Mon. Jul. 25, 2022 – another week begins…

By on July 25th, 2022 in decline and fall, personal

Hot and humid.   It got into the low 100s here yesterday despite the overcast.   I had no interest in weed whacking the yard.

Pack is reunited.  D2 had a good weekend, passed her tests and only has one required drill (man overboard) to complete.    If anyone from the sailing program will be there, she might be a tag-a-long next weekend for the “open sailing” weekend and get her Mariner cert.  It’s normally a week long sleepover camp, but was canceled this year due to lack of staff.  The people involved in the sailing opted to do it anyway, but try to jam it all into two weekends.  Didn’t fit.

This week D2 has a daily basketball camp.  That wasn’t on my calendar, and will have me home at 2 every day to do kid pickup.  Plenty to do here I guess.

All life is change.

And the prepper life is stacking! Keep up the good work.

n

68 Comments and discussion on "Mon. Jul. 25, 2022 – another week begins…"

  1. brad says:

    I am thinking a poured floor covering of some kind would be an improvement. I want something that will seal the concrete to keep dust down, be washable and easy to keep clean, and be available in a light (grey, blue?) tone to maximise the benefit of the LED lighting in this low-ceilinged area.

    I’ve used various kinds of “floor paint” designed for concrete. You can find these in any decent DIY store. You don’t get a full range of colors, but they certainly have a few choices. The paint doesn’t last forever, but you can put down extra coats in high traffic areas (like doorways). My experience is that you can get 10-20 years of wear before it starts to look shabby. The one catch: if there is any oil or grease in the concrete, the paint will not adhere properly.

    In the new house, the painters persuaded me to use an epoxy floor paint. Bad idea. There are various problems:

    – It was really sticky going on, to the point that it constantly pulled fibers out of whatever I was applying it with. Those fibers are now an integral part of the floor.

    – It’s actually a good thing those fibers are there to roughen the finish, because it would otherwise be very slippery. I later read that you can add sand to the paint, to provide traction.

    – The epoxy is incredibly hard, but it is also inflexible and brittle. If something sticks to it, or hits it hard enough, the paint chips away from the floor.

    I’ll probably want to refinish the floor in a couple of years, and go back to tried-and-true floor paint. I’ll have to remove the epoxy first. That will not be fun…

  2. Nick Flandrey says:

    Wow, only 79F at the moment, but the air is saturated.   Sun is starting to poke out.   

    I need to get moving.  Wife and kid will want breakfast, then I’m dropping kid at basketball.   I’ll do a few pickups then back to pick her up this afternoon.

    Maybe I’ll get some work done in between.

    n

  3. drwilliams says:

    @Denis

    There are several companies that make interlocking tile systems for garages that are laid dry without adhesive. For a small area that requires a lot of prep it is a viable option.

    It’s possible to coat over vct (vinyl composite tile) and even ceramic tile with the proper prep. I’ve had good results with floor paints (urethane and epoxy) if the floor is prepped. Most concrete slabs are not installed over moisture barriers, so checking for moisture is usually the first step as it informs subsequent decisions.

  4. Ray Thompson says:

    CEL on the truck popped up. Had the code read by Advance Auto. O2 sensor, bank 1, sensor 1. Light has since extinguished itself. Transitory event? Probably not with O2 sensors. Did the code reading turn off the fault? I don’t know. Earliest appointment I can get at the dealer, or even an independent, is Friday. I trust the dealer and have had good results with the dealer. If the light stays off, I may just cancel the appointment. Typical cost to replace is about $350.00. Ford has a complicated wiring harness that is part of the sensor that has to be replaced with the sensor. About an hour labor to do the repair. I am not doing it myself as the systems are getting too complicated that without special tools the chance of success drops.

  5. Alan says:

    It’s “my” power and I’ll use it when I want to. 

    While conservation requests do result in substantial amounts of energy-reduction, Lee said, it’s not a tool that can be used too often to help manage the grid. The impact will get smaller and smaller, because people will not respond to the requests as much. That makes conservation an ineffective long-term solution, he said.

    https://www.aol.com/does-setting-thermostat-78-degrees-202412434.html

  6. Pecancorner says:

    While conservation requests do result in substantial amounts of energy-reduction, Lee said, it’s not a tool that can be used too often to help manage the grid. The impact will get smaller and smaller, because people will not respond to the requests as much. That makes conservation an ineffective long-term solution, he said.

    They should offer to pay us in an actual dollar discount applied to our bill for reduced use during those times.  There is no financial incentive to conserve electricity.  In fact, it is just the opposite, with incentive to use more.  All those companies promising big discounts only offer lower rates for the more you use.  It’s always annoyed me that the electric company urges conservation, but instead rewards volume use with lower rates.  

    So we stayed with the old timer, now called TXU Energy, formerly TU Electric, formerly TESCO, etc. 

  7. Nick Flandrey says:

    Tell me again about the vax and the boosters, isn’t an adenovirus involved?

