Cold and clear, but damp. Was cold Thursday morning, and cool most of the day. I did take my jacket off in the afternoon. It was 38F when I went to bed. It’ll probably be around that to start today.
Got very little done on my list yesterday. Did have a lovely lunch with a reader. Long chat took up most of my afternoon, and that was an excellent way to spend the day. It does mean I have a few more things to do today though.
Like a whole bunch of pickups scattered all over the place. I’m going to delay one to Monday for sure, ask about delaying another that is way down south, and hopefully just get one in the neighborhood, and two that are on the west side. I’ve got a list of stuff I need to get at lowes too, which I probably should have gotten yesterday.
Plan is to head up to the BOL later today, catching a pickup in Conroe on the way. That’s gonna take actually leaving the house, and running around all day. Wife and kids will follow after school/work.
Then the work begins! I still have plumbing to do to get the laundry machine drain and supply connected, and as long as the wall is open, I need to get the gas line in too for the dryer. Even if I don’t connect it to the manifold yet, getting it into the wall is important. Wife and kids will be painting. And if I run out of plumbing, I can hang doors, or change out light fixtures, or any of the other things on the list…
The day starts with getting the wife and kids out the door. So that’s first. Then I’ll start my running around.
I’m stacking things. Mostly at the BOL, but I am stacking… you should too.
nick
Get the brass monkeys under shelter. Middle of the country goes in the deep freeze tonight and stays for a week.
That was more of a challenge than usual this morning. I deduce that The Child has been sleeping poorly. Well, suck it up, buttercup. In practical terms, the world isn’t going to bend to deal with your problems. (Despite her mother’s ongoing (and loudly announced as self-sacrificial) attempts to shield the teenager from the world.)
I found two more 28oz cans of tomatoes with “best by” in 2015. Still can’t figure out how they were missed in the Big Reshufflings of early 2018 and mid 2020, but I won’t worry about it. Treat them cautiously before eating, and don’t put them in something my daughter will eat. (That’s not self-sacrificial, it’s just that I have a very robust digestion and immune system and in the past didn’t even notice a problem with food that put the daughter and wife in the bathroom for a day.)
@drwilliams: As indicated in a prior post I installed six of those lights in one section of the basement. Installation was easy. Disconnect the cable to the light. Mount the box to a joist, put in the power wire, connect using the WAGO fasteners, set the color desired. Most difficult part is cutting the hole for the light. Get the special round hole saw sized exactly for the lights. Connect the cable and install the light in the hole by flipping up the spring-loaded clips, shove in the light letting the clips clamp to the tile.
The lights are bright, much brighter than I thought. The use of a dimming switch is mandatory in my case. I could have done just fine with four lights rather than six. I would say a dimming switch is really desired in all installations as it makes for a better lighting experience.
There is no flicker while dimmed, the light is very even and produces a broad pattern of illumination. The lights barely get warm indicating good heat dissipation. I have been pleased with the results.
Off to a private medical facility to have more testing on my shoulder. This is for a claim with the VA. The VA has diagnosed bone spurs and arthritis in the joint. I have applied for disability on the shoulder simply because with the VA a person does not know what the VA will do without applying.
I did not injure the shoulder while in the military. I broke my back. VA considers anything skeletal to be connected. Which was news to me when I had my knee replaced. VA paid for the procedure but said nothing about disability benefits. I only found out by accident when checking on another claim. I got 30% for the knee, which due to VA funny math (you can’t disability on what is disabled) the benefit was only 20%. That was still another $600.00 a month.
I thought I would see about the shoulder. I have no idea what the VA will say whether I will get disability for the shoulder. A person has to apply to know. I am not leaving any money on the table again after having been lied to in the past. That cost me 20 years of benefits. Several thousands of dollars that were left on the table. Ain’t happening again.
35F when I got up, still 35F even with the sun up. Still early I guess.
No breakfast for kids that don’t get out of bed before the bus gets here. The driver is now stopping on her first pass thru the neighborhood, not her last pass. She can be much more accurate with pickup time that way, and we don’t have to spend 20minutes wondering if she was early and we missed her.
