Thur. Oct. 13, 2022 – Friday the thirteenth lands on a Thursday this month…

By on October 13th, 2022 in culture, decline and fall, personal

Cool and damp as a wet dishrag.   Sweating just waiting for the school bus.   And then hot in the afternoon sun.   Ol’ Sol still packs a wollop.   Last night it was still 79F at midnight.   That’s pretty warm and the reverse of the trend.  I am looking forward to Fall  getting here in earnest.

Spent the first part of the day online doing auction stuff.   Then went looking for some cables that someone wants to buy.   I haven’t sold any in a year, and I’ve “organized” stuff to the point that I couldn’t find them.   They weren’t at home, in the ready  to sell pile, nor were they where they used to be, in the deep storage.  I really hate when that happens.  I’ve got one more place to look today.

Then I went shopping, made dinner, did some auction stuff, and worked on mileage for taxes…  not a super fun day.

Today I’ve got to get to my storage unit and get stuff sorted and on shelves.  Shelves I have to clear a space for and assemble…  then get some more stuff out of the house.   I should do a pickup too.

No further word from the foundation guys.  I’m assuming we won’t try to do anything this week at this point.  I am frustrated by having to depend on these other guys for stuff I need.

How much more dependent am I on the bigger picture, society in general, for all my needs?   More than I’m comfortable with, that’s for sure.  They whole point of prepping is to reduce your dependence on others, to have backups to the “other controlled” aspects  of day to day life.   Disasters break those aspects of our lives, whether they be personal, or regional, or national, or global.   And we prep to minimize the effects when those dependencies break.

Stacks of stuff can help with most things.   Stacks of friends and acquaintances can help with the others.  Some you just have to ride out.

Stack what you can.

nick

58 Comments and discussion on "Thur. Oct. 13, 2022 – Friday the thirteenth lands on a Thursday this month…"

  1. brad says:

    So, I’ve signed up with the local trade school, to help out with a couple of courses. I had been helping out at the “online” college, but I’m getting frustrated with them. Not least because most of their classes take place in physical rooms – where’s the online part of that? But also because their administrative processes are a PITA – it’s just not fun – and if I don’t enjoy it, what’s the point.

    FWIW, this extra work is ok with my main employer, as long as I don’t work more than 10% extra.

    For me, it’s about figuring out what I want to do after retirement. “Nothing” is not an option, I’d be bored. Continuing part-time at my current employer certainly is an option, and likely I will – as long as I can pick my courses. But I’d really like to have something local. The trade school will be something completely different: students in their mid-teens, who (for whatever reason) did not choose the college-track high school. They quit full-time school at 14 or 15, and then go to a trade school in combination with a formal apprenticeship. So a very different audience. (@Ray: hopefully I’ll avoid some of the tales you tell from your subbing.)

  2. Nick Flandrey says:

    76F and 97%RH,  so dripping.   Breakfast is on the way…

    n

  3. Nick Flandrey says:

    @brad, If you are typical, you will be busier in retirement than you were when working.

    n

  4. Ray Thompson says:

    Biden is a scumbag, liar, and thief.

    Biden is a scumbag, liar, low-life, cheat, idiot and thief with dementia.

    Fixed it for you.

    hopefully I’ll avoid some of the tales you tell from your subbing

    It may be OK for you. If the students are working on projects, they are usually OK. They are probably motivated and enjoy what they are doing. It’s the people that take the class looking for an easy grade that are the problem. They really don’t want to be in school and don’t care about the grade. Welfare was a career path for their parents, so they feel it works for them.

    The biggest thing to remember is that you are not their friend and will never be their friend. If they students get too difficult I just send them to the office to let the staff deal with the issue. The staff has always supported me. A couple times in the office and three days in alternative school, loss of their phone for a couple of days, and they generally learn I don’t take any crap. Surprisingly many of the students like me as a sub because I don’t take any crap from other students.

    it’s about figuring out what I want to do after retirement. “Nothing” is not an option

    And it shouldn’t be an option. The problem with a part time job is that there is a schedule involved. I didn’t want a schedule in retirement. So I took up subbing. If I don’t want to work that day, I don’t. No downside to turning the job down.

    Some days are boring and I try to find something to do for the day. Sometimes not very successful. It are what it are.