    Scientists find likely culprit behind mystery child hepatitis outbreak – and Covid itself is NOT to blame: Combination of two usually-harmless viruses posed bigger threat to kids ‘because lockdowns weakened their immunity’

    • Scientists today pinpointed usually-harmless virus as the main culprit for the unusual hepatitis outbreak
    • Two separate studies concluded that adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) seems to play a ‘significant role’
    • The virus, which does not normally cause any illness, infects most Britons by the age of 10, experts say 
    • AAV2 cannot replicate without ‘helper’ pathogen, such as an adenovirus — which causes cold-like symptoms
    • Adenoviruses surged in line with the hepatitis cluster as youngster returned to pre-pandemic mixing 
    • Therefore, UKHSA-backed team believe dual infection with two viruses offers best explanation for outbreak 

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11045861/Scientists-culprit-child-hepatitis-outbreak-Combination-two-usually-harmless-viruses.html

    n

  8. Nick Flandrey says:

    I note only that “something changed” and I don’t buy the “weakened immune systems” line.   Mainly because it twists reality to fit the argument.

    AIDS, malnutrition, chemo drugs, – those things “weaken immune systems”.   Not getting a virus doesn’t weaken anything.   The kids’ immune systems are what they are.   Exposure to a virus (generally) creates immunity to that particular virus, not a stronger overall immune system.  Even when exposure to a virus with fewer unwanted effects causes immunity to a virus with stronger effects, you can’t rightly say that the persons “immune system” is stronger, only that it recognizes a particular virus and responds more effectively than if it hadn’t seen the other virus.

    If exposure to viruses made your immune system “stronger” we’d be infecting cancer patients before giving them chemo, to offset the effects of the chemo.  

    If you got 10 different viral infections in a row, we wouldn’t say “wow, that guy has a strong immune system!”  We’d say “holy shite, that guy catches everything that comes down the pike.  He is one sick dude.”

    n

  9. lpdbw says:

    Tell me again about the vax and the boosters, isn’t an adenovirus involved?

    So far as I know, only the Johnson & Johnson vax uses an adenovirus.

    A little research says most children have at least one adenovirus infection by age 10.

    You could theorize that all the jabs weaken immune response, and since the J&J jab intentionally infects with adenovirus, and adult J&J recipients are shedding virus, which is contagious, thus infecting more children, and an increase in infections of adenovirus provides a gateway for the AAV2, which is implicated in hepatitis.

    But instead, I’m jumping right to the endgame.  Jabs cause immune system damage of all sorts, and hepatitis is simply one manifestation.  

    Curiously, it doesn’t say which hepatitis variant they’re seeing.   That is telling; see this article

    Specifically, since they don’t identify it as a viral hepatitis, one could assume it’s the autoimmune version, supporting my supposition above.

    The doctors who spoonfed the the “journalists” protect their careers by not implicating immune system effects of the vax, and the brain-dead jounalists just repeat what they’re told without any critical thinking.

  10. Greg Norton says:

    Tell me again about the vax and the boosters, isn’t an adenovirus involved?

    The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses an adenovirus, but the agenda to eliminate the mRNA control group in the population has deprecated that jab.

    Adenovirus tech has been used to vaccinate animals against rabies for decades, but, prior to Covid, the mechanism was not approved for use in humans since effective, albeit onerous, treatment regimes exist for rabies in humans. Getting a adenovirus-based human rabies vaccine studied and approved would have been a financial black hole for whatever company tried it.

  11. lpdbw says:

    Closer reading of the article says none of the children they studied were jabbed.

    I remain skeptical, but I added this for fairness.

  12. lynn says:

    “They Thought ‘Crypto Banks’ Were Safe, and Then Came the Crash”

         https://vigourtimes.com/they-thought-crypto-banks-were-safe-and-then-came-the-crash/

    “One Sunday evening last month, Lucas Holcomb woke his pregnant wife. “Honey, we just lost $100,000,” he told her.”

    “Mr. Holcomb had taken out a home-equity line of credit and deposited the proceeds with cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network LLC, which offered banklike accounts paying far higher rates than traditional lenders. He liked that the company had big-name institutional investors and touted safeguards meant to protect depositors from the crazy price swings common in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.”

    How in the world did this moron think that he had no risk to borrow money and invest it ?????????????

  13. Robert "Bob" Sprowl says:

    Drwilliams re shop

    The shop slab is 78’x36’x6” with no expansion joints.  The floor finish is very smooth – almost too smooth as it is slippery when wet.  The shop is 54×36 divided into several work areas. One end is an enclosed on three sides 24×36 carport. 

    It will be workshop so the floor appearance is not important.  Sealing the floor so I can keep it clean is.

  14. Ray Thompson says:

    How in the world did this moron think that he had no risk to borrow money and invest it

    One time many SOLs ago I was getting special rates at my credit union. A few extra basis points for CDs, a few reduced basis points for loans. I discovered that the CU would actually pay me 0.10% more on money invested in long term CDs than it cost to borrow. I borrowed $50K from the CU and promptly put it back in the CU in a CD. The CU was NCUA insured so no danger of losing money.

    Three months into my scheme I get a call from the CU wanting me to come and discuss my accounts. At the meeting the CU informed me that what I was doing was illegal. I asked how? I borrowed money, put the money in a CD. Their rates, not mine. They sputtered a bit and said I was effectively kiting. I pointed out to the CU that kiting was dealing with checks, writing checks on accounts where there were insufficient funds and using those checks to cover accounts in other banks. What I was doing was not kiting. Besides, perhaps I borrowed the money, was using that money, and placed different money back into certificates.

