Warmer than Houston, and damp, but still chilly. Had a nice clear day to get my stuff up here, now I need one to unload.
Made all my appointments yesterday, but by the skin of my teeth. The Uhaul reservation had the wrong pickup time, so that was a challenge. Then their checkin system now needs pix of everything, including me “for their facial recognition system” so they “can tell who’s driving”… with pix of the DL and a scan of the data fields on the back. And 15 opportunities to upsell services, and 12000 or more times to be goaded into taking their insurance, which I managed to decline eventually.
One thing I couldn’t do was get my pallet jack on the trailer. Couldn’t get it out of storage. I will be unloading the stone piece by piece I guess. Not the first time, as mentioned before. Just takes a bit longer.
I am supposed to meet with a driver and a gas truck in the morning. Maybe leaving a message that I’d hook up BBQ bottles prodded them along. Whatever, as long as they fill the tank, and we can work something out about the pipe. All this ‘provide your own infrastructure’ business is a pain.
Wife plans to put down flooring in the master bedroom today, and I’ll be doing something, probably electrical and plumbing, but certainly moving stone.
Work. Work. Work. Joy. Joy. Joy. Time to make the donuts…
Stack it up,
nick
Mrs Nick sounds like she is handy. Does she have a background in the trades like you, or is she an enthusiastic amateur? My wife is not handy, so DIY is my task, although she did pitch in with demolition work years ago, which was quite a surprise.
Today’s DIY task is getting a new beverage fridge installed in our laundry / boiler room. It was delivered this morning, prior to which I had freed two electrical sockets and their supply conduit from the wall, so they would not end up unusable behind the new, taller, fridge. There is a slightly raised podium on which the fridge has to stand, but it is slightly too small for the footprint of the new, larger unit, so I have to adapt that and then reinstall the wiring and sockets in an accessible place. Having exposed conduit makes it easy.
Once I get the fridge in and running, I can go back to tidying the garage. Sisyphus laughed…
C++11 had the misfortune to hit just as Python was really picking up momentum with 2.7 so it got lost for a decade or so as developers chased Hot Skillz. The same thing happened with C++03 adding STL to the standards process (thank you HP) and offering a single, official string class.
(Anyone remember “rope”? Oh, the horror!)
The upside of this “lost” time period was that Bjarne was busy “teaching” and writing his new book without an AT&T logo on the copyright page so he couldn’t muck about with the standards process too much. C++11 introduced genuinely useful new features such as closures and standard shared/unique pointers.
Now that we are in a language/performance cul de sac, everyone is looking for a way out. Facecrack has some kind of C++ as scripting language with dynamic compilation that they use internally, based on their LLVM platform, which may see the light of day at some point.
And there is still a lot of other work to do such as answering the question, “Why do Json libraries still suck so much CPU time, even written in C/C++?”
Wall Street discovered C++ and Boost in the last decade so there may be real progress. Bjarne even worked for Morgan Stanley for a while before deciding to try “teaching” again.
At the last job, C++ was the only way I found to feed Splunk (Hot Skillz) at 640 Mb/s, but the Json libraries were always the brick wall.
I’m still amazed that so-so $50,000 MSRP trucks rolled off of dealers’ lots in the last five years to the point that Ford and Tesla felt comfortable setting the “affordable” base price of their Jesus Trucks at $40,000, even though I doubt one Lightning or Cybertruck will actually be delivered to a retail customer at that price point.
Yeah, 2% paper and F&I magic, but still, the old finance guys’ rules were there for a reason, and how many households have the take home to really afford a $40-50k vehicle depreciating in the driveway. Really afford.
$70k MSRP on a new moderately-equipped F150 with a V8 without inciting riots? Eh. It wouldn’t surprise me.
65F and 93%RH this morning. Gas guy is here, inspecting and pressure testing. They act like using soapy water is high tech skillz… I guess better safe than sorry but what a pain. He’s filling the tank, that’s what matters to me.
Light overcast, maybe it will burn off later.
@denis, the Mrs is indeed pretty handy. Like me, she has a degree in theater from a ‘hands on’ program. That means that like me, she spent time training and working in a woodshop, metal shop, costume shop, paint shop, and worked as a theater electrician and stage hand for years. She did touring audio for a national musical theater tour for a year too. She does more electrical engineering for work these days that most trained and credentialed actual engineers.