Makes it harder to get out the door 15 minutes early though.
Add the cleaning service coming by to my list today. That’s always disruptive to my morning. Guess I better get busy.
n
Thanks, plugs:
EXCLUSIVE: Is WHO preparing for nuclear war? Health body publishes list of medicines for nations to stockpile in case of ‘radiation or nuclear emergency’ as EU warns ‘Russia is at war with the West’
I guess plugs’ PuppetMasters want a nuclear conflict. That will hurry the NWO so a bunch of old WHITEY! dudes, like Klaus and BillyG, can shape Utopia before they croak. “Would you like another WuFlu booster with your soy-rats, citizen?”
What the …
Rust assistant director David Halls is expected to testify AGAINST Alec Baldwin and armorer when they face manslaughter charges – as it’s revealed he denies handing the actor the weapon or calling out ‘cold gun’ on set
This is the exact opposite of what the LSM hawked for over a year. What the h-e-double hockey sticks is going on?
no virgins anywhere he’s headed
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2023/01/27/islamic-terrorist-convicted-death-penalty-depends-on-biden-n526722
They should ask Argentina if they would like to have him.
I have replaced the main junction box for the electrical connections. A contrived contraption in an ungrounded metal box with no strain relief for the wires and no cover for the box. That has been resolved with a new box, proper grounding, and cable strain relief. I used Wago connectors rather standard wire nuts. Definitely much easier than attempting to use wire nuts, especially since one connection, the ground wires, requires five connections.
I got one light installed, replaced the on/off switch with a touch dimmer. The light works. The rest of the four lights will just be attaching the box after determining the location of the light.
The ceiling is hung about 3 inches lower than I would like. It was necessary during the original installation because of the depth of the fluorescent light housings and the need to install the housings. That need is no more but it is not worth removing the entire support structure to gain 3 inches.
The rest of the lights are a project for next Tuesday.
Biden ad “Mr Magoo”?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/cruz-wants-biden-s-senate-records-scoured-for-more-classified-docs-dubs-him-mr-magoo/ar-AA16HP1d
That insults the beloved cartoon character.
If they find classified docs in those 133 pallets, they’re going to call every Democrat that’s been within 20 feet of them in the last 20 years to testify and deny that the ever saw them.
And how many ChiComs are they going to find on the “special access” list?
>> Frequent use of the fast chargers also shortens the lifespan of the battery, but that doesn’t get a lot of press outside of the owners manuals.
Still though covered by the battery warranty:
Most automakers have an 8 to 10-year or 100,000 miles warranty period on electric car batteries. This is because federal regulation in the U.S. mandates that electric car batteries be covered for a minimum of eight years.
However, the terms of the warranty can vary. Some automakers only cover an EV’s battery pack against a complete failure, while automakers like Tesla, Nissan and Volkswagen will honor the warranty if the capacity percentage drops below a specified threshold, typically 60-70 percent, during the warranty period.
Before purchasing any vehicle, it’s best to check the warranty fine print. For example, the Nissan Leaf has a percentage guarantee of approximately 75 percent; however, they use their own measurement units represented in “bars.” A full Leaf battery has 12 bars, and the included battery warranty guarantees it for nine bars of charge.
>> No air filters, oil changes, coolant flushes, or transmission fluid replacement. Plus a lot of new cars with direct injected engines will need to have the carbon build up cleaned out with a manual process.
Of course, a fanboy site like Jalopnik is going to ignore the replacement cost of the battery on an EV.
My employee’s Nissan Leaf Plus has quite a bit of stuff in the front that looks like a radiator, possibly coolant for the electric motor. That big 240 hp electric motor has oil in it that will need to be changed at some point. Not sure about air filters. There is a electric heat pump in the front with piping all over the place which makes it confusing to see what is all there.
Is the electric motor directly coupled to the axles for the wheels ? I think so but am not sure.
The LEAF has a coolant system to cool the motor and the inverter. Its battery pack is air cooled. As the coolant runs at a lower temperature than in an ICE, it has a longer recommended change interval. Only air filter is the cabin air filter. Also on the list is brakes, if you primarily use the ‘e-brake’ (single pedal driving) the brake pads will last almost indefinitely.