    The CU hemmed and hawed some more. They finally came to the conclusion that their plans for rates for members with account relationships was not well thought out. They would immediately be terminating the program. My accounts, or anyone else, would no longer get the special rates. I told the CU that if they terminated those accounts that I should be allowed to redeem the CDs without any penalty. They balked. I then told them the terms had been changed by them and that the contract was no longer valid or enforceable. Perhaps the NCUA should get involved. The CU agreed to no early withdrawal penalty.

    The CDs were redeemed, the money was immediately used to pay off the $50K loan. I made about $12.50 in the whole process. Certainly not a major money making scheme. It was the thrill of working the system, beating the “man” at their own game. Proving to the CU that I was an anal orifice.

  15. Pecancorner says:

    I read about the liver failures/Hepatitis when it first appeared in the news and at that time nearly all of the children were 3 years or under.  Very, very young.  It’s unlikely to have anything to do with COVID vaccines, but that does not mean it is not vaccine-related.  

    Vaccines are given in such high combinations that the suggestion that these liver failures are due to a combination of two viruses is very disturbing. How safe is it to give Hep B, Rotavirus, Diptheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Hib, Pneumococcal, inactivated polio, all in 6 separate shots on the same day to a two month old baby – a baby who may also be exposed to adenovirus, various enteroviruses, and all sorts of other things at the time. 

    Plus, it is chilling how little they really know about some of these new diseases.  If the COVID shut down did anything good (in addition to showing American parents how appalling the school systems are), it is that it may have – at least temporarily – broken the “even years” cycle of that polio-like illness now called Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM)   that paralyzed 200 American children in 2014, 200+ in 2016, and 200+ in 2018.  The 2020 shut down kept children from being exposed, and only 33 were paralyzed that year.  So far, 18 children have it this year, but it usually peaks Aug-Oct.    Although there’s a slight association with enterovirus, eight years later they still don’t know for certain what is causing it. 

  16. Pecancorner says:

    How in the world did this moron think that he had no risk to borrow money and invest it ?????????????

    After the Savings and Loan debacle, I chose never to put my cash savings into uninsured bank accounts. No CDs or Money Market accounts, because the FDIC did NOT insure those. 

    But when the crash came, what was the first thing Congress did?  Retroactively insured those risky accounts so that people didn’t lose their investments – the taxpayers got to pay for their decision to risk their money for a higher return.

    So anyone who put the proceeds of their home equity loan into a Certificate of Deposit in 2005 for a higher return, knowing full well it was all at risk and could all be lost, with no insurance behind it, and then lost it all in 2008…. actually got it back, thanks to our legislators. 

    That may be where he got the idea he could borrow money and “safely” invest it.  

  17. drwilliams says:

    AlGore is running his piehole again. 

    He and John Kerry have both repeatedly proved that they are liars and hypocrites not worth the powder to blow them to hell. 

    But if we could send them both with one charge it would be a darn good investment. 

  18. CowboyStu says:

    At the meeting the CU informed me that what I was doing was illegal.

    When el stupido tells be that I am doing, or going to do, something against the law, my response is:  “All laws have a number, what is the number of the law?  For example, in CA DUI is 502.”  

    So much for that subject.

  19. dcp says:

    the Savings and Loan debacle

    From 1982 to 1988 my (only) bank account was at Silverado Savings & Loan.  When it collapsed, the FSLIC saved my bacon.

    I never forgave Neil Bush, and for me the rest of the Bush family is forever tainted by association.

  20. lynn says:

    Dilbert: Dave Has Pronouns

        https://dilbert.com/strip/2022-07-25

    And here we go …

  21. JimB says:

    @ Robert “Bob” Sprowl, when I built my new garage-shop, I wanted a low maintenance finish on the concrete floor. I wanted a smooth sealed surface that would repel oil and water stains, and be easy to keep clean. I wanted the ability to touch it up if necessary. I specifically did not want a coating that produces a skin, because that will always fail in ugly ways: it can either chip or peel. I wanted a penetrating sealer that would stand up to steel wheels on jacks, and sharp jack stand corners, plus the occasional dropped hard object. Welding and cutting spatter are also issues. I wanted the ability to touch it up if necessary. I had already treated the surface with a hardener as part of the finishing, and had a power steel trowel dense finish. The surface is smooth, exactly what I wanted. It is NOT nonslip, but that is a tradeoff I am willing to make for a surface I can dust mop.

    Decades ago, I used to get the Dow Corning newsletter. I saw a penetrating silicone based sealer described, and even visited a site that used it. It was perfect, but it has been withdrawn from the market. A quick search just now, still doesn’t find it. It might also have been too expensive for me, because my floor is 56×60’.

    After some searching, I used a product I will not recommend. It was somewhat expensive, and is not as stain resistant as I had hoped for. Oil drips, even if wiped up promptly, soak in a little and can leave stains. Its strength was easy application. It did penetrate, and did not change the appearance or (lack of) gloss of the surface. There is no dust. I wish I could have tested a small area, because I could have saved some money. That was about six years ago, and I have not done anything except fill the garage with lots of stuff that will make further treatment more difficult.