    Some things that I used to have to rush to finish I find I can now take my time. I have extended my mowing time by 30 minutes or so by just slowing down, being a little more meticulous, mowing some sections twice with the second cutting at 90 degrees to the previous cutting. Which really makes the grass look much better.

    I spend some time making composite images for the parents of students that play sports. An example of such can be found here:

    https://www.raymondthompsonphotography.com/Williford.jpg 

    Giving up the church job took away one of the consumptions of my spare time. Sometimes I miss it. Then I think back about how much it really consumed and quickly realize it was a good decision.

    Volunteer for an organization is another option. I spend time taking sports pictures and processing those pictures. That consumes many evenings and mornings of the following day. Enjoyable. No money. Some recognition (Hall of Fame), pictures in local paper.

  5. MrAtoz says:

    Biden is a scumbag, liar, low-life, cheat, idiot and thief with dementia.

    Beau Biden apparently died in Iraq–or at least Joe Biden thinks so

    Beau….Beau…Beau

    I can’t count the number of heroic ways Beau died. Oh, wait, yes I can. Zero. What a slap in the face to those who actually died in Iraq. For some cheap political pandering.

  6. Brad says:

    @brad, If you are typical, you will be busier in retirement than you were when working.

    Could be. There always were more interesting things to do than hours to do them. I hope to keep that attitude for another few decades… 

  7. Greg Norton says:

    I can’t count the number of heroic ways Beau died. Oh, wait, yes I can. Zero. What a slap in the face to those who actually died in Iraq. For some cheap political pandering.

    The heroic Beau spent most of his reserve duty time in Iraq continuing to serve as Attorney General of Delaware and running an exploratory committee to run for the Senate seat his father gave up in 2008.

  8. nick flandrey says:

    Looks like they may be trying to catch the official number up to where it should be… and the result for ‘the street’ is bad.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/markets-puke-cpi-sends-rate-hike-odds-soaring 

    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/horrible-brutala-disaster-democrats-shocked-wall-street-reacts-todays-cpi-nuclear-bomb 

    it’s funny.   Pretty much everyone should know the numbers are cooked.   and anyone who shops should know prices are up.   But they pretend the numbers MEAN something because as long as people pretend they do, they do.  Like paper money.   As long as people believe that slip of paper can get you stuff, it will.  Until it won’t.

    So who is outside the casino?  Who is ACTING on the real numbers while the show and the ante on the table continue?

    I’d say that the reports of big money players buying real assets shows where the serious money thinks the future is.   The inveterate gamblers CAN’T stop, but the big guys are buying farmland, rent houses, apartment complexes, even whole subdivisions.

    And bunkers.

    nick

  9. Nick Flandrey says:

    wow, that was weird.   Had to jump thru several hoops to post that comment about CPI coming in higher than expected.    When I hit ‘submit’ it went to the trash.   When I restored it, it went to moderation.   I had to then approve it again to get it to show up.

    I was logged in the whole time too.  

    Very strange.

    n

  10. SteveF says:

    The heroic Beau spent most of his reserve duty time in Iraq continuing to serve as Attorney General of Delaware and running an exploratory committee to run for the Senate seat his father gave up in 2008.

    I dunno, man. Between Beau and Rasputin, I think I’d take Rasputin as a role model. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be known to history as a giant, unkillable sex wizard?

  11. JimM says:

    “The digital plates will be able to display different emergency messages, such as if a vehicle is stolen, or if there’s a local Amber Alert. The plates will also have built-in tracking abilities to help locate stolen cars. Wilson said drivers with privacy concerns will be able to disable the feature on their personal vehicles.”

    https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-10-12/digital-license-plate-california-here-is-how-to-get-one-for-your-car-reviver

    Pay extra to be tracked and accidentally flagged as a car thief or kidnapper. I wonder how soon someone will hack the digital plate system to flag cars as stolen or wanted for an Amber alert. I suspect that real criminals will remove the plates and mount a temporary paper plate instead.

  12. Greg Norton says:

    The heroic Beau spent most of his reserve duty time in Iraq continuing to serve as Attorney General of Delaware and running an exploratory committee to run for the Senate seat his father gave up in 2008.

    I dunno, man. Between Beau and Rasputin, I think I’d take Rasputin as a role model. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be known to history as a giant, unkillable sex wizard?

