anything with buttons on it. LOL! I wrap my outside-the-fence peach tree in four layers of netting every year to keep the deer from eating all the peaches. And I’ve learned a bit of phenology along the way: The deer begin coming to test peaches for edibility as soon as they’ve eaten all the wild plums.
That’s a good observation about net as a defense/offense tool. Loose, drapey, puddled netting seems to be more “trapping” than when pulled tight. Heaven help me if I step in the stuff while I’m wrapping with it. On another forum, I saw someone say that a snake had been caught in the net they put around their garden. So puddling it around the base of fences might be a good snake preventer, too.
“So no sh!t, there I was, moving pallets around the warehouse, when suddenly my forklift coughed twice and died… I knew instantly that if I didn’t keep moving……….”
🙂
n
If I am wrong, I am just wrong. If I am correct, we are all screwed. I don’t think Pelosi floated using the 25th on orange man just for grins. It was in preparation to use against sponge brain.
Mrs. Sponge Brain will make certain that spongey stays alive. The movie “Dave” may become a reality. I think Sponge Brain is already being supported by careful planning, drugs, and Depends undergarments.
Based on some other expert opinions I think the change will be significant. The economic failures of the democrats are really affecting people for the basics, like food. Regardless of other issues when the supply chain problems and rampant inflation affect the ignorant democratic voters they will vote non-democrat. Their thinking process is limited in scope and the promise of “free stuff” will no longer be effective.
Or never trim hedges while naked, especially men. Just ask my friend “Stubby”.
And no one was killed. Providence seems to rule when it comes to tornadoes.
Don’t forget physics.
I have seen three tornadoes, and they are scary. Imagine seeing one in ancient times. Finger of God comes to mind.
I find it hard to believe that anyone doesn’t see Biden’s mental decline. For a comparison, watch his demeanor even 5 years ago compared with today. Or watch 5 years ago, the debates, and today and observe the progression. I’ve noticed that the MSM typically shows stills of him in commanding positions, rarely video, and never mentions the obvious problems like the inability to speak at times, or turning and attempting to shake hands with someone not present.
He’s either on remarkably good drugs, or has periods of deep decline.
I love the irony of the Dems threatening to use the 25th amendment on Trump a few years ago, and keeping silent now.
If he was president of Belgium it might be amusing.
(My name & email were present)
Hey Rick, editor working fine on my Android phone just now. See above. Credentials stick also.
Thanks for your diligence, whether you did anything or not. Maybe your presence caused the bits to fall in line. Now that’s power!
Forgot: site is more responsive. Back to normal?
The crowd – left, right, or center – won’t let itself see scary truths until one of their leaders owns up to it and tells them to see. Although Biden’s is more pronounced from the beginning, it’s very little different from Reagan’s decline that began even before his second term: Reagan’s fans even today will argue and protest that his dementia didn’t happen until he was out of office. I was a young woman, and even I could see it to the point that I was shocked he won a second term.
Same here. I’m still signed in this morning. And I did not have to stop after a minute of spinning and re-click to get the site to load. Fingers crossed it holds up! 🙂
FIFY
Busy as a one-armed paper hanger… I keep thinking I’m catching up, then, the next month hits, with a whole new todo-list. Gah…
I see them advertising a lot, especially from the UK and Germany. There *has* to be a catch, of course – they want to make a buck, and any quote they give “sight unseen” has got to be worthless.
The trade-in value (2.5k) for our 14-15 year old RAV was very disappointing. It’s been incredibly reliable, though it has been hard-used. But apparently the main problem is that no one wants diesels anymore.
We’re still driving it, at the moment, because of delivery delays on our ordered Ioniq-5. Should be arriving in the next couple of weeks. We hope…
Just look at Russia. Putin has dug his country a huge hole, and keeps digging. Still, the Russian populace is well-controlled, and massively behind him. Sure, they’re being manipulated and don’t know any better, but the same can be said of the masses in any country.
The Internet has, if anything, made this worse: people could seek out opposing viewpoints and view their own positions critically. Instead, all of us tend to seek out the like-minded, and bury ourselves in our individual Internet bubbles.
– – – – –
In other news, the crazy neighbors are starting to build their house this week. Their building permit expires in a couple of weeks, and I was slowly hoping that meant they had decided to go elsewhere. It will be…interesting…living next to two narcissists who apparently hate our guts, because we failed to give in to their unending demands. Not the neighbors I really wanted to retire next to, but…c’est la vie…
My 20-year-old Seat Ibiza is still going strong, with only a little cosmetic rust, and scuffed original paint. It’ll probably outlive my desire and/or ability to drive, at which point it’ll probably be worth within delta of zero, so I may well scrap it. My wife still has her Peugeot 5008, so if I do give up driving, we won’t be immobilised. Not to mention trains and buses.