    When we built our house in 1977, I sealed the basement floor with an Amway product, simply called Concrete Sealer. I still have an empty bottle. It came in quart bottles, and was very affordable. I treated 1400 square feet with only two or three bottles. It had all the appearance and smell of acrylic floor wax, and didn’t cost much more. I used two coats, and finished with an acrylic floor wax. We carpeted most of that concrete, and I wanted to suppress any dust. That concrete was also steel trowel machine finished, so very smooth. About 40% is uncovered, and appears as good today as when new. No dust, and spills clean up without a trace. This is not as heavy use as my shop, but I am very happy with it. Wish I could have used it on the garage, but it is no longer available; anyway, I figured a more modern specialized product would be better.

    Inspired by the success of the basement floor, my next attempt on the garage floor will be to apply a commercial liquid floor polish. I figure it might not be permanent, but won’t degrade in an ugly way. It can also be removed with a floor stripper. I have yet to research this much, but there are hundreds of products. Some are likely to be good.

    As for existing stains in (and I mean IN, not ON) concrete, I have tried various ways to remove them over the years. Nothing works very well for indoor floors; for outdoor surfaces, sunlight will make most fade here in just a few months. I have had the most success with a little Portland cement slurry applied with a stiff brush. It hides most dark stains pretty well. I had a recent idea to add some surfactant to aid penetration, but have not tried that yet.

    My two cents. Hope it helps.

  22. lynn says:

    “NextEra plans to shift away from Chinese solar panels within 2 years, company leaders say”

        https://www.utilitydive.com/news/nextera-chinese-solar-panels-tariff-projects-delay/627971/

    “NextEra’s renewable energy projects are back on track and enjoying record-setting demand after the Biden administration’s two-year moratorium on new solar panel tariffs, company leaders told investors during a Friday morning earnings call.”

    “The two-year moratorium will give the company’s suppliers adequate time to begin sourcing solar panels with wafers made outside China. This means NextEra should be able to avoid any tariffs stemming from the Department of Commerce investigation into solar panel tariff circumvention, according to Kirk Crews, NextEra Energy chief financial officer.”

    An admirable goal but very difficult to implement.

  23. drwilliams says:

    Many formerly good products are no longer available due to the voc-phobia. The gubermint green zealots are okay if you have to recoat or strip and reapply every two years and put up with shitty performance in between, rather than have a good product that will perform for 15-20 years.

    I’m pretty sure the Dow Corning silicone product falls into that category.

    As @jimb points out, steel troweling will densify the concrete if done properly with a mix that is not too wet (they’re all too wet). Floating will push the aggregate down, bring the fines and cream up, and create a porous surface that lacks strength. One useful technique is to broadcast a surface hardening aggregate before the final finishing.

  24. lynn says:

    “Elon Musk ‘got down on one knee and begged Sergey Brin for forgiveness after sleeping with his wife Nicole Shanahan during Art Basel in Miami’: December fling prompted Google founder to file for divorce – but she STILL wants $1 BILLION”

        https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11043893/Elon-Musk-begged-Sergey-Brin-forgiveness-sleeping-wife-Nicole-Shanahan.html

    Is Musk trying to sleep with every woman in the USA ?

    Hat tip to:

        https://www.drudgereport.com/

  25. Alan says:

    >> “They Thought ‘Crypto Banks’ Were Safe, and Then Came the Crash”

    Just don’t throw away your account records. Label everything! 

    https://www.businessinsider.com/james-howells-threw-away-bitcoin-dump-masterplan-get-back-2022-7?amp

  26. JimB says:

    @Ray, I did something simpler with our local CU. Back in the late 1970s or early 1980s, they introduced Visa cards that featured the same grace period on cash advances as on purchases. I read the fine print, and found this hard to believe. My other cards charged interest on cash advances from the date of the advance, even when the bill was paid in full monthly. I called them to confirm, and was told it was true. This meant I could withdraw cash from the card account, and not pay interest as long as I paid the balance in full on the next bill, which I had set up automatically.

    Also, their savings accounts featured a full month of interest on money deposited on or before the tenth of the month. The only restriction was that the money could not be withdrawn before the end of the month. Stated differently, the interest was paid on the minimum balance in the last two thirds of the month, making it not as good as advertised. Apparently, this was common in the banking business.

    I couldn’t believe it. Our Visa accounts had payment due dates in the early days of the month. I tried the scheme with a small amount of money. I transferred a cash advance from Visa to savings using their phone account access (no Internet yet.) Sure enough, interest was paid on savings but not charged on the Visa account. I asked my uncle, the LAPD detective who worked bunco and major frauds, if I could get in trouble. As you said, he told me this was not check kiting, since no checks were involved. Further, the money was legally borrowed using my approved credit, and was within the terms of the card agreement. I could do whatever I wanted with it.

    Since we had two Visa accounts, each with a $20k credit limit, and we did not use them except occasionally, I put the cards away and used the accounts to their limits, doing monthly transfers and paying the balance in full during the first ten days of each month. I did this for about three years, until they changed the cash withdrawals to what is more common: interest no matter how soon the bill is paid. At about 7%, we earned quite a bit.