    Don’t confuse Beau with Hunter as Scranton Joe frequently does.

    The deceased Beau was the “Michael Corleone” of the Biden crime family, the war hero oldest son who was tagged to remain outside the family rackets so he could run for his father’s Senate seat and then President one day down the road.

  13. Ray Thompson says:

    known to history as a giant, unkillable sex wizard

    Already there. But my audience is very small, as in one. But in fairness my audience has nothing else to compare. It’s all relative.

    In other news Social Security is going to see an 8.7% increase in payments. Medicare part B premiums are also dropping about $5.00 in price. My VA benefits will also see a rise. My best guess is that I will be getting about $400+ more a month in government (i.e., taxpayers) money. But I am spending about $500+ a month more on groceries, gasoline and food. And with inflation that money is worth much less than it was a year ago. Thanks Sponge Brain. I have moved further down on the economic scale.

    It may buy Spongey a few votes. Just like college debt relief. The web site will go active in a couple of weeks. But congress has not approved the money. Contrary to popular belief among the intellectually inept with college debt, Spongey does not, and cannot by law, distribute money from the treasury. Federal marijuana pardon? Big deal, most are charged with state offenses. Those are not going away and Spongey cannot pardon those offenses. These promises are all designed to buy votes. Something about a chicken in every pot springs to mind.

  14. drwilliams says:

    @Ray

    You earned your veterans benefits, man. Thanks for you r service. 

    As far as SS, run a quick spreadsheet to take your contributions and figure a modest 3% return above inflation. Let us know when you project getting you contributions back. 

  15. Greg Norton says:

    It may buy Spongey a few votes. Just like college debt relief. The web site will go active in a couple of weeks. But congress has not approved the money. Contrary to popular belief among the intellectually inept with college debt, Spongey does not, and cannot by law, distribute money from the treasury.

    The Progs are going to lose their marbles when they lose the House in a few weeks so expect a bunch of “scorched earth” votes in November. 

    However, I thought that the point of the debt relief proposal was to use some obscure language to bypass Congress on the portion of the student loan paper which does not fund Obamacare. Now wiping that debt out would require an act of Congress if not some really fancy legal maneuvering since Reconciliation was used to pass the bill so we could find out what was in it.

  16. Lynn says:

    No further word from the foundation guys.  I’m assuming we won’t try to do anything this week at this point.  I am frustrated by having to depend on these other guys for stuff I need.

    I am having ten piers put in by Jericho Foundation today at the large office building.  One corner of the 4,300 ft2 building has been slowly sagging since I bought the place eleven years ago.  The charge is $5,000, $500 per pier.  It got suddenly worse this year as we could not open the rear door without extreme effort.

    Now I know why the building foundation is sagging a little.  When they built the the office large building and the office warehouse, they dug out two ponds and built the buildings three foot higher than the prevailing ground height.   So the buildings are sitting on Texas gumbo clay, not sand.  And Texas gumbo clay is not stable. When building a building in Texas, you should really put down two feet of sand first.

  17. Lynn says:

    “Say Your Goodbyes to the Microsoft Office Brand (Sort Of)”

        https://www.pcmag.com/news/say-your-goodbyes-to-the-microsoft-office-brand-sort-of

    “One-time purchases of Office 2021 and Office LTSC plans will still be available, but in the cloud, Office is being replaced by Microsoft 365 branding.”

    I guess that Microsoft is walking away from the home and small business markets who buy software and use it for ten+ years.

  18. Ray Thompson says:

    As far as SS, run a quick spreadsheet to take your contributions and figure a modest 3% return above inflation. Let us know when you project getting you contributions back.

    I cannot get my yearly contributions from SS, only the total contributed. That comes to $128K. Based on 3% yearly interest plus the average inflation over that time of 4% (7% total), compounded monthly for 48 years the amount would increase to $1,051K over the years I have been working. Dividing by my current monthly payment it works out to 29 years before I break even. Probably a little longer because my amount has not been this high the entire 5 years I have been drawing SS. Close enough.

    Based on that I need to only live an additional 24 years to break even and anything beyond that is golden. 95 is my target number.

    Of course this does not take into account what my employers have contributed, which I would have much rather had in my paycheck. But would my employers have done so, taken what they paid into SS into my paycheck instead? For most of them I would say, nope.