She does the painting, I do the plumbing, we both do electrical (although I’ve been doing more). She picked the flooring system so she gets to put it in 😛 She takes the apple side of the house, I do the android/pc side.
It’s been working well for 15+ years so far….
Time to make some breakfast.
n
(gas guy filled the tank, and ok’d the inside pipes. Said he’d put us back on the route so I guess I’m not worried about the supply line anymore. I will wait to hear from the supervisor about that though before I relax.)
i just built a new F150 XLT with options I would require. 4×2, V8, max trailer tow, no high equipment package. That came to almost 58K. Absolutely insane. You Can’t get leather until you step up to the Lariat, which starts at 57K.
Of course, part of the problem is adjusting my mind to the new cost of things. I bought a new Honda in 2009 for 29k out the door. That is right around 40K in todays dollars. I think I’ll keep my current car for a few more years, or until something major breaks,
I just can’t believe the flags at half-mast for…what…the only person killed was Ashley Babbit. Scum like plugs keep saying 5 police officers died that day. Just despicable.
Oh yes they do. They caused people to rot in jail for years now. Forced them to confess to crimes. Put in jail for offenses that would only bring a small fine to regular dirt people.
Think any of us dirt people would get this treatment:
Judicial Watch: Air Force Records Reveal Tens of Thousands of Taxpayer Dollars Spent to House Ashli Babbitt Shooter and His Pet for Several Months in ‘Distinguished Visitor Suite’ at Joint Base Andrews
We’d get three squares and a cot in the back of Barney Fife’s jail.
Dirt People would go to Marion, like where they sent that dangerous, threat-to-humanity criminal mastermind Jim Bakker.
An Accord? Yes, that would be $40k easy today, and I imagine you got the 6 cylinder, which is no longer available due to Uncle.
You also avoid the oil dilution problems which have plagued Honda on their turbo charged engines as of late, but, to be fair, I’ve never heard an incident where the company failed to try to make things right, especially for original owners. Even my partner at the Death Star, who bought an Odyssey with a bad transmission from a buy-here-pay-here lot, received an offer of a new transmission on a parts-only deal.
He declined the deal. Stupid.
Yep – a v6, 6 speed manual coupe. Fun car!
Still overcast but a couple of degrees warmer.
Had a cup of coffee with the wife on the dock, had some breakfast. Threw the lines in the water until I lost a big lure to line breakage… can’t avoid work any longer.
n
Inflation? Judge for yourself. In January 1965, I bought the only new car I have ever had, a VW Beetle. I needed a car quickly because my car was totaled in an unfortunate accident (I guess all are unfortunate.) Used Beetles were beat up (rust belt,) and only slightly less expensive, so why not. It cost me $1804 total, including registration. I was able to finish college, and sold it for $1500 just under four years later. Total maintenance was a muffler, a used battery, and a bunch of oil changes. Oil was 30 cents a quart in bulk, and it only takes 2.5 quarts. This was the cheapest car per mile, including depreciation and all expenses, I have ever owned.
Just a few years earlier, a new Beetle had a waiting period of 18 months. I knew a guy who put in an order for a new one when he picked up his ordered one. He sold his used ones privately for a profit. Times sure have changed.
BTW, I have had three Beetles, and might eventually own more, though I really want a Karmann Ghia.
News that’ll interest the engineers here: Riddle solved: Why was Roman concrete so durable?.
Doing errands today, I heard a caller on Car Pro with a 2021 $54k Silverado 2.7L turbo pickup in the driveway, trying to decide whether to get rid of the vehicle now, still owing$40k after two years.
I’ll bet that’s a six year loan, probably more.
F&I magic.
People will pay $70k in a few years and not blink, regardless of what they can really afford. The sky seems to be the limit with trucks.
To their credit, the hosts were diplomatic. I would have been shouting “Run. Today.”
The arrogance of modern man… that’s the answer.
– how many other places has that attitude kept us from knowledge? “Oh, there’s something we don’t understand, but we’re the shinizzle, so it must be because those other guys didn’t know what they were doing” despite the evidence that they DID know…
n
How many public works projects in the US get concrete from Vinnie’s Cousin Who Knows a Guy Inc?
Of course, after the fall of Rome, it was called a “dark age” for a reason.
Dr. Pournelle freqently defined a “dark age” as not only forgetting how to do a certain thing but forgetting that we could do such a thing to begin with.