The drivetrain of a LEAF is actually very simple. Due to the wide power band (it’s almost flat over most of its range) of the electric motor, a single-speed transmission is all that’s needed. There’s no clutch or torque converter, nor is there any need for it as maximum torque is produced at zero speed. So there’s just a single-speed reduction gear from the motor to the differential, which drives the front wheels in the usual way.
>> When I was growing up every garage and basement shop had a set of metal coffee cans with nails, screws, other fasteners, etc. I remember when the metal lids with a key to remove the seal were replaced by cans with plastic reseal lids and a throwaway sealed lid. A have a set of the latter that I inherited–they were spray painted black but not primed first, and have some chips. I also have a spare set of cans put by when they started phasing them out in favor of the plastic cans.
I have two Pik-A-Nut Pak Assorment cabinets ca. mid-60’s:
https://img1.etsystatic.com/031/0/6334211/il_570xN.564390037_gjzz.jpg
The second doesn’t have the little boxes, and somewhere on the voluminous list of organizing shiite is setting up the second unit with metric (mostly) and a bunch of the standard plastic fasteners…
I can’t tell you how many times over the years that pulling a bolt or nut out of one of those little boxes saved a trip to the hardware store.
My dream has always been to have an entire set of all the drawers covering the Hillman line. Of course, if I could afford that, I probably can afford to hire someone to finish whatever project was missing one final piece of hardware. For now I’ll settle for all of our ACE Hardware stores having them.
https://bid.teitsworth.com/auction/96/item/60
When the True Value Hardware chain sold out I had to seriously restrain myself.
The audio of Paul Pelosi’s 911 call has been released. Kinda makes Plugs seem coherent in comparison.
“Microsoft has laid off entire teams behind Virtual, Mixed Reality, and HoloLens”
https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/microsoft-has-laid-off-entire-teams-behind-virtual-mixed-reality-and-hololens
“HoloLens, Virtual Reality, and Mixed Reality are all but dead at Microsoft.”
Microsoft is essentially saying that Virtual Reality is a niche product, not a mainstream product. And probably a small niche product.
The audio of Paul Pelosi’s 911 call has been released. Kinda makes Plugs seem coherent in comparison.
The video has been released. It is horrible. That was a killing attack. The attacker needs to be put down.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/paul-pelosi-attack-footage-release-police-bodycam-hammer-assault
The LEAF has a coolant system to cool the motor and the inverter. Its battery pack is air cooled. As the coolant runs at a lower temperature than in an ICE, it has a longer recommended change interval. Only air filter is the cabin air filter. Also on the list is brakes, if you primarily use the ‘e-brake’ (single pedal driving) the brake pads will last almost indefinitely.
The drivetrain of a LEAF is actually very simple. Due to the wide power band (it’s almost flat over most of its range) of the electric motor, a single-speed transmission is all that’s needed. There’s no clutch or torque converter, nor is there any need for it as maximum torque is produced at zero speed. So there’s just a single-speed reduction gear from the motor to the differential, which drives the front wheels in the usual way.
I am surprised that the battery cooling fan does not have a air filter. You really do not want debris in the battery pack such as leaves, water, etc.
“Ford Will Pay You $2,500 To Cancel Or Change Your Bronco Order”
https://www.carpro.com/blog/ford-will-pay-you-2500-to-cancel-or-change-your-bronco-order
Oh yeah, there are no supply chain problems out there.
“FBI Secretly Infiltrated Hive Ransomware Group’s Network for 7 Months”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/fbi-secretly-infiltrated-hive-ransomware-groups-network-for-7-months
“The access allowed the FBI to pilfer decryption keys for the group’s ransomware and hand them off to thousands of victims.”
Ok, that is cool.
“Intel Suffers Historically Bad Quarter on Weak PC Demand, Competition”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/intel-suffers-historically-bad-quarter-on-weak-pc-demand-competition
“In Q4, the chip maker suffered a $661 million net loss while revenue plunged by 32% year over year. Q1 is also expected to be rough.”