    Yes, it is a scam. One that cannot be avoided. Most people would have spent the money and not saved and would have nothing in their retirement years. Living on welfare.

    Would I have saved enough for retirement without SS? Probably but it would certainly be a much different lifestyle than I now have as I would not have SS to augment those dollars.

    Then I look at my wife’s earnings. A tenth of what I have earned. She gets half of my earnings, minus a 25% penalty for drawing early. Her break-even point based on what she paid into SS was reached in less than three years even with inflation and interest factored into the monies paid.

  19. Lynn says:

    “Alex Jones Is ‘Basically Broke for the Rest of His Life’ After Sandy Hook Verdict, Says Former U.S. Attorney”

         https://finance.yahoo.com/news/alex-jones-basically-broke-rest-220717284.html

    “Right-wing conspiracy figure Alex Jones’ company has already filed for bankruptcy protection, and it’s not clear how much of the staggering $965 million verdict reached Tuesday he’ll actually wind up paying to the 15 plaintiffs in the defamation case about his lies about the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting.”

    “Jones plans to appeal the massive monetary damages that a Connecticut jury ordered him to pay, which comes after a judgment against him in August awarding $49.3 million to the family of a Sandy Hook victim in a separate case in Texas.”

    I just don’t think that these outrageous awards are right.  And I suspect that the plaintiffs will never see a dime.  They are trying to blame Alex Jones for the murders of their family members, the guy is a jerk but he did not pull the triggers.

  20. Ray Thompson says:

    They are trying to blame Alex Jones for the murders of their family members, the guy is a jerk but he did not pull the triggers.

    Since when has that been a problem for the legal system? Gun manufacturers are getting sued for events involving their weapons. Weapons legally obtained; all ATF rules followed. Anyone remotely involved regardless of how remotely in an incident gets slammed on the legal table.

    Chap here in Knoxville climbed over a fence, stole a plane, crashed and died He was drunk. His family sued the owner of the plane, the fence company, the airport, the airport fuel company, the maintenance people, the plane manufacturer, the plane tire manufacturer, the company that made the instruments, and any company that made any parts for the plane. Basically, anyone that had ever touched the plane or had been to the airport.

    I think what got Alex in trouble was he personally attacked the family members rather than the event. I also think the jury did not like him, and rightly so. But you don’t punish someone because they are not liked. If that were the case the two weirdos that disrupt here would owe all of us millions.

    I also think the verdict is a dangerous precedent for free speech. Yes, what Alex said was awful and someone should have kicked him in the nuts years ago. The precedent has been set that saying anything about anyone can land a person in legal trouble if the other party chooses to file a lawsuit. Emotional distress, permanent disability because someone else said bad things.

  21. Ray Thompson says:

    One more item on SS. Had my wife not worked at all, made nothing over her life, never contributed to SS, she would still get SS. Half of what I get. Her breakeven point would have been the day she started SS. If I die first she gets 100% of my SS benefit.

  22. MrAtoz says:

    I think what got Alex in trouble was he personally attacked the family members rather than the event.

    This statement is causing me emotional suffering. If you can’t prove it, I am going to sue you. I will also sue Mr. Nick and Mr. Rick for letting you post it here.

    The Jones case is that stupid. We should all sue plugs’ ass off for lying for years. Especially after the Saudi goobermint said he begged them to delay the oil production cuts until after the election.

    I’m suing the World because it is mean and is causing me emotional distress.

  23. paul says:

    Not positive but I think I’ll go with this ASUS 31.5 inch monitor.  

    It has speakers.   A couple of reviewer said the speakers are no good but I figure for the bleeps and bloops from Windows and a random video, good enough.  And if they are truly horrible sounding, I”ll just use the headphone jack on the monitor to feed my current set of Yamahas. … aka just not have sound on the PC like I do now because I almost never turn them on. 

    https://www.newegg.com/asus-vp32aq-31-5-wqhd/p/N82E16824281131

    Same price at Big River:  

    https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-31-5-Monitor-VP32AQ-Adaptive-Sync/dp/B096PS1Z8N?tag=ttgnet-20

    There’s a similar model that does 4K.  About $100 more.  I don’t need or want 4K.  I just want a larger screen. Also known as having 1920×1200 on a larger screen.  call it “The Large Type Edition” of a book. 

