Chilly willy here at the BOL. Forecast says freezing tonight, but for sure it’s going to be cold today. I’m hoping for some sun. Yesterday it was cold and wet in Houston. I’m missing the sun.
I did my doctor appointment in the morning, and got two more as a reward… getting older apparently takes more maintenance and poking. Always with the poking.
Grabbed a pickup after lunch. They lost two of my invoices and hadn’t pulled this week’s items, but I did get some of the stuff that I bought for the BOL.
Did a quick grocery run, bought steaks on sale, filled the gas tank, and loaded the truck. Drive up wasn’t too bad, once I got past the Woodlands. Leaving around rush hour added a half hour to my drive though.
Today I’ll sleep in a bit, then finish my electrical work, and get the water hookup in place. Guests should arrive around 4pm. Family much later than that.
If I have any free time, I’ll work the list. That’s the fun part of owning property- you never run out of stuff to do…
No stacking, just working to improve my position…
nick
Good morning!
Snowing here at the BOL, with more to come. It is still at the pretty stage, rather than a nuisance.
Some good news.
Gas co says they will deliver propane to the home base house today. It was so cold there yesterday after work that we fled to the nice warm BOL. Having a spare house is a good, if demanding, prep.
More good news, I drove W1’s pothole-damaged Yaris (no Leaf, Greg) to the BOL, with W1 following in another vehicle, just in case. Yaris is now with mechanic buddy being fixed. Good preps include good buddies!
Reports of another drive-a-car-into-a-crowd attack in Germany. Munich this time.
Federal parliament elections on 23 February. This will probably help the AfD, with their Ausländer raus policies.
One of my takeaways from the grad school experiences was learning how to put together 500-600 page documents consisting of mostly charts and tables which no one ever read beyond the summary at the beginning.
You don’t do that with Word.
Pre-Mazda Yaris is worth the effort to fix.
At a certain point, Toyota gave up on the car known as the Yaris in this country and rebadged the Mazda 2. I don’t know if the same happened in the EU.
What was the preferred software then?
Good Lord — the adherents of the “Religion of Peace” are really playing with fire.
Loaded four JBL MX500 series speakers into a buddy’s Yaris last week. Two in the trunk with 3/8” to spare, two in the back seat with a cleat ½”, and vintage drummer and lead guitar players in the front.
Listening to a live press conference with the Munich police, the prime minister of Bavaria, and the mayor of Munich.
The attack driver was a 24 year old asylum seeker from Afghanistan with a criminal record.
Tinfoil hat time. Is Putin or Iran paying for this, to give the AfD, as a destabilising factor in Germany, a leg up? Would be a cheap deal. You spend a few years in a comfortable German jail, and your family back home gets rich…
I have no idea. This Yaris is 20 years old, was cheap new, and has low, low milage. Never any trouble with it except plastic central locking actuators aging out. It’s a keeper, at least unless and until petrol engined vehicles are forbidden in the cities here.
The Belgian technical control seems to have a policy of finding problems with cars over 20, so I am careful to give it a full service before the annual control visit, so as to avoid issues they could exploit to put the car off the road.
“I’ll tell you one thing, nephew. If the Federation had listened to the Ferengi Alliance there never would have been a war.”
“Because we would have surrendered a long time ago. ”
“No, we would have reached an accommodation. We would have sat across the negotiation table and hammered out a peace treaty. One that both sides could live with.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“Rule of Acquisition one twenty five. You can’t make a deal if you’re dead. ”
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-invited-trump-moscow-discuss-ukraine-kremlin-says-2025-02-12/
My understanding, for Europe, and maybe specific to the Mazda 2 Hybrid “the Mazda 2 Hybrid is the result of a collaboration between Mazda and Toyota, and is based on the Toyota Yaris Hybrid, with some visual differences”.
LaTeX.
I had Makefiles to generate *.pdf documents from various sources and then stitch them together in LaTeX with page numbers, chapters, table of contents, and summaries where needed.
For its size, our old Yaris is enormous inside, especially with the back seat down for cargo. I think they got “Yaris” and “Tardis” mixed up somehow…
W1’s mother has a new Yaris Cross hybrid, a kind of “small” SUV. It is a nice vehicle, with all mod cons. It’s much larger outside than our old Yaris, but noticeably more cramped inside, especially the legroom.