As far as ability to drive is concerned, since I’m over 70, my driving licence is valid for 3 years, from last year, so until 2024, and is then renewable in 3 year increments until I’m ruled unfit, or I rule myself unfit. No sign of that, yet.
G.
I agree, but it was somewhat fun running from the Russian subs that never figured out how we could sneak up to their surface convoys, then give a big PING with our most potent sonar, and then run like hell. It is quite a thrill going from 1 slow 1 slow to 3 fast 3 fast (reactor coolant pumps) as the throttle is cranked wide open and the turbine generators spin up to handle the load. Better grab onto something as we are going to be doing some wild angles and dangles.
My boat (I am a Plank Owner), the SSN 688 USS Los Angeles was quite the Fast Attack. Too bad our current and planned boats (submarines) are mere shadows of what Admiral Rickover had in mind for the future.
I think our licenses are mainly for identification and a money-maker for the state. My mother renewed her license recently in Oklahoma, and was very excited that the renewal lasts 8 years. She is 84, and is pleased she won’t have to take a driving test again.
I had to look up what that was – neat car. My first thought was “hey, that looks like a VW Golf”. Then I did a little reading, and yeah, it’s based on the golf. I’ve always been a fan of small hatchbacks, as my second car was the first Civic Si available in the U.S. (86).
Pshaw! Spinning pumps are for noise makers! Natural Circulation for the win.
I recently learned why the 688 are the way they are. Very fast and noisy Russian boats. At least we went fast without skimping on reactor shielding.
Submarines need to go green. It’s the most important priority of the US DoD. Subs can be powered by batteries and come up to surface for solar recharging when they need it. None of that bad, bad, naughty nuclear stuff, and none of that gaia-killing diesel, either.
@SteveF: Don’t forget about windmills. You could mount one on the conning tower.
In my opinion, that was not done to get after Trump. To invoke the 25th on Trump would have been very difficult and time consuming. He would have to be charged, and convicted of a felony, or ruled mentally unfit which is difficult to prove
The 25th was bantered around by Pelosi to use in the future. Get people talking about it, know that it exists, and its purpose. Pelosi did it in case Biden was elected. The elimination will happen sometime in 2023 either by force (the 25th) or Biden will step down. The camel was not electable by any fantasy imagination. So she rides on sponge brain’s coat tails. The democratic power brokers really want the camel. Ineffective, clueless, easily manipulated, controllable, a trifecta (or quadfecta) of incompetence.
I think the democrats are in for a very rude awakening in the latter part of 2023. All the free stuff, the promises of overwhelming prosperity, minimum wage of $15.00 everywhere, jobs galore paying $100K or more with a third grade education. Chicken in every pot so to speak.
Well, it has not happened. Soaring gas and food prices. Housing becoming unobtainable. Shortages of labor because no one wants to work because “free money” (stimulus money) was easier. Shortages in the supply chain. Global uncertainty with conflicts. Stock market dropping below correction territory crushing the value of many 401Ks.
Voters will realize what a democratic platform has accomplished. Everyone’s standard of living has dropped. Except for those in positions of power. They are not leaders, they are leaches, a definition of a politician.
What is wrong with human powered generators to recharge the batteries? A few dozen sailors peddling away for about 6 years should be able to bring those batteries up to a full charge. Or maybe Tony could place some charging stations in strategic locations in the middle of the Pacific.
Call it a hat trick. Not the only trick HeelsupHarris has ever turned.
@pecancorner:
I don’t, either. Not unless there are other circumstances than mere passage of time. Merely need a visit to the relevant gov.uk website, or filling in a particular form, every 3 years.
@itguy1998:
I’ve always believed that the Ibiza is a badge-engineered VW Polo. But it doesn’t really matter – it’s a 3-door hatchback. Mine is the 1.4 litre fuel-injected petrol. Its emissions are not of the best, even for a car of that age (my previous car, a Renault Clio, paid less tax, even though it was a 1998 model year, with the same size engine)
I should point out here that the cost of the “licence to keep and use a vehicle on public roads”, or colloquially road tax, varies depending on the rated (by the government) emissions of the vehicle.
And seeing you folks talking about 3 litre or 4.7 litre engines seems excessive to me. Admittedly, “everything is bigger in the U.S.” but most UK engines are less than 2 litre, and not-a-few are only 1 litre – or even less.