    I knew someone inside that CU, and asked discretely if they knew about this scheme. I was told that they knew, and there were a small number of others using similar. They had plans to change the rules, and did a short while later. End of the fun.

    As WC Fields said, “You can’t cheat an honest man.”

  27. lynn says:

    “SpaceX Beats Annual Launch Record As It Preps More Starlink Satellites”

         https://www.pcmag.com/news/spacex-beats-annual-launch-record-as-it-preps-more-starlink-satellites

    “SpaceX has just completed its 32nd orbital launch of the year, beating the company’s own annual record in only about half the time.  The previous record, at 31 launches, was set last year. But on Friday, the company surpassed the count by launching another Falcon 9 rocket that’s carrying a batch of Starlink satellites into orbit.  Most notably, the record was broken in the middle of July. SpaceX now has another five months to raise the count even higher before the year is out. ”

    Impressive and amazing. There are still good things happening in these crazy years.

  28. Greg Norton says:

    How in the world did this moron think that he had no risk to borrow money and invest it ?????????????

    The Tenbagger Dream dies hard plus I’m guessing a “Show Ya” personality type.

    Which reminds me – I saw that Cybertruck orders were cancelled in Australia over the weekend.

  29. lynn says:

    “Microsoft warns that new Windows updates may break printing”

       https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-warns-that-new-windows-updates-may-break-printing/

    Have new versions of Windows ever NOT broken old devices like printers ?

  30. Geoff Powell says:

    I’m reminded of the old story about the Micro$oft engineer, who had to sell his new car after one long journey, “because he couldn’t debug the windows.”

    Seriously, though, the Windows codebase has long since reached critical mass, whereby fixing one bug  introduces one+epsilon (for epsilon small and positive) new bugs, which means it’s unfixable, and needs to be completely replaced. It’ll never happen. As well expect SatNad to mandate reimplementation along the lines of Linux, with a Win UI over a Linux kernel, and a fairly rigid separation between the two. At least the GPL would force this.

    G.

  31. Nick Flandrey says:

    Musk has come out saying the WSJ article is complete lies, and he hasn’t even HAD sex in a while…

    n

  32. Nick Flandrey says:

    I had to argue with the staff every day my wife and baby(s) were in the hospital about NOT getting the hepatitis vax.    ONE DAY OLD.  And they wanted to jab her.   EVERY time they’d read the chart and say “Oh, she didn’t get the hep vax yet, I’ll go get it.”   Um NO.   Wife doesn’t have it, I don’t have it, and I’m trusting the hospital not to give it to her, so NO.  ONE DAY OLD.

    n

  33. Nick Flandrey says:

    Which reminds me – I saw that Cybertruck orders were cancelled in Australia over the weekend.”

    –won’t be available soon, and might never be.   IIRC without looking for the quote.

    n

  34. Nick Flandrey says:

    Walmart Plunges After Slashing Profit Outlook, Blames Fuel/Food Costs 

    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/walmart-plunges-drags-down-market-after-slashing-profit-outlook-blames-fuel-costs

    —Good thing for their investors that they got into grocery in a big way, too bad for investors that grocery has a smaller profit margin, so  if grocery takes up more of the sales, overall profit comes down.  

    I wouldn’t want to be an apparel retailer.   You can put off buying new clothes, even with back to school.

    Speaking of which, I haven’t seen or heard a single back to school ad and we go back on the 15th.

    n

  35. Greg Norton says:

    –won’t be available soon, and might never be.   IIRC without looking for the quote.

    I’m guessing the latter.

    My wife’s back channel source into Toyota San Antonio says that the Japanese don’t believe Musk can deliver the truck for less than $100k US Dollars, and that was a number from six months ago.

    How many $40k F150 Lightning trucks has Ford delivered?

    Base model. No cheating like the first delivery to the Deep State tech exec who rotated through MacDill during his active duty military days.

  36. paul says:

    Battery powered trucks are pure marketing propaganda.  Might even be Commie propaganda.  Insert shocked face. 

    There was a “test-off” a week or so ago with the Ford? electric truck and some gas powered truck where they were pulling a trailer.  The electric truck went all of 85 miles.  Ya know, out here, that’s gonna get me almost to Priddy if I’m going to Comanche.

    85 miles?  From here to the nearest Frost Bank branch in Austin?  It’s over by the Costco near the US183 toll road.  The branch on Pecan something off 360 is a few miles less.  I’d best have a big ol’ generator running in the bed if I want to get home. 

  37. Geoff Powell says:

    @paul:

    Battery powered trucks are pure marketing propaganda. 

    They’re aiming for what they see as the main market – the big, macho “redneck” who drives a truck because he feels a sedan is “sissy”, and never tows.

    G.

    Added: Plus “gasoline is bad.”

  38. Geoff Powell says:

    In that regard, I’m probably atypical. As far as I’m concerned, a car is a box-on-4-wheels, that will get me from A to B in reasonable comfort. Not luxury, just comfort. And it needs a metal roof, so that I can put antennas on it. Needn’t be new, either, just reliable.