LaTeX. There’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. These days I have secretarial staff who format my long Word documents, so I no longer have to worry about such things as layout and pagination. I have noticed that the “Office 365” Word version of tracked-changes is noticeably worse than previous versions when working on long documents with many changes and comments.
“You spend a few years in a comfortable German jail, and your family back home gets rich…”
Not impossible, but not likely for a fundamentally irrational zealot.
Or pond scum:
https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/02/two-muslim-nurses-in-australia-suspended-for-allegedly-threatening-to-kill-israeli-patients/
Here’s hoping. All of the other parties created the current situation. The AfD wants to fix it.
I know there are some extremists associated with the AfD. There are also eco-terrorists associated with the greens. In both cases they are not the mainstream.
Note that this terrorist had asylum denied years ago, but the government couldn’t be bothered to deport him. There are hundreds of thousands more just like him.
Good preps include good buddies!
– meatspace baby!
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I have a natgas fired central hot air furnace at home, and a propane fired one at the BOL. I grew up with hot air furnaces and like them. For backup though, I’ve got the “oil filled” electric space heaters that look like old school radiators. I’ve got big kerosene heaters at the BOL and have used them in the garage. I have a Mr Heater “blue flame” indoor propane heater at the BOL and the same model in natgas at the house. I have electric radiant heat panels that I can move around at the BOL, and one or two at the house.
I’ve got a diesel heater at the house that I haven’t tried yet. I have Mr Heater Lil Buddy propane radiant heaters that run on 1 pound bottles, along with the hoses and filters to use BBQ bottles.
As DEEP backup I have coleman “white gas” catalytic heaters that I’ve never used.
I’ve also got cases of hand and foot warmer chemical heaters, and a zippo hand heater.
All of the above are ok for indoor use.
For outdoor or large area, I’ve also got tank top propane radiant heaters, the “mushroom” style patio heaters, and a kero “dragon” jet heater.
After that, it’s burning wood. I’ve got two cast iron stoves waiting for install… and at home my fireplace is rated for wood.
I like “defense in depth” and the idea of using whatever fuel is available.
I have the same strategy for keeping cool (although fewer choices) and for cooking.
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It’s a bright sunny day, albeit only 38F – nope, rose to 40F… I feel very rested. I made a good choice.
n
(I don’t know what else might be in the secure limestone mine, but employee retirement records don’t need that level of care, only a career clerk would think themselves to be so important.)
I have to wonder when the Germans will finally rise up and smite their invaders.
Makes sense, but I wonder if you couldn’t drop some of those intermediates. If you wind up with wood in the end, why bother with the Coleman’s? Seems unnecessary, and you have to keep yet another kind of fuel around
One could see this as part of an ongoing push to move people away from cash and toward an easily track-able and controllable digital money.
JCP is in trouble and has been for a LONG time.
I was in JoAnn’s a couple of days ago. I bought needles for my sewing machine, floral foam, and something else I can’t remember. The store was clean and well stocked, but still had discounted Christmas items for sale, 70% off. Maybe half dozen employees working, 3 at the front.
I’ve got mixed feelings. As times get tougher, expensive hobbies like “paper crafting” will probably see a decrease in spending. Their aficionados have plenty of stock at home if they want to scrapbook. And alpha mom crafting for parties and social reasons will probably die down too. But DIY sewing, yarn crafts, and anything that traditional rural America does will probably increase as a way to save money. Mom’s aren’t sewing T shirts anymore (like my mom did) but they are embellishing and altering existing clothes to “up cycle” or reuse thrifted items. JIT delivery from online stores only works when transportation is cheap or someone else pays for the shipping.
a de facto admission that executive compensation WASN”T based on “talent”.
Lip service.
The pendulum swings.
n
Makes sense, but I wonder if you couldn’t drop some of those intermediates. If you wind up with wood in the end, why bother with the Coleman’s? Seems unnecessary, and you have to keep yet another kind of fuel around
– wood is very bulky and inconvenient to store and transport. Using it for heat or cooking takes much more time too. Coleman fuel in metal cans lasts years if not opened. I’ve used some from the 60s (estate sales rock) without issue. And I have “dual fuel” versions of all my Coleman stuff, which is “camping fuel” and “gasoline” as fuels, which gives more flexibility. They’ll burn gas that small engines won’t burn.
To be honest, most of the time we use the Coleman that runs on the one pound bottles of propane. They are very convenient, and now our “standard” for camping or grid down cooking and light. The liquid fuel Colemans are backup to that.