G.
Hah, 7.2 liter engines aren’t rare… the street racers are banging around in them every weekend…
500-700lbft of torque used to be fairly common with a couple of aftermarket tweeks to production cars, iirc. Not much of a car guy, but spent a lot of time next to that culture.
n
I see that you can get a 7.3 L V8 in a ford pickup.
I got a 2015 50th Anniversary Mustang GT. 5.0 Liter Coyote V-8. 435 Horsepower, 400 Foot-Pounds of Torque. Totally Excessive and a great deal of FUN!
16 MPG City, 25 MPG Highway. Not efficient, but did I mention it is FUN! 🙂
“everything is bigger in the U.S.”
– and the US is bigger than most people have internalized. I drove 10 HOURS on interstate freeway from El Paso, on the western edge of Texas to Houston, on the eastern side. Just getting around Houston, I might drive 100miles in a day, depending on where my pickups are, or more. I used to drive 2 ½ hours to Austin for a pickup, turn around and drive back. We do a LOT of driving, the roads are generally good, usually wide and divided multi lane highways, and in Texas the speed limit can be 75mph.
Small cars are terrifying at that speed and hugely uncomfortable at those times.
n
I believe the idea surfaced with William Crowell’s think tank.
Crowell serves on the advisory board at the previous job. Clapper was on the payroll too until the Hunter Biden laptop issue got too big to ignore.
In my own defense, I needed the job. Things got interesting the closer we got to actually selling something to the DoD, which would have required us all to be vaccinated. I seriously doubted the yoga pants in HR had it in them to do the dirty work, which would have required a whole new group to be hired there.
Bring back the Hunley!
Small cars are terrifying
at that speedand hugely uncomfortableat those times.Fixed it for you.
I really despise people that take shortcuts when making changes in a house. Found out the receptacle in the basement apartment bathroom, 18″ from the sink, is not on a GFCI. The receptacle had to be replaced. The breaker not only kills the bathroom, it also kills the outlet in the entrance hallway, on a different floor. That I will not fix but localize it in my brain. Bunch of jerks that did this stuff.
I have also found out that GFCI outlets now have an expiration. And end-of-life indicator will come, trip the GFCI, and will not allow the GFCI to be reset. Forced replacement. What determines the life span?
Speaking of cars, I have not yet received any billing from TX on the 130 toll road that I partaketh on my trip to Texas. I wonder if I will ever get a bill. License is hard to read, black letters on red and white background, no indication of state. Certainly not readable by machine. Maybe the system is waiting for some human to figure it out. Or they just figure it is not worth the effort.
SH130 was the competition when I worked in that field. Don’t thank/blame me for that one.
The only other Texas road I touched was the NE segment of the toll loop around Tyler. That was the project for which management wanted to hand credit to the little blonde Music Ed major from Baylor, and I think the authority ultimately fired us after she botched things badly.
State of the art automated plate scanning uses infrared light. If you have an IR camera, point it at your plate during daylight hours with the truck parked outside and you will see what the OCR systems see.
They might get to you. One thing I learned after selling my Stratus is “remove the plates”. She never changed the title to her name. Over three years I had to deal with calling and telling the toll folks again that I sold the car and I filed the paperwork with you.
Several months ago they sent yet another bill. Same routine but hey, don’t you have a picture to look at? Oh! It’s on a tow truck.
Remove the tags.
Now that I think about it, Tyler was the only Texas road I touched.
If you take the truck to DC and get on the express lanes on 395, I get blame/thanks depending how the billing works out for you.
Wave at my successor on the other side of the cameras. Roger.
Roger went to Cornell. He’s special.
Ah,’ straw man’ always a good tactic.
n
For the record, I misspell o-0bammaaa’s name because I detest the commie son of a b!tch and everything he stands for. The half black bastard son of a useless piece of commie filth, still complains about racism, after being given the position of the head of the most powerful nation on earth. He accomplished nothing in his life worth celebrating, and accomplished nothing but ruin as president.
He’s a racist sack of sh!t with the apparent IQ in the mid 80s. He’s neither an intellectual, nor articulate, nor compassionate, and certainly didn’t bring the nation together.
He failed his way upwards as the puppet of others.
THAT’S why I don’t spell his name correctly.
n
Oh, nick, don’t hold back. Let us know what you really think.
Tom Cruise don’t need no CGI.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM389FbhlRQ
@Jenny – Top Gun or Bob’s Burgers?