    Other than that, I’ll drive anything, as witness my 20-year-old SEAT Ibiza 1.4 litre 3-door hatchback, which does everything I want, including transporting the P.A. kit for the annual traditional observance in mid-May.

    G.

  39. Greg Norton says:

    Seriously, though, the Windows codebase has long since reached critical mass, whereby fixing one bug  introduces one+epsilon (for epsilon small and positive) new bugs, which means it’s unfixable, and needs to be completely replaced. It’ll never happen. As well expect SatNad to mandate reimplementation along the lines of Linux, with a Win UI over a Linux kernel, and a fairly rigid separation between the two. At least the GPL would force this.

    Microsoft hired the developer of Systemd recently. That layer is half of the battle, a Wayland compositor being the other, but I think a Linux port of Windows would be for a “walled garden” device on ARM, capable of running approved Win32 apps via emulation but offering mostly custom software.

    WHQL offers a serious competitive advantage. We experimented with wrapping Windows network drivers at the Death Star, but I wouldn’t want to run something mission critical on top of that arrangement.

  40. lynn says:

    85 miles?  From here to the nearest Frost Bank branch in Austin?  It’s over by the Costco near the US183 toll road.  The branch on Pecan something off 360 is a few miles less.  I’d best have a big ol’ generator running in the bed if I want to get home. 

    “Ford Patents EV Pickup Truck Range Extender Disguised as Toolbox”

        https://www.motortrend.com/news/ford-f-150-electric-range-extender-patent-details/

  41. Geoff Powell says:

    @greg:

    but I think a Linux port of Windows would be for a “walled garden” device on ARM

    That’s something I wouldn’t touch with my worst enemy’s bargepole.

    G.

  42. Geoff Powell says:

    Microsoft hired the developer of Systemd recently.

    Even Lennart Poettering can’t make the current version of Windows any worse. At least he’s not writing for Red Hat any more. But others who have drunk his KoolAid are still active in this field.

    And if I were Roy Schestowitz (sp?), I might be suggesting that M$ are rewarding Poettering for his work. But I’m not that obsessed.

    G.

  43. Ray Thompson says:

    The electric truck went all of 85 miles.

    With the elevation gain from my place to Crossville, about 800 feet increase in altitude, I doubt that truck would get me 50 miles pulling my trailer. Almost to Crossville. There are no charging stations between my house and Crossville. To get to Nashville, about 150 miles, I would have to stop twice to recharge, which would take at least 30 minutes. Charging time would be 40% of my travel time to Nashville. A 2.5 hour trip now become a 4 hour trip.

    When posting such information on places like Arstechnica, I am blasted as not caring about the planet or others. There is no reason for me to have a 24 foot travel trailer. How dare I own such extravagance! I should be able to get by with a tent stowed on an underpowered, cramped, stripped down, rattle box with the majority of the payload capacity taken up by extension cords. Even then the pregnant grape poising as a vehicle would only travel 90 miles before needing a recharge. A trip across the state of Texas would take a week with recharging stop times.

  44. drwilliams says:

    @Geoff Powell

    Other than that, I’ll drive anything, as witness my 20-year-old SEAT Ibiza 1.4 litre 3-door hatchback, which does everything I want, including transporting the P.A. kit for the annual traditional observance in mid-May.

    England is a lovely country and I hope the world comes to it’s senses before I pass so that I can return and revisit some of my favorite places (not all of them pubs and distilleries).

    But if you tried driving that across Nebraska on Interstate 80 (688 km) in the summer the trip would be grim indeed. 

    In winter you might not have enough heat to survive. 

    700km north to North Dakota, and it’s colder in winter and can be hotter in the summer.

    As documented here a number of times, many of us have family memories of piling in the 9-passenger station wagon and doing a summer tour of 3-4,000 miles or more. Playing the license plate game it was rare to find Hawaii, but not so to Alaska. Odds increased for both if you hung around the Grand Canyon or Yosemite National Parks for any length of time.

    If you moved here you’d be shopping for pickup trucks in no time.

  45. dkreck says:

    I saw a large (prob class 6) Coca Cola delivery truck a couple or weeks ago on the coast in SLO with hybrid bragging written all over the side. My guess would would most pickups to large trucks will go hybrid especially in Cali. Of course the problem is the socialist greenies who real desire is to kill off petro. No real thought in how or why that won’t work.

  46. Geoff Powell says:

    @drwilliams:

    If you moved here you’d be shopping for pickup trucks in no time.

    Quite possibly. But, as you know, the UK is small, compared to ‘Murica. Diff’rent strokes…

    The furthest I’ve driven in the SEAT is to RAF Cosford, north-west of Birmingham, for an Airshow, in 2013. Probably 100 miles each way. I won’t do that again, because of fighting massive traffic queues. Also, the engine overheated, due to a fault with the thermostatic radiator fan. Besides, there’s a railway station half-a-mile away. Easier to “let the train take the strain”, to quote an old advert.

    G.

  47. Geoff Powell says:

    @drwilliams:

    family memories of piling in the 9-passenger station wagon and doing a summer tour of 3-4,000 miles or more.

    My family has those memories, too. But they date from the days when my wife drove a Peugeot 505 Familiale, and those days are long gone, although she has a Peugeot 5008 nowadays.