Not sure I’d be up for using a rocket stove indoors for cooking…. and most wood burning cooking other than grilling is very time and fuel intensive. Even grilling uses a bunch of wood.
Of course, history shows that when the shite really hits the fan, every scrap of wood from furniture to building trim to flooring gets burned. And everything down to the grass gets eaten.
n
The Western Allies left IG Farben mostly intact for a reason.
Now the consortium includes Monansto.
DeSantis will be in office for two more years, and the Dems have no hope of taking the Governors Mansion in Tallahassee for at least a decade.
Ashley Moody would be the better Gubernatorial candidate to continue crushing Mickey’s b*lls, but I doubt Gaetz would give Reedy Creek back to Disney.
Apparently, you also really, really dislike being cold!
My sinuses are playing up today, so perhaps I should have removed to the warmth a bit sooner. Or prepped more like Nick!
Good news – the repair to the Yaris was fitting two 20-buck parts (stabiliser bolts). Only one was damaged by the mega pothole, but mechanic buddy had the car on the lift anyway, and a stitch in time etc.
Monsanto. Grrr.
“Why tiny mud ‘chimneys’ are popping up all over Houston”
https://www.chron.com/life/wildlife/article/mud-mounds-houston-20162768.php
“The builders behind the structures are not the stream and swamp-dwelling kind.”
I’ve got hundreds of these in my yard and thousands of these in my neighborhood. If you catch them outside their burrow, they are great fun to play with. Until somebody gets pinched.
Good Lord — the adherents of the “Religion of Peace” are really playing with fire.
They are feeling bold and deciding that they have enough population across Europe to start making police nogo areas. They are having babies at 10 ??? to each of the German, French, and UK citizen babies.
Friday the 13th, the anniversary of my birthdate, falls on a Thursday this month. And Friday the 13th will fall on a Thursday next month.
Garage guy came. He said replacing the springs was like “polishing a turd”. The door is 50 years old, wood and press board, with glass panes. He said the door is not installed correctly, doors are designed for 30 years, our is 50 years old. The wood is too heavy for a door as it has absorbed moisture, and several layers of paint. If it were not for the lateral braces the door would fall apart.
His recommendation is to entirely replace the door. He will install a new four panel door, with glass windows in the third panel from the bottom, properly seal the door edges, insulated panels, lightweight metal (steel), painted white with the paint guaranteed for 20 years, new tracks but keep the garage door opener. All for $2800.00. He is a local lad, has done door work for us before, so I trust him. The contract was nothing more than a handshake, no down payment, full payment due after installation. Local people don’t survive here with a bad reputation.
Yeh, I was really not surprised.
With the rise of remote online banking, it is to be expected to close branch offices. My son uses USAA and has never set foot in any office and probably never will. Why have a building, with people, that does not get used.
I have accounts at Ally Bank. I have never set foot in the bank, I don’t even know if they have any branches anywhere where a human can interact.
I always have those in the drainage ditch in front of my house. Sometimes three or four, but mostly just a couple of them. I just whack them over with the weed whacker when I am weed trimming. I have never seen any creatures in or around the opening. The ditch tends to stay wet with water.
I have to wonder when the Germans will finally rise up and smite their invaders.
That time has passed. The Germans no longer have the young men to load whole families onto railroad box cars and run them into the Med.
Wizard Of Id: Sleeping Beauty
https://www.gocomics.com/wizardofid/2025/02/13
That princess is looking for a servant, not a prince.
Whoa, I just had a real estate agent turn me down on listing my office commercial property. She said it was too complicated for her and referred me to a commercial real estate agent. That is specifically what I did not want to do.
His recommendation is to entirely replace the door. He will install a new four panel door, with glass windows in the third panel from the bottom, properly seal the door edges, insulated panels, lightweight metal (steel), painted white with the paint guaranteed for 20 years, new tracks but keep the garage door opener. All for $2800.00. He is a local lad, has done door work for us before, so I trust him. The contract was nothing more than a handshake, no down payment, full payment due after installation. Local people don’t survive here with a bad reputation.
I take you are not concerned about thieves using the windows in the garage door to case your garage ?
I take it this is a 16 foot wide by 7 foot tall door ? The price seems high.
What Monsanto? Destroyed by lawyers. The only thing I never liked about them was their patented Roundup resistant seed persecution. Course that was lawyers too.
No. I have had windows in the garage door for 34 years without any issues. There is really nothing to case, that can be seen. The valuable stuff is in the mower shed. The prominent cameras and security lights, high enough to be unreachable without a ladder, also help.