After reading the article, my first question about the concrete formulation is what direction the CO2 flows – into the matrix or out into the air. In the case of the latter, the formula would be banned immediately.
@JimB
Buy two so you have parts.
Wow! $140. What to splurge on. That’s about what my SoCall gas bill was last month. OTH the wife spent $300 at the grocery store yesterday.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/first-increased-social-security-payments-year-arriving-wednesday-average-recipient-get-extra-140/
My water bill last month was $135.00. Just the wife and me. Water, plus sewer which runs twice what the water costs. EPA got involved and the water discharged from the treatment plant must be clean enough to drink. Then discharged into the lakes so the fish and other aquatic life can crap and piss in the water.
@Greg Norton
Cement is made with large amounts of limestone (mostly calcium carbonate) which is calcined at high temperature, liberating the CO2 to produce quick lime (calcium oxide).
Adding water to the dry cement mix hydrates the lime to produce slaked lime (calcium hydroxide). Calcium hydroxide reacts with CO2 in the atmosphere to reconstitute the original limestone.
(The above is simplified (see article). There are several chemical reactions that take place as concrete sets and then cures. Some of these reactions continue for years, far beyond the commonly cited “30 days” for concrete to cure.)
Ask anyone that works with concrete if they would rather jackhammer a 30-day-old mistake or a slab that’s 30 years old. Same goes for plaste.))
The key to Roman cement was the pozzolans. In modern concrete technology several other materials can be used for the same purpose. The two most common are silica fume and metakaolin)
“Previously disregarded as merely evidence of sloppy mixing practices, or poor-quality raw materials”
phhht!
The Romans constructed with concrete and stone. They did not have wrought iron or steel in quantities sufficient for construction projects. Appearance of so-called “poor practice) artifacts from more than one location over time would strongly indicate purpose. Dr. Masic’s instrinct were absolutely correct.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add1602
Nice to have publicly-funded research not behind a paywall.
Hot mixing is not unknown in modern concreting–it is preferred for placing concrete in cold weather.
This is the latest research in an area that goes back at least twenty years. It will be interesting to see if there are commercial applications offered. I knew some of the people involved with metakaolin research 30 years ago. Unfortunately, most of these things remain expensive as niche applications, not only because of the low-end “Vinnie’s Cousin Who Knows a Guy Inc” version, but because there are so many formula variations with the dozens of concrete admixtures already available. Ramachandran’s handbook is almost thirty years old and was nearly 1200 pages.
The SS between the wife and I went up $330.00 a month. VA benefits climbed $115.00 a month. An additional $445.00 a month for both of us. As was posted, groceries, gas, utilities, insurance, vehicle maintenance, normal living stuff went up about $600.00 a month. I am losing ground.
I need to get another 10% additional rating on my VA stuff. That would be an extra $300.00 a month. But most importantly, getting to 70%, if I have to go into a nursing home for skilled care, the VA will pay 100% of that cost. However, I fear the facility would have to be VA approved which may mean the place is a dump. VA care has improved over the years. Maybe by the time I am nursing home material the care will have improved further.
I have done that. I have a rare car, and had the opportunity to get an identical one minus engine and transmission for free, delivered. If I ever need body parts, I am good. Living in a rust-free area is great. The spare looks like it lived outside, so all the soft stuff is shot, but all the sheet metal and most of the glass are OK, as are numerous other things like power seat and window motors. Engines and transmissions are still plentiful. My good one is a Condition 3 car, which means it is complete, runs and looks like a new car to a casual observer. It is a keeper.
Ghias and Beetles are plentiful enough that I wouldn’t need a parts car. They will be around long after I am gone. Finding one that is original and in excellent condition is also possible, although I would want a driver, just for the fun of it. Wouldn’t turn down a really good one if the price was right. These are fun cars for local driving. Just don’t expect to drive long distances in hot weather in comfort. AC, when available, was never good.
Reminds me. I almost bought a four cylinder Porsche 914 that was fully restored, but still a driver. The owner did all the work himself, and I knew him well enough that I would trust his work. The car was gorgeous. As part of the deal, he insisted I go along with him to an auto swap meet, about 120 miles away. I drove it most of that day. Its highway characteristics soured me, and I politely declined to buy it. Probably the right decision, but it sure was a beautiful car. If it had been the six cylinder engine, I would probably have bought it.