    There’s a lot of interesting monitors and then, nope, no speakers.  Someone said I might need to buy a TV.  I don’t want the tuner.  I have a metal roof, rabbit ears won’t work.  We used a 26″ Vizio for a monitor, it was fine picture wise.  Turned off when the PC went to sleep.  Wake the PC and then fumbling for the TV’s power switch was a nuisance.   Huge, too. Inch and a half frame around the screen and the TV is almost three inches thick…. eat your desk space.

  24. Rick H says:

    Someone said I might need to buy a TV.  I don’t want the tuner.

    The ‘tuner’ is just another input on the TV. Separate inputs for HDMI and other inputs. If the only signal is to HDMI from the PC, then you’ll get the PC screen on the TV when you turn it on. It may be that the TV will remember that the last ‘live’ input was HDMI, so will use that when it turns on.

    Other inputs might (or might not) be used – perhaps from your cable system, perhaps a DVR, satellite box, etc. 

    PC on first, then TV, and you should get the PC screen on the TV without further button-pushing.

  25. Ray Thompson says:

    This statement is causing me emotional suffering. If you can’t prove it, I am going to sue you.

    You ain’t getting snot from me you legal leach. Everything is in my wife’s name. I am penniless. You just want money to pay for that new Apple watch. See you in court buckeroo. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

    The Jones case is that stupid.

    Agreed. As you so colorfully stated, you could sue me, Nick, and anyone else on this board for offending you. Even what I posted above you could state caused you mental distress and permanently disabled.

  26. brad says:

    The plates will also have built-in tracking abilities to help locate stolen cars. Wilson said drivers with privacy concerns will be able to disable the feature on their personal vehicles.”

    They are counting on most people *not* disabling them. Either because “I have nothing to hide”, or because they can’t be bothered, or because they can’t figure out how to jump through all the technical hoops required.

    Surveillance by default. Government loves it.

    Also: If you turn off the tracking, it can certainly be turned back on remotely, without your knowledge. And will be, either by accident or by design. You know, the same way that Windows privacy settings occasionally get reset…

    the staggering $965 million verdict

    I don’t know much about Alex Jones, but it doesn’t matter. The verdict is idiotic, simply a joke, since he has nowhere near that amount of money. All the court has done is ensure that he has nothing to loose by playing “scorched earth”. Since his money will be gone regardless, he can freely spend it on appeals, making sure that there is nothing left in the end.

  27. Greg Norton says:

    I just don’t think that these outrageous awards are right.  And I suspect that the plaintiffs will never see a dime.  They are trying to blame Alex Jones for the murders of their family members, the guy is a jerk but he did not pull the triggers.

    The family members know they won’t see anything, but they’ve been paid off for their cooperation.

    An example is being made of Alex Jones and any like-minded individual who lives within the jurisdiction of the Federal court district and its potenial jury pool based in Downtown Austin. Yes, for now, Texas is red, but Travis County is Prog territory.

    Jones isn’t alone. The Williamson County Sheriff was effectively deposed in 2020 by a last minute indictment prior to the election by the Travis State Attorney. City, county and Federal level Prog court antics.

    It was Sheriff Chody who caught the Austin bomber in Round Rock, not the Austin PD or incompetent Travis Sheriff, in whose jurisdiction most of the explosions took place. APD SWAT was allowed to do the take down as a courtesy, but the suspect blew himself up. That stuck in somone’s craw.

  28. SteveF says:

    As you so colorfully stated, you could sue me, Nick, and anyone else on this board for offending you.

    Not me. I’m so inoffensive that it’s actually kind of offensive to any normal person … which describes none of you.

  29. Lynn says:

    One more item on SS. Had my wife not worked at all, made nothing over her life, never contributed to SS, she would still get SS. Half of what I get. Her breakeven point would have been the day she started SS. If I die first she gets 100% of my SS benefit.

    Social Security and Social Security Disability are the world’s biggest Ponzi scheme ever.  Ponzi would be proud.

  30. Lynn says:

    The Jones case is that stupid.

    Agreed. As you so colorfully stated, you could sue me, Nick, and anyone else on this board for offending you. Even what I posted above you could state caused you mental distress and permanently disabled.

    The courts in the USA are so bad that I can sue you for breathing my air.