    G.

  48. Greg Norton says:

    Even Lennart Poettering can’t make the current version of Windows any worse. At least he’s not writing for Red Hat any more. But others who have drunk his KoolAid are still active in this field.

    I’m not a fan of Systemd, but I’ve given up waiting for it to go away. It isn’t going anywhere in the major distros.

    1
    1
  49. Greg Norton says:

    but I think a Linux port of Windows would be for a “walled garden” device on ARM

    That’s something I wouldn’t touch with my worst enemy’s bargepole.

    Most of the people around here are way more advanced than a standard corporate drone user.

  50. Geoff Powell says:

    @greg:

    I’m not a fan of Systemd

    Nor am I. If Poettering had stuck to “make a new init system”, I’d have no problem with it. I might not use it, but I’d accept another attempt at a “better init”, for certain values of “better”.

    No, my problem is the way it seems to want to take over everything. What’s wrong with the Unix philosophy of “do one thing, and do it well”?

    OK, rant over.

    G.

  51. Alan says:

    >> “Microsoft warns that new Windows updates may break printing”

    Can you say “paperless office?” 

  52. Alan says:

    >> They’re aiming for what they see as the main market – the big, macho “redneck” who drives a truck because he feels a sedan is “sissy”, and never tows.

    And never puts anything more in the bed than a Whole Foods shopping bag. 

    1
    1
  53. Alan says:

    >> My family has those memories, too. But they date from the days when my wife drove a Peugeot 505 Familiale, and those days are long gone, although she has a Peugeot 5008 nowadays.

    Back in the day, in Brooklyn, NYFC, where I grew up, I once had a Peugeot 504 and my Dad had a 604. The latter was a nice mid-level luxury car with the PRV V-6 engine. The 504 had (iirc) a Peugeot 4 which developed overheating problems that the dealer couldn’t quite fully resolve. Luckily at that time the diesel version of the 504 was popular as a NYC yellow taxi and we were able to find a Peugeot mechanic that worked out of his personal two car garage and was able to get the car running without overheating. My father got the dealer to cover the bill. I don’t particularly miss that car. 

  54. lynn says:

    If you moved here you’d be shopping for pickup trucks in no time.

    Quite possibly. But, as you know, the UK is small, compared to ‘Murica. Diff’rent strokes…

    The furthest I’ve driven in the SEAT is to RAF Cosford, north-west of Birmingham, for an Airshow, in 2013. Probably 100 miles each way. I won’t do that again, because of fighting massive traffic queues. Also, the engine overheated, due to a fault with the thermostatic radiator fan. Besides, there’s a railway station half-a-mile away. Easier to “let the train take the strain”, to quote an old advert.

    I drove a three cylinder five speed manual two seater coupe from London to Swansea about 26 years ago.  The wife was with me.  It was a great drive of about 200 miles.  We did have to stop at every castle in Wales ??? on the way there and look at them.  And the huge bridge across the River Servern at Bristol was neat.  Swansea was a neat place even if every road had a 10% grade on it.

  55. lynn says:

    >> They’re aiming for what they see as the main market – the big, macho “redneck” who drives a truck because he feels a sedan is “sissy”, and never tows.

    And never puts anything more in the bed than a Whole Foods shopping bag. 

    I had a bunch of 4 foot to 8 foot branches and and some water hoses in my truck bed Saturday.  All the branches got thrown into my dumpster.

  56. Nick Flandrey says:

    I drove 200 miles today because it’s Monday.  And I filled the bed of my pickup.   But I understand that not everyone wants to do that.

    I have three trucks, one for parts, one small pickup and one big SUV.   We’d have a station wagon instead of the SUV and the minivan, but CAFE standards and the FedGov killed the station wagon.

    Look at photos of a 2003 Cadillac SRX to see a station wagon called an SUV for political and legal reasons.

    n

  57. drwilliams says:

    I had a 1966 Chevy Impala station wagon. 

    Hauled materials from the lumber yard to finish a basement. 

    You could drop the rear seat and there was enough room for 4×8 sheets of panelling and drywall to fit and close the tailgate. The rear slant on the back of the front seat and forward slant on the rear door would keep you from stacking too high, but that was probably about the weight limit with drywall anyway.

  58. ITGuy1998 says:

    Dad had an early 80’s Pontiac wagon – LeMans maybe? It was baby blue and you could fit a sheet of plywood in back.

    The back floor was metal, and I remember being in back with my cousins and sliding around with each change in speed. Imagine doing that today!

  59. Alan says:

    >> I wouldn’t want to be an apparel retailer.   You can put off buying new clothes, even with back to school.

    Less so with teenage girls I’d guess. 

  60. Nick Flandrey says:

    Less so with teenage girls I’d guess.

    well yes, but.   The weirdness of the wuflu lockdowns and school closures busted up the “back to school” spending.   I’m sure there will be a push in the next couple of weeks, but I think my wife did the girls clothes shopping last month.  I know she got them new shoes then.