Also, speaking of fours and sixes… I was at a VW dealership in 1966, waiting for an oil change (winter in Iowa was no time to do outdoor oil changes.) A salesman insisted I take a Porsche 912 for a test drive. Hey, why not? It was not much fun at all. Although it was a lot more expensive than my Beetle, it didn’t have enough better performance to even consider it. Now, if that had been a 911… No, not on what I was making as a college student. Years later, I still don’t want any Porsche. Sometimes wisdom comes with age. Not to step on any Porsche-lovers’ toes: air cooled Porsches are nice cars, but do take expensive parts. Fortunately, not Ferrari expensive, but not Beetle affordable. A man’s got to know his limits.
Ghias are rare enough in my area to cause my head to turn. And I’ll never forget a neighbor ca 1970 that had an accident and waited months for body parts from Germany.
caution: have a barf bag handy:
https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/01/radical-gender-ideology-has-invaded-south-dakota/
The medical conferences are usually scheduled several years in advance, and, going back to January 2020, only South Dakota stood firm on not shutting down the state for the Covid boondoggle.
Initially, Florida locked down, but DeSantis quickly backtracked that decision. The damage to the convention business was done, however, and this Spring will be the first year since 2019 that my wife’s board cerifying body’s most significant annual conference, which rotates through Orlando coinciding with big openings at Eisney or Universal, will have an in-person event anywhere in the country.
I’m going along to ride the Tron roller coaster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taeucixxrdM
“Star Wars”? Meh.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/01/the_differential_diagnosis_on_damar_hamlins_broken_heart.html
I’m not an MD. But I’ve thought from the beginning that the combination of
a) the force-broadening nature of modern football pads and the off-center strike, and
b) the long time it took to re-establish heartbeat
made commotio cordis unlikely.
The only reason we may find out is if Hamlin files a lawsuit if he is unable to resume playing.
I consider a lawsuit doubtful. I would place good odds that there has already been a representative of the vaccine manufacturers setting up communications just in case they need to make an offer of large amounts of hush money.
Unless Hamlin received one of the commercial variants of the vaccines, he has no basis for a suit against the manufacturers. The EUA protects Moderna and Pfizer from liability.
OTOH, a case could be made for suing the NFL, his workplace who mandated the jabs as a condition for continued employment.
Corporate America will go bankrupt from lawsuits over forced vaccinations if something is proven to be wrong with the vaccines. Providing cover for the C-suites was the whole reason for Biden’s large employer mandate which the Old School Marm shut down.
Hey SteveF, over a Mike’s place you say “Frankly, I’m not it can be fixed, not within a generation or a lifetime.”.
Missing a word?
I’m still amazed that so-so $50,000 MSRP trucks rolled off of dealers’ lots in the last five years to the point that Ford and Tesla felt comfortable setting the “affordable” base price of their Jesus Trucks at $40,000, even though I doubt one Lightning or Cybertruck will actually be delivered to a retail customer at that price point.
Yeah, 2% paper and F&I magic, but still, the old finance guys’ rules were there for a reason, and how many households have the take home to really afford a $40-50k vehicle depreciating in the driveway. Really afford.
$70k MSRP on a new moderately-equipped F150 with a V8 without inciting riots? Eh. It wouldn’t surprise me.
It won’t be $70K for a new moderately equipped F-150. It will be $80K or $90K when the sales are cut in half. There are certain fixed costs in the vehicle factories that must be spread out over the vehicles produced.
Yah. Dropping words and not noticing despite checking it five times is one of my specialties. Leaving out a “not” and giving the summary statement the opposite meaning of all of the supporting paragraphs is a particular favorite.
Misplaced commas are another specialty. I don’t remember the details and have been unable to recreate the unintentional masterpiece, but a comma in the wrong place moved a phrase to the wrong clause and made it sound like I support drunk driving and don’t care about anyone who’s killed by a drunk. This kicked off a great brawl, starting with those who claimed to have lost a relative to a drunk driver*. The brawl included but was not limited to calling me a literal nazi who should be banned from that forum. If I’d been trolling, I’d have leaned back with a satisfied smirk, but no, it was just a typo.
* Which, in fact, I have.
i just built a new F150 XLT with options I would require. 4×2, V8, max trailer tow, no high equipment package. That came to almost 58K. Absolutely insane. You Can’t get leather until you step up to the Lariat, which starts at 57K.
You forgot the 4×4 package, I would not buy an F-150 without 4×4, I use it often in the mud around here. Was that the Super Crew chassis ?