The windows add $400 to the price of the door. The price also includes removal and disposal of the old door, all new tracks and mounts, and installation of bottom, top and side seals.
The door guy also said that prices jumped almost 100% during Covid and have remained at that level since then. The door companies got away with the prices during Covid and just kept the same prices as people were still willing to pay that amount.
The windows add $400 to the price of the door. The price also includes removal and disposal of the old door, all new tracks and mounts, and installation of bottom, top and side seals.
The door guy also said that prices jumped almost 100% during Covid and have remained at that level since then. The door companies got away with the prices during Covid and just kept the same prices as people were still willing to pay that amount.
I expanded my eight foot wide door to ten feet wide during the early portion of The Koof. I paid $900 for a steel 10 foot wide door, installed, no windows, and haul off of the old eight foot door. I guess that I got it done before the price increases. Only primer paint though, I need to paint it white white some day like my other door.
As expected, my refund from the IRS is now at my bank. I filed before noon on Tuesday (local time), the ACH transaction is pending at the bank and will be posted tonight. Basically, three days from filing until the money has been refunded. That is faster than the last couple of years.
My EE buddy in Alabama with the homebuilt 19 kw solar system and homebuilt battery system is getting ready to start his generator. The solar is covered with ice for two days now and his batteries just ran out. The grid has been down for quite a while but he does not track it with his power data system, a tornado went through the power lines. He is shocked but he has the backup generator just in case. His house is pulling 1.7 kw with a fire in the fireplace.
Speaking of generators, my whole house generator ran for a couple hours this afternoon. My wife said the power died right after I left at 2 pm and everything was down for a while. I said 10 seconds, she said more like 30 seconds so this weekend I will be running a blackout test.
You paid the kid the $2 so he stopped throwing the papers through the windows.
“Big Mike: The Movie”
I can’t take credit for the meme. I saw it on one of my regular YouTube channels this morning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhQcpvKHis4
Oof, tell the Dumbocrats that.
Rural paper route, when I got papers delivered. About 25 years ago. Paper was stuffed in a tube by someone in a right hand drive Subaru.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z9Cg46Nktw
Regarding the president’s power to manage the government, the Supreme Court has spoken
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/02/regarding_the_president_s_power_to_manage_the_government_the_supreme_court_has_spoken.html#commentsSection
The article’s link to Mississippi v. Johnson, 71 U.S. (4 Wall.) 475 (1867) is broken, and the wiki page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_v._Johnson
is bare bones. Read the American Thinker article for the relevant passages, which include:
“we are unable to perceive that this circumstance takes the case out of the general principles which forbid judicial interference with the exercise of Executive discretion.”
Inasmuch as the matter has been decided for 158 years, it would not seem unreasonable to enter articles of impeachment against an inferior court judge that insists on judicial interference.
“I want my two dollars!”
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Just had dinner with the guests. Got them powered up and water to the RV.
Chilly day, but the sun was nice.
Currently 37F.
n
I hope that this is just marketing BS.
I wonder if it can see thru a mosquito net festooned with bits of foil…
n
>>Major US banks shut more than 100 locations in just three weeks as the local branch bloodbath continues.
Just 7 from the ranks of the ‘Big Banks,’ although they are probably ahead of lower tier.
>>With the rise of remote online banking, it is to be expected to close branch offices.
Some of the Big Banks have cooped some of the unused floor space and brought in staff from their investment subsiddieries to cross-sell their products. Number of SMB accounts is also a consideration for closing/not closing branches.
My local BofA branch always has a line. Lots of cash businesses in my area. There are always people waiting to see someone at a desk too.
Electronic money is handy if the system is up, and the Powers That Be don’t weaponize it against you. Like the Canadian gov and the Trump parade truckers…
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Fired up the chiminea on the deck instead of going down to the dock. It was still pretty dang chilly and the sticks and twigs were all damp. Took a while to get going but it was warm after a while. Spent about 2 hours reading and feeding the fire.
Family arrived safely. Time for a hot shower and bed.
But first some microwaved coffee cake and a cup of hot tea.
36F
n
The Latin American market outside of Florida still believes in the BS fantasy that Bank of America cares about the plight of the immigrant communities more than the other large banks.
If you ask anyone in line from that demo where the headquarters of the bank is located, my guess is that they would say California, which is about 2700 miles from the truth.