  31. Lynn says:

    BTW, it is beginning to look like I am going to get sued over this road.  The seller has reputedly hired a lawyer and sold the property to a subdivision builder.  He is going to need to run a thousand or more dump trucks up and down my road to fill in the land so they can build 40 or 50 luxury homes. Maybe the subdivision developer will give me five million for my property.

  32. EdH says:

    @Paul: This is what I have used for the last year or so:

    https://www.walmart.com/ip/TCL-43-Class-4-Series-4K-UHD-HDR-LED-Smart-Android-TV-43S434/642036313
     

    It works reasonably well with my (Intel) 2018 Mac Mini. It was cheaper than buying a 2nd 27” monitor and usb-to-hdmi adapter (the mini only has one hdmi out). 
     

    I have never used the ”smart“ part,  never attached an Ethernet cable or given it my wifi password, I just use the one-way HDMI input port. 

  33. Greg Norton says:

    BTW, it is beginning to look like I am going to get sued over this road.  The seller has reputedly hired a lawyer and sold the property to a subdivision builder.  He is going to need to run a thousand or more dump trucks up and down my road to fill in the land so they can build 40 or 50 luxury homes. Maybe the subdivision developer will give me five million for my property.

    Who is the big Subcontinent employer out your way? That’s the demographic who absolutely must have a new home and drives the sprawl out of Austin up towards Burnet.

    I thought HPE was going to abandon the old Compaq campus.

  34. CowboyStu says:

    Social Security and Social Security Disability are the world’s biggest Ponzi scheme ever.  Ponzi would be proud.

    I remember an ultra-conservative voice that said a lot of retired folks down in Florida who were financially scared now referred to it as “Antisocial Insecurity”.

  35. Lynn says:

    “Parkland school shooter spared from execution for killing 17”

        https://apnews.com/article/parkland-shooter-jury-recommendation-live-updates-15c5121be1b8b7a73b85607d602e6ba2

    I do not understand this and other juries, “he had a difficult childhood”.

    Somebody will kill him in prison when they put him in general population.

    Hat tip to:

       https://www.drudgereport.com/

  36. Geoff Powell says:

    @lynn:

    Somebody will kill him in prison when they put him in general population.

    But that won’t be the Fed killing him.

    G.

  37. Robert "Bob" Sprowl says:

    Lynn:  Get a permit to add a building and septic tank on or right next the the easement.  A manufactured home can be put in place almost overnight. 

  38. Ray Thompson says:

    I do not understand this and other juries, “he had a difficult childhood”.

    It’s the same mantra as every thug killed in the hood. “He be a good child dat not harm no one and would gives people da shirt oft tis back”. Meanwhile the deceased thug has a significant criminal record, does nothing in school, hangs out with the drug crowd, gang tattoos on his neck, lives in the projects, single mother with 18 different fathers. Yeh, right, a real pillar of the community.

  39. Ray Thompson says:

    I do not understand this and other juries, “he had a difficult childhood”.

    I might add that I was abused as a child from the time I was 7 years old. By my aunt and uncle. I was physically beaten resulting in bruises and cuts that bled. I was sexually abused with bizarre behavior by my uncle. I was mentally abused by both of them. I was denied food, made to sit in the cold until I had frost bite. I was attacked by my uncle on multiple occasions with his fists. Never was I told I did anything correct and always criticized for any accomplishment.

    I wrote a 55-page document about the abuse and made certain the neighbors and surviving family members got a copy. I wrote it while the aunt and uncle were still alive, kept it to myself until after they passed.

    Yeh, right, difficult childhood. Been there, done that, turned out OK by most metrics. It might not have happened had things been different.

    Surprisingly, I was better off with my aunt and uncle than I would have been with my mother or father. After the parents’ divorce, she was man hungry and spent many nights out somewhere not returning until morning. Male guests were not uncommon with much grunting, oohs, aahs , oh yehs after TV signed off for the night. Father was too busy with his hobbies, friends and sluts to care. In fact, one of those sluts that was shared by other members of the sheriff’s department was the catalyst for the end of his career.

    My parents basically gave me away as I was not a wanted child. Eleven months after my older brother was born I showed up. I think my parents were humping in the hospital within hours after my older brother was born.