    Walmart reported apparel slumping.

    n

  61. Nick Flandrey says:

    Not the first attack on homeless people this year, but kinda unusual for the Great White North…

    DEVELOPING: Several Homeless People Shot Dead in Mass Shooting in British Columbia, Canada – Suspect Arrested 

    Several homeless people were shot dead Monday morning in a mass shooting in British Columbia, Canada.

    The mass shooting was reportedly a ‘targeted’ attack, according to local media.

    ‘Multiple shooting scenes in the downtown core in the city of Langley with 1 incident in Langley township involving transient victims,’ an alert sent to B.C. residents’ phones read, according to Reuters.

    A Royal Canadian Police spokesperson did not disclose how many people were killed.

     https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/07/developing-several-homeless-people-shot-dead-mass-shooting-british-columbia-canada/ 

  62. Nick Flandrey says:

    And events like this are why I have my blowout kit and tourniquet in my carry on bag. 

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/07/update-dallas-love-field-airport-shooter-identified-portia-odufuwa-lengthy-criminal-history/ 

    As previously reported, a shooting was reported at Dallas Love Field Airport Monday morning.

    Police identified the shooter as 37-year-old Portia Odufuwa.

    According to Dallas police, Portia Odufuwa was shot after firing several rounds inside Dallas Love Field Airport.

    NBCDFW reported that Odufuwa was dropped off at the airport and immediately walked into a bathroom where she changed her clothing.

    Odufuwa walked out of the bathroom wearing a hoodie and began shooting at the ceiling before police shot her in her ‘lower extremities.’

    – I added it to my bag after the guy in Ft Lauderdale shot up the baggage claim.

    n

  63. drwilliams says:

    Shocking poll: Majority believe government is “corrupt and rigged”

    Jazz Shaw Jul 25, 2022 11:01 AM ET

    ends with this paragraph:

    While I understand that Tucker Carlson can be a controversial figure at times, he’s been sounding warnings about this precise situation for months now. There is a limit to how much people will be willing or able to tolerate. As long as they have faith that the underlying system is at least being fair to them, they will put up with quite a bit. But when the nation loses that faith and broadly begins to believe that they are laboring under a corrupt system that is rigged against them and their fundamental needs are not being met, the entire system can collapse in a dramatic fashion very quickly as we’re already seeing in other nations. Look around at the conditions we’re dealing with in the United States today and then look at those poll numbers again. Ask yourself if the unthinkable is still unthinkable. And the people who need to carefully consider these questions more than anyone else are in the White House and in Congress.

    https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2022/07/25/shocking-poll-majority-believe-government-is-corrupt-and-rigged-n484954

    Shocking? Not so much.

    Eight years of Bush Hitler from the Dems and the MSM, followed by eight years of See, Speak and Hear No Evil from both. 1000 pages of immaculately received Obamacare voted on by our feckless elected “representatives” to continue the destruction of the American medical system. Weaponized IRS. Holder sneering at congressional subpoena. Wide-open southern border. 

    An incompetent and thoroughly corrupt Democrat nominee that got run over by a populist candidate that ate the RINO’s for lunch and chewed the few bones. Bush’s and others with hurty feelings. Conservative icon McCain betrays country to stick it to his party’s president. 

    Four years of “resistance” from the entrenched traitors in State, DOJ, the military, and every other part of U.S. government. Rabid attacks from the Dems and media based on not one single flocking thing. Investigations beyond corrupt. Wind-up vegetable put up as Democratic nominee and protected by–you guessed it–Dems and the media. Wholesale violations of election laws that have served the country for decades.

    And a SCOTUS that can’t find any standing for any lawsuit.

    I’m shocked that it isn’t all burning already.

    I don’t know, but I suspect that if the radial impeller gets hit by feces there will be a whole bunch of gardeners “fertilizing” the bridges around the blue shiitehole cities. Pretty sure the people in Westchester aren’t 100% stupid. Pretty sure the roadways will block solid in short order, and after three generations of tight PLT control of the schools the populace can’t read a map or tell direction by the sun. 

    The only question is whether self-immolation comes to the U.S. first. The Chicoms and Redskis are on paths that lead the same direction, and if they go first, chances are good that the man with the big hat goes visiting.

    The operative variation of Pascal’s wager is to act like it’s survivable. Absent a sudden mutation of totally deadly Kungflu taking out most of congress, it ain’t likely.

    Mega Millions draws for $810,000,000 tomorrow night. It ain’t likely, either, but I’m buying tickets. 

    Time for a short glass of rye and a beer chaser. 

  64. Gavin says:

    https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/07/25/cp-newsalert-multiple-shootings-reported-in-langley-bc.html

    4 victims, 2 of them died, gunman killed, and apparently another individual in custody as ‘responsible’ for the shooting.

    Wonder what the spin on this will be?

  65. lynn says:

    The only question is whether self-immolation comes to the U.S. first. The Chicoms and Redskis are on paths that lead the same direction, and if they go first, chances are good that the man with the big hat goes visiting.

    Who is the man with the big hat ?

  66. Alan says:

    >> Swansea was a neat place even if every road had a 10% grade on it. 

    10% grades will eat up your EV range. 

  67. Denis says:

    Brad, drwilliams, thanks for the floor covering feedback. I will take some moisture measurements, and if suitable, I predict a good grade of floor paint is in my future…

Comments are closed.