Hey, I’d be taking the 395 if I’m going to JimB’s.
“Potential record-breaking heat could push Texas power grid to the brink this weekend”
https://www.chron.com/weather/article/Houston-weather-Texas-power-grid-ERCOT-supply-17142868.php
“According to Austin-based energy consultant Doug Lewin, the Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is expecting demand for power to reach 69.3 gigawatts on Saturday, May 7 as temperatures in Houston and Dallas hit highs in the low-to-mid ’90s and eclipse 100 in towns such as Midland and Laredo.”
“Lewin stated that the previous May record, to his best knowledge, peaked around 67 gigawatts. Making matters worse, ERCOT is expecting 20 gigawatts of Texas thermal plants powered by coal and gas to be offline for maintenance during the peak demand window of the coming heat, according to Lewin.”
Looks like we are gonna have a long hot DRY summer in Texas. Get out your generators and fill up your gas cans if you don’t have a whole house generator.
“Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights, draft opinion shows”
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Justice Alito writes in an initial majority draft circulated inside the court.”
Wow, I did not expect that if it is true.
Hat tip to:
https://www.drudgereport.com/
Why does
“Sucks dead bunnies through a straw”
come to mind?
“Can the grid handle millions of EVs? In Tennessee, distribution systems will be ‘canary in the coal mine’”
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/can-the-grid-handle-millions-of-evs-in-tennessee-distribution-systems-wil/623000/
“Electrifying all 10 million vehicles in the Tennessee Valley Authority service territory would add 25-30% to existing load, a level the transmission system could handle, according to utility studies.”
That is a lot of vehicles and a lot of demand.
Ah, the narrow mind. Only one thing at a time fits in it.
Did it never occur to you that BOTH things can be true? That I do not like keyword searches AND I think they don’t deserve any respect?
Gotchas are not going to work because I DON”T GIVE A F#CK. I don’t do this for approbation or ego boost.
And I don’t bother editing past entries, because I DON”T GIVE A F#CK what you think about it.
n
(kinda proved my point for me with the keyword search, unless you’ve been reading far more closely than most of the people who comment every day do and care enough to remember.
Um, wow.
SCOTUS is set to OVERTURN Roe v Wade according to leaked draft opinion that calls the 1973 decision legalizing abortion nationwide ‘egregiously wrong from the start’: Police set up barricades around the Supreme court building
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/05/astounding-leak-from-the-supreme-court.php
If Roberts is indeed voting with the minority, and keeps his vote there after this egregious misconduct, it will put the icing on history’s judgement of him as one of the weakest Chief Justices in history, if not the weakest.
If he gives a sou for his legacy and the integrity of the court, he will vote with the majority and pursue the strongest consequences for the leaker.
Timing, however, is going to be a beech. The opinion will likely issue in late June/early July, just four months before the midterms. If the leaker is a justice, an impeachment couldn’t come at a worse time, and having a justice engage in a truly unprecedented raw politicization would be an unimaginable stain on the court. Better to have it be a clerk that decided to immolate theys career.
ADDED: I blame this on the Biden Effect: Everything else this shiitehead has been associated with has been shiite, so why not one more thing?
I figured Roe was safe if Breyer retired.
The votes usually happen right after arguments. Someone in the minority is playing politics.
Tennessee is home to a new VW plant which will produce EVs.
This is down the street from the wife and me on 5.35 acres (two lots). $1,775,000
https://www.har.com/homedetail/7534-misty-meadow-ct-richmond-tx-77469/8722758?lid=6870081
I am fairly sure that this house sold for $600,000 or so 3 or 4 years ago.
Even the normies should start to catch on.
Interesting too that the farm equipment has remote kill capability. Wonder if the Ukrainian farmers knew that?
n
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10775229/Zelensky-warns-food-crisis-Russia-blocks-ports-attacks-grain-store-steals-locked-tractors.html
@lynn, the house that listed for $700K across the lake from me is under contract. What was that, one week? Puts an upper value on my place if I was concerned about ‘over improving’ it.
n
BTW, my mother is doing better. She can now independently move from her chair to the wheelchair, without help, to move about the house. A little bit of mobility is a blessing.
@Lynn
If I had spare time I’d look at the study.
I don’t need to sim anything to call bs on that one, UNLESS they install chargers that keep a load equivalent to 100 million air conditioners from being added within a two-hour window every weekday and twice on Friday as everyone tops off for the weekend.
Even then, how much copper is it going to take? Ignoring inflation, are we ready for $20 a pound copper? At today’s prices, the thieves have very little compunction when there’s over $30k of copper between towers in the country.