The MSRP on my 2019 F-150 4×4 Super Crew XLT with max tow package was $54K. I paid $40K plus TT&L.
Leather, full time 4WD, and the Raptor engine (another 100 hp) add another $20K. Not worth it but enjoyable.
BTW, you won’t be able to buy the v8 engine as of 2025. The dual turbo V6 gets 3 to 4 mpg better with better performance.
‘zactly
At least until the manufacturers are stripped of their protection after the courts find that they colluded in the suppression of other treatments.
And only 30% less lifetime.
>> BTW, I have had three Beetles, and might eventually own more, though I really want a Karmann Ghia.
Here’s a sweet KG…but not for sale AFAIK.
https://www.73ghia.com/?p=3496
Probably in the $250K neighborhood to recreate.
And only 30% less lifetime.
That’s a rumor but probably true. I doubt that any biturbo v6 motor pulling 2 hp/in3 is going to last longer than 150,000 miles, even properly maintained. Especially with frequent runs to the redline as I am wont to do. After all, I drive it like I stole it.
Plus, I have serious doubts that the 10 speed automatic is going to last past 150,000 miles too. Just too complicated, too many failure points.
My 2005 5.4L three valve V8 lasted 210,000 miles before breaking a timing chain (one of two). But the four speed automatic only lasted 190,000 miles. I put a Ford rebuilt into it.
Got my stone unloaded. Manually. 3000# moved one piece at a time. Took a couple hours working slow and carefully.
Floor is mostly down in the master. Just one more row, but needs a bunch of cuts and it was past dinner time so that got pushed to tomorrow.
I have to say, I’m beat.
Maybe we’ll play one game of Rumicub and go to bed early… or not.
n
Ah should be Rummikub…
Kid is watching Clue again to see the alternate ending. Brilliant character acting, madcap slapstick…
n
Jordan Peterson ordered to re-education, not a camp yet, but pretty clear.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/ontario-governing-body-psychologists-demands-re-education-jordan-peterson
n
Nice result, but a lot of work, err labor of love. I have done smaller projects, enough that I don’t want any more. I have a couple waiting now, but they don’t need body work. If I had something in need of paint or worse, I might turn it into a rat rod. I am just a little bored with shiny stuff.
Too bad that KG started out as a really rusty car. Took a lot of extra work. Since I left rust country, I have decided to shop very carefully. As a result, most of my cars have been completely rust-free, plus they are free of sun damage, the primary problem here. These are hard to find, and sometimes go for a premium, but they are cheaper in the long run. Like people who live in cold or rust country, we have folks here who only take some cars out on nice days.
I have two cars that have been garaged their whole lives, and were not used for commuting. One is a 94, and the other is a 68. They are in very good condition for their age. I intend to keep them that way. They are rarely parked in the sun, and only driven during nice weather.
Such cars can be found, but it takes some patience. A friend knew I liked old Mopars, and showed me the 68, back in 1981. I asked him for first right of refusal, and was able to buy it in 1983. I have promised my 94 to a friend who already bought an older car from me. We are a close-knit community.
One problem is that we used to have informal “lemon lots” around town. The car dealers always get the police to close them down. I wish someone with a vacant lor or two would allow this. As long as there is permission, the police can’t do anything. It is fun to look at the cars that show up on these lots. We also have a couple of independent resellers, but they only deal in cars less than a few years old. If I go to the LA area, there are specialty lots that only deal in certain kinds of cars. One example is rods and customs. The problem with this is usually not being able to talk to the previous owner. There is also a lot of sophisticated fraud. Buyer beware.
“White House Delays Refill Of Strategic Oil Reserve, Balks At “Too Expensive” Offers”
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/white-house-delays-refill-strategic-oil-reserve-balks-too-expensive-offers
You know, this looks like a plan…
>> We’d get three squares and a cot in the back of Barney Fife’s jail.
It’s actually Sheriff Andy’s jail and if you’re lucky the meals are Aunt Bea’s home cooking.
>> The only reason we may find out is if Hamlin files a lawsuit if he is unable to resume playing.
And Hamlin wants to get back to playing, since as everyone knows, lightning never strikes twice.
“Fly to space and back with SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in amazing video”
https://www.space.com/spacex-falcon-9-rocket-transporter-6-video
“Get a rocket’s-eye view of SpaceX’s 200th orbital launch.”
That is amazing.