    Had I stayed with one of them I would have been lacking adult supervision. I started getting into trouble when I would go visit my parents for a month at a time. If that had been full time I would have wound up in prison, one of the street thugs. With my aunt and uncle the farm kept me busy, away from town, and provided supervision. Abuse was a way of life though, and I thought it was mostly normal.

  40. Greg Norton says:

    Vantucky on the national wires.

    I’ll admit to voting for Jaime Herrera-Beutler … once. After that, she kept the seat RINO using sympathy for her child who was the first baby in the US to survive being born without kidneys.

    The problem for the Congresswoman is that the child received a kidney and does normal kid things now. Voting for Impeachment was stupid, even in that district.

    Nice. The Dem owns a small business … in Portland and has Oregon roots. I doubt she’s a carpetbagger, however, because the hipsters moving to my neighborhood on the WA State side of the river in search of better schools was a pretty common story when we lived there.

    https://www.ksat.com/news/politics/2022/10/12/impeachment-vote-gives-dems-chance-at-washington-house-seat/

  41. Nick Flandrey says:

    Well, ok then.   Stopped at the Habitat reStore and scored 11 doors for $120 including tax.   They will replace all the flat, builder grade interior doors at the lakehouse.   Normally a 6 panel hollow core door is about $75 new.    They were donated, and the manager did a bulk discount so they wouldn’t have to bring them back inside the store.   I damaged one strapping them down to the truck but glue will fix it.  Nice bit of serendipity.

    n

  42. Lynn says:

    Wow, it is pouring rain over here, west of the Brazos river. We were only suppose to get 0.01 inch of rain today, we are way past that.

    I am wondering how much water is going to waiting for the foundation guys in their foxholes in the morning.

  43. Nick Flandrey says:

    Ah shoot.   D1 is feverish, and has headache and bodyaches.   101, 100, and 99 when I swiped her.   She’s in bed.

    I really can’t afford a bad cold or flu right now.

    n

  44. Nick Flandrey says:

    @lynn, thanks for the heads up.  I went out and tarped the truck.   Still and oppressive here, with lightning flashes but no rain yet.  We were forecast for a token amount around 10pm, but I wasn’t going to tarp…

    n

  45. Greg Norton says:

    @lynn, thanks for the heads up.  I went out and tarped the truck.   Still and oppressive here, with lightning flashes but no rain yet.  We were forecast for a token amount around 10pm, but I wasn’t going to tarp…

    Austin had nada. Forecast is over an inch for the weekend. We’ll see.

  46. Lynn says:

    It may buy Spongey a few votes. Just like college debt relief. The web site will go active in a couple of weeks. But congress has not approved the money. Contrary to popular belief among the intellectually inept with college debt, Spongey does not, and cannot by law, distribute money from the treasury. Federal marijuana pardon? Big deal, most are charged with state offenses. Those are not going away and Spongey cannot pardon those offenses. These promises are all designed to buy votes. Something about a chicken in every pot springs to mind.

    Spongey does spend all the money from the Treasury, he is the executive.  But, Spongey does not allocate the money to be spent, that is Congress by the USA Constitution.  And all spending bills must originate in the House, also per the USA Constitution.

    On the federal college debt, there is a hook.  All of the money for the federal college debt has been spent already, it was given to the student or the University or College when they applied for it.  The real question is, can Spongey forgive that debt ?  He thinks he can by his pardon capability.  He may not be wrong.

  47. Lynn says:

    Ah shoot.   D1 is feverish, and has headache and bodyaches.   101, 100, and 99 when I swiped her.   She’s in bed.

    I really can’t afford a bad cold or flu right now.

    n

    Or does D1 have the Koof ?  Did D1 have the Koof also when you had it earlier ?  

  48. Ray Thompson says:

    On the federal college debt, there is a hook.  All of the money for the federal college debt has been spent already, it was given to the student or the University or College when they applied for it.  The real question is, can Spongey forgive that debt ?  He thinks he can by his pardon capability.  He may not be wrong.

    Interesting perspective that I had not considered.

  49. Nick Flandrey says:

    Neither child tested positive while I had it, or later when my wife did.   D1 has a friend at school out sick with similar symptoms.