Might be a good time to get a new PC.
Yes, but as Kia and Hyundai owners I’ve known frequently learned the hard way, the manufacturer is not obligated to put a new drivetrain into the vehicle under the law as long as they can make the warranty repair to get the vehicle moving again.
Intel is still expensive in the retail channel. The PC vendors are stuck with some extremely pricey chips, and, at this point, any laptop without USB-C DP output capability is not going to move without a steep discount.
I’m in INTC at $29.46, but only at the “soda money” level. I don’t drink beer.
It isn’t all about supply chain at Ford for the last year. They’ve been attempting to dramatically increase their profits by offering incentives to up the trim levels across all of the truck line, even the Maverick. The parent company has been getting hosed by the dealers with “ADM”, particularly on the Bronco.
Jerry knows. I heard him give a caller a rundown on how the scheme works a few weeks ago while I was out doing errands.
>> “Microsoft has laid off entire teams behind Virtual, Mixed Reality, and HoloLens”
…
Microsoft is essentially saying that Virtual Reality is a niche product, not a mainstream product. And probably a small niche product.
Will be interesting to see how the layoffs go at Meta when Zuck finally wakes up to the same “reality.”
And I wonder where they’re at with OpenAI?
You may want to read parts of John Carmack’s exit memo from Meta.
And, of course, there’s the simple fact: They had John Carmack, and he gave up on them.
“Who wants an Israeli civil war?”
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-729768
“MIDDLE ISRAEL: Millions feel targeted, collectively and personally, as Israel’s judicial pillars teeter and its political nerves fray.”
So I gather that people do not like Benjamin Netanyahu as the new Prime Minister. I guess that these people forget that all of their surrounding neighbors hate them and their country.
Hat tip to:
https://www.drudgereport.com/
ZeroHedge beat me to it, but …
Just out of curiosity, where are Paul’s pants?
OpenAI wouldn’t do anything for Facebook’s bottom line.
Microsoft is going to rent time on the necessary hardware via Azure, and I imagine Amazon and Google won’t be far behind.
One of the phones was randomly turning off. Hey, If I’m doing tech support, you get the phone I say you get. (actually, no iPhone.)
I had a spare battery. It’s the one that came with my phone. I replaced it because it had just over two days of “sitting around” before it went dead. New battery? Four or five days. Of course along the way I killed a lot of background apps.
Swapped batteries between phones. The cursing has stopped. 🙂
I tried the “bad” battery for a few days. Pick up the phone in the morning and it’s dead. It showed 80% the evening before. Connect the charger and it says ~45% charge. Just ruling out failing hardware. I’m back to my original battery and a hopeful two days between charging.
Two new batteries are on the way, gonna be delivered any day now. All the way from Brooklyn.
Meanwhile, a couple three days later, I ordered another V20. From China. Jan 02, delivered Jan 18.
It’s a brand new phone. An LG V20 for $105 plus sales tax. Crazy. I put my SIM in and it works to make and receive calls. Google is all log in to restore your stuff. Which is very cool.
I’ve lost my train of thought such as it is. There’s a couple of deer grazing in the back yard. Buddy is all “gimme a cookie” and I need to figure out what to make for supper.
Looks like it might rain but who knows.
Ok, I am calling it. The five second rule is hereby extended to ten seconds for the duration of the recession.
Just out of curiosity, where are Paul’s pants?
Paul was supposedly in bed when he heard a noise downstairs.
Made all my pickups and made it to the BOL. Overcast broke up about 20 miles south of here, so it looks like a nice night. Chilly though, 46F by the water.
Wife, kids and dog are about 2 hours away, so I might get the fire going. Hungryman dinner. Spicy chicken, wasn’t very spicy.
So the attacker just waited around for the cops to show, then attacked ?
Weird.
And wrt the AD and Rust, he has previously given statements that he handed off the gun, and said ‘cold gun’. Pinkie wasn’t even in the room, so if he didn’t do it, who did, and why did he take a plea? F#ckery is about.
n
And why was Paul holding a tasty beverage when he answered the door?