@lynn, the house that listed for $700K across the lake from me is under contract. What was that, one week? Puts an upper value on my place if I was concerned about ‘over improving’ it.
n
I would definitely have no qualms about putting the $20K septic system in your BOL. Having septic problems is just about the worst thing in the world. Walking into a ¼ inch of “water” at the toilet really sucks at midnight (been there, done that). And septic problems do not go away easily. Spending money at the front end usually is good for these systems.
I had my four month inspection last Thursday on the house septic system. He checked everything and replaced the seals on the 1 hp aerator compressor that runs 24x7x365. But he did not replace the cover correctly and it was vibrating into the house into my bedroom. I went outside and kicked the aerator compressor a few times with my work boots. The vibration went away. I love it when things work out well without having to call the tech back out at 11pm. Otherwise I was pulling the power cable as that motor causes the whole side of the house to vibrate when it is unbalanced.
Even then, how much copper is it going to take? Ignoring inflation, are we ready for $20 a pound copper? At today’s prices, the thieves have very little compunction when there’s over $30k of copper between towers in the country.
A 100 foot of copper 12/2 with neutral and ground wire is now $175 at Home Depot. That will take your breath away. It was $20 just 5 or 6 years ago.
BTW, those cables between the electric poles are aluminium.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/05/green-nightmares.php
I didn’t read the Guardian article, so I did a quick search and found a 2013 article
Picture of Ireland: How many cattle and sheep do we have?
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/picture-of-ireland-how-many-cattle-and-sheep-do-we-have-1.957551
So about 8% fewer cattle and 13% fewer sheep based on 2010.
I couldn’t find 2020 numbers in a quick search, but if production is proportional to population, not much increase as population has been pretty flat.
Be interesting to see what the green weinies think is going to happen to food prices.
@Lynn
Yeah, I think the article I read last week was referencing telephone wires, but I couldn’t pull it up tonight.
BTW, are you British? Quick, how do you remove an error made in pencil?
One of Sotomayer’s clerks is drawing attention in the mole hunt:
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/05/astounding-leak-from-the-supreme-court.php
@drwilliams, ‘rubbing one out’ has an entirely different meaning…..
😉
n
BTW, are you British? Quick, how do you remove an error made in pencil?
¼ Irish, ¼ Swiss, ¼ Flemish, ¼ German. Near as I can tell.
@Greg
@Jenny – Top Gun or Bob’s Burgers?
Never saw Top Gun. i think I’ll probably enjoy the new thing coming out. Bob’s Burgers, argh, don’t remember the reference. Movie watching is a recent phenomenon fir me, post car crash. Post parenthood.
Dinner tonight – Took one of the rabbits I slaughtered Friday over to family and we cooked it in a Dutch over over coals in the backyard. Paired with baked potato and gravy. Delicious.
We are up to $10 for an 8’ 2×4 currently.
When I misspell a name deliberately it is to express contempt. When I misspell a word deliberately there’s often a component of sarcastic humor involved.
Something that hasn’t changed on this site is the intelligence and willingness to banter and chat, and a tolerance for wide ranging interests that change over time. Even as we do. I’m grateful Barbara has permitted the site to continue. I’m grateful to Nick and Rick for their heavy lifting. I’m glad to see so many familiar faces day to day.
I don’t know when speculating about potential outcomes from observable facts got labeled conspiracy theory. Its human nature to think about outcomes. I suspect most of us do or have enjoyed chess in the past. I see the ideas kucked around here more on the line of talking thru chess moves than anything.
My social circle in real life encompasses a broad range of ages, political and religious beliefs, intelligences and skills. I don’t talk about all of my interests or beliefs with all of them, I assume amongst my circle we are all practicing some level of self censorship. The lovely thing is, when we hold our huge Thanksgivings or Winter Solstice Chili Feeds, folks from all of our varied groups show up. And they all get along, Wiccan with very conservative old school pastor, lawyer with roofer.
This corner of the Internet shares those wonderful traits and I love it.
So NaN, perhaps you’ll find a comfy spot and decide to have a nice chat with friends instead of denigrating and lamenting how much we all suck. Strangely enough, it’s possible to enjoy the company of those with whom you don’t agree. And if you aren’t enjoying the company, I remain puzzled at your desire to spend time amongst us. That’s not typical behavior of healthy humans.
Unlikely, as Belgium is a monarchy.
Yup, but this is increasingly uncommon, as people sink into their internet bubbles…