    Chills, fever, aches, sore throat.  I guess we’ll pop a test tomorrow before heading out.

    n

  50. Alan says:

    >> How much more dependent am I on the bigger picture, society in general, for all my needs?   More than I’m comfortable with, that’s for sure.  They whole point of prepping is to reduce your dependence on others, to have backups to the “other controlled” aspects  of day to day life.   Disasters break those aspects of our lives, whether they be personal, or regional, or national, or global.   And we prep to minimize the effects when those dependencies break.

    Going to see my grandkids in a couple of weeks and that got me thinking about what to stack in the event – okay, I’ll wait a minute while you get the kids out of the room – that the internet is down for any extended period of time, whether it be a natural or man-made disaster. Many kids will get bored pretty fast after they’ve been staring at blank screens on their phones for not too long, and possibly no television either. So make sure you have books, decks of playing cards, favorite board games, jigsaw puzzles, arts/craft supplies, a tub of Legos, etc. And probably all of the above can be picked up for pennies on the dollar at most thrift stores.

  51. Alan says:

    >> @brad, If you are typical, you will be busier in retirement than you were when working.

    +1 (at least for those in the US) for the time it takes to figure out all your Medicare options. It can be its own part-time job.

    I know it’s been noted before but worth repeating, if you choose ‘regular’ Medicare and are considering a Medicare supplement plan, you only have this one opportunity to start coverage without having to account for pre-existing conditions.

  52. Greg Norton says:

    On the federal college debt, there is a hook.  All of the money for the federal college debt has been spent already, it was given to the student or the University or College when they applied for it.  The real question is, can Spongey forgive that debt ?  He thinks he can by his pardon capability.  He may not be wrong.

    Interesting perspective that I had not considered.

    The problem is that a mechanism already exists in the Student Loan program under the pardon authority, Borrower Defense. Those cases used to be rare, but the appeal process has seen increased use in the last decade, particularly by nursing students at “for profit” institutions shut down by the Government before they completed sufficient classroom credits to sit for the exam for their license.

    I don’t see the debt forgiveness actually happening.

  53. Nick Flandrey says:

    ITT tech students had tuition refunds, or loan forgiveness just recently.  I heard it on the radio while driving.

    n

  54. drwilliams says:

    Fun Facts on Lithium Mining:

    The mining process releases 15,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions for every ton of lithium that is extracted.

    It takes approximately 500,000 gallons of water to produce one ton of lithium.

    Chile’s Salar de Atacama is one of the driest places on Earth, yet the mining companies are allowed to use up 65% of the region’s water.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/10/13/lithium-mining-for-electric-vehicles-is-incredibly-destructive-to-the-environment-and-about-as-far-from-green-as-you-can-imagine/

  55. Alan says:

    >> However, I thought that the point of the debt relief proposal was to use some obscure language to bypass Congress on the portion of the student loan paper which does not fund Obamacare. Now wiping that debt out would require an act of Congress if not some really fancy legal maneuvering since Reconciliation was used to pass the bill so we could find out what was in it.

    It appears they’re looking to do this using the (9/11) HEROES act.

  56. Lynn says:

    “04 Mar 2022 The 2030 Self-Driving Car Bet” by Jeff Atwood

    “It’s my honor to announce that John Carmack and I have initiated a friendly bet of $10,000* to the 501(c)(3) charity of the winner’s choice:”

    By January 1st, 2030, completely autonomous self-driving cars meeting SAE J3016 level 5 will be commercially available for passenger use in major cities.

    “I am betting against, and John is betting for.”

    I side with Jeff.

  57. Greg Norton says:

    I guess that Microsoft is walking away from the home and small business markets who buy software and use it for ten+ years.

    The home market already shifted to Google Docs. Blame the schools.

    I keep a copy of Office 2007 installed to do a final formatting pass on my resume and write the *.doc file. Otherwise I use LibreOffice Writer on all of my operating systems.

  58. Lynn says:

    “Google Docs will soon let you embed other apps into your documents”

        https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/11/23398294/google-docs-app-embeds-api-chips-canvas

    “The @ symbol is about to become the most important feature in Google Docs. As Google continues to invest in making Workspace a more connected and powerful platform, it’s also opening Docs up to third-party developers in a big way. Going forward, all you’ll need to type is “@” and the name of a file or app you’re looking for, and you’ll be able to see and edit it from within Google Docs.”

    Here we go again with COM.  Then COM2, then OLE, etc, etc, etc.

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