No Pants Fridays at Big Kahuna Burger?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONOed9G2qwQ
@lpdbw
Read the comments, too. I’m still working on them.
What if we shut the federal government down for the weekend and just didn’t start it up again?
Having had some conversations with family members recently, it seems unlikely that Ford is going to be the nameplate of choice for any new purchases. That will end a run of 70 years across three generations that started with a new 1952–that turned out to be a lemon and got traded for a new 1953 that had a long and reliable history–and likely ended with a new “2021” that took ten months to get and was delivered well-after the start of the next model year (breaking several “promised” delivery dates along the way.)
We’ll have to sit down and do a count at some point. The core was the Taurus (10-12 all-told) and the F-series pickup. Lots of other models, too, just nothing tiny or obscenely large (no Fiesta, no Excursions or Excessive SUV, no F350 or larger truck).
A large part of it is that the sedans are gone and the F-series pickup as an electric is DOA. (come to find out, the last two pickups were almost a GMC and a RAM). Another part of it is years of tomphukry with bad electrical system design, bad body design (500/Taurus> 6th gen Taurus) , “hidden” warranties (Triton truck engines), and stonewalling what should have been immediate warranty repairs for things that killed people. (No, I’m not talking about some Naderesque idiot claims about 14-cent plastic parts that make a Pinto take a crash like a tank, I’m thinking specifically about the failing relays in millions of their lamp control modules (LCM’s). Driving down the highway and suddenly the headlights are just effing out.)
Things getting downright sporty in the aftermath of the release of police body cam footage showing the beating death of Tyre Nichols. May be a fire sale on Memphis downtown property tomorrow.
All five police officers have been arrested–all five are black.
So somehow this is being blamed on white supremacy.
Protesters at the White House. Maybe Joe will go out and tell stories about Corn Pop and his attendance at a black church where no one remembers him. As the first black president, he should be able to calm them down.
When Clinton (or Gingrich, depending on your politics) shut the federal government down in 1995, no one I knew noticed other than one legal immigrant coworker who needed to renew his visa. Or rather, no one would have noticed if the horror of the shutdown hadn’t been bellowed nonstop from all MSM outlets.
People flip out the moment the signs go up at Yellowstone and at The Smithsonian.
I don’t think that trick had been invented yet. Even today, the public parks and museums concern, what, 1% of the population in any given month? If not for the screechers making sure you know that the Smithsonian has been closed to the public for the past week, would it have any effect on your life?
Oh, I know this one! Sweet, innocent blacks, entirely lacking in agency for their own lives, are constantly oppressed and kept impoverished by evil Whites and that makes them angry, so they lash out against other sweet, innocent, gudboynebberdoneanydingwrong blacks.
Things getting downright sporty in the aftermath of the release of police body cam footage showing the beating death of Tyre Nichols. May be a fire sale on Memphis downtown property tomorrow.
All five police officers have been arrested–all five are black.
So somehow this is being blamed on white supremacy.
That there is what you call a beat down. The idiot assaulted two police officers at his traffic stop and the other officers proceeded to administer a lesson.
Until the 1970s, if you touched a cop in Houston, you got a beat down and then you went swimming in a bayou. If you couldn’t swim with a few broken bones, oh well, the fish out in Galveston Bay needed to be fed.
My prediction is that all five officers will get no-billed and go to work at another police office.
Every male probably needs to watch this instructional video annually from age 12 to age 30. “Chris Rock – How not to get your ass kicked by the police!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj0mtxXEGE8
Three deaths in a month. Pecancorner. My brother. Gerard Van der Leun.
Can the rest of you please hang on for a while? It’s getting hard to take.
And don’t tell me internet friends aren’t real friends. If you’ve been reading people’s life stories for twenty years, they’re real.
Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Requiem”. I’d have that on my marker, except I won’t have one; I’ll be cremated.
But it’ll be a while yet, I guess.
Internet friends are as real as real life friends. Sometimes much more real. Communities of choice and all that …
Headed to bed. Got plumbing to do tomorrow. Gotta be sharp…
n
>> All five police officers have been arrested–all five are
black.blue.So somehow this is being blamed on white supremacy.
F I F Y