Cool and damp at the BOL. We had a beautiful Wednesday, until just after dusk when a storm ripped through. After it passed, it was wet but nice. A bit of fog, a bit of mist, but bright with the almost full moon. Today should dry out a bit.
Did stuff around the house yesterday, then fished for a bit. Went to look at a boat with W, but while the price is very good, it’s too big for our slip and lift. Rebuilding the dock is on the list, but not modifying it to the extent needed. Seems that boats, like most things, get bigger every year and a dock built to accommodate a bowrider boat from the late 70s won’t fit the same class of boat from the 2000s. We’ll keep looking as W is determined that we need a watercraft.
Didn’t get up into the attic so that might happen today. I really would like to get a bunch of attic stuff done before it gets hot. I just don’t know if the motivation is there. Wife is working from home, so I can’t take down the power to make final connections, but I can get all the runs and outlets in. Or I could work on exhaust fans… they need attic work too.
There’s always more to do.
And always more to stack.
nick
(and there might be fish that need to be teased with plastic bait)
I added a two alternative payment options using PayPal generated html to a site about 10 years ago which is still up and running. You click ‘Pay Here’ – generates a drop down selection list – click on choice and pay. I can’t remember but I suspect 6 options should be possible. Clearly won’t do any ‘stock control’ or back end processing, so that would be manual – depends on volume.
Five years ago today. Clowns de Ass Extraordinaire led by the Orange Fail.
Never forget.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9s0Io2geNE
Cowards.
Beautiful sunny day. Clear with mild breezes. VERY damp as you can imagine.
Breakfast eaten, coffee like Pelozi, half drunk.
I should probably get work done. I whine about it enough when I don’t do it…
n
Court Revives Suit by Professor Who Defended Math Standards
https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/03/federal-appeals-court-receives-lawsuit-by-prof-who-defended-math-standards/
Trump throws down the gauntlet to the out-of-control federal district court judges
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/03/trump_throws_down_the_gauntlet_to_the_out_of_control_federal_district_court_judges.html
It is not optional as a matter of law.
Some courts will try to render it ineffective by requiring trivial amounts rather than a “reasonable and appropriate” amount requested by the government.
Activist judges have already tried to hinder the government’s response in a number of ways, including claiming that the TRO’s are not immediately appealable. Any deficiency in security requirement may make it easier to appeal.
Pols on both sides of the aisle were pushing this project. Looks like they’ll have to find a new grift.
One of the most contentious issues in farm country is roads, power lines, and pipelines using eminent domain to slice through farms, and if you want to double the dissension, cut through at an angle.
The state of Oregon did that to my uncle’s farm in 1964. The state needed to increase the radius of a curve when the state paved the road. They took a big chunk of the property but were proud they gave us the old curve back. However, that land was packed solid with several layers of gravel and packed dirt that was a couple of feet thick. The land was unusable with our equipment as the plow could not get through the stuff. The land would have needed to be dug up with a track hoe and all the dirt replaced. He lost about 5 acres in the process and the state paid pennies on the dollar of the worth of the land.
“Trump: Schumer Is ‘Not Jewish Anymore. He’s a Palestinian.’”
https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2025/03/12/trump-schumer-is-not-jewish-anymore-hes-a-palestinian-n4937846
And there are several reports out there that Shutdown Schumer is going to cave in for the CFR.
I worked with an engineer from upstate New York and he had a story about when the state put a freeway through their family farm. They cut off something like 10 of their 80 acres. It wasn’t worth them driving farm equipment an hour round trip to the nearest crossing to use it, or keep a second set of equipment there. They sold it, but not at a good price, and the family farm went from 80 to about 50 something acres.
“President Trump’s inherited a fiscal nightmare”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2025/03/president-trumps-inherited-fiscal.html
“Karl Denninger points out that President Trump has to deal with US government overexpenditure right now, or risk bankrupting the nation. Medicare/Medicaid is undoubtedly the principal culprit. Emphasis in original.”
Yup. A financial apocalypse of the USA is nigh.
Tough, very tough, decisions have to be made. And the populace is a mix of does not have a clue, or does not care, or burn it all down.
I worked with an engineer from upstate New York and he had a story about when the state put a freeway through their family farm. They cut off something like 10 of their 80 acres. It wasn’t worth them driving farm equipment an hour round trip to the nearest crossing to use it, or keep a second set of equipment there. They sold it, but not at a good price, and the family farm went from 80 to about 50 something acres.
My grandfather had a 138 acre farm in North Texas that he inherited from his parents and bought out his brothers and sisters shares. The railroad came through in the 1950s and cut through 1/3rd of the farm with a high speed rail line (60+ mph). Luckily, they had to build a bridge since the land was rolling so he could go under the bridge in the creek to get to the back 40+ acres. The cows loved the back 40+ acres and we would find them back there all the time, it was a pain to round them up and escort them under the bridge through the creek.
Rand Paul was on with Cutie Pie this afternoon, explaining his stand against the CR.
The CR continues the Biden spending plan approved in December. Paul wants all of the DOGE cuts explicitly included in the spending bill.
Currently in Conroe TX for two nights. We will leave early on Saturday morning and head south to Alvin to visit the ex-wife of the wife’s deceased father. We have stayed in contact even after the divorce. After leaving Alvin we will bivouac in Slidell LA before continuing on to Atlanta. This trip, like all the trips out here, involve a lot of driving.
We stopped at the Blue Bell Ice Cream plant because we were in the area. There are no longer any tours, just a viewing room. They do sell ice cream for a dollar a scoop, a large scoop. However, military, veterans, law enforcement, fire, etc. can eat for free. I had four cups of different flavors. I had been through the facility about 35 years ago and there were tours. I don’t know why they quit the tours. Probably a lawyers idea. Someone probably took a picture, Photoshopped a mouse, and filed a lawsuit.
I really hate sleeping in strange beds and don’t sleep well.
@ray, I’m about an hour from Conroe at the moment…
And I’ve got a good friend in Sliddell
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Ran the gennie for about 1 ½ hours. It started right up, with the battery having enough charge. I’ve been working on my concrete saw while running that. Cleaned the carb, cleaned the fuel system. Ordered a new air filter. Getting ready to try starting it.
I reek of stale gas. So stinky.
n
Blue Bell had a Listeria problem about a decade ago, but the tours of the plant floor had stopped before then.
Maybe someone saw one too many screenings of “Strange Brew”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC6dBsNz0oc
Pay attention to what the customer at the register ahead of the boys says. He’s a pro alcoholic.
If you’ve never stopped at the money printing plant in Fort Worth, it is worth the detour on one of your runs.
No cell phones or cameras allowed inside the plant. Everything must be left in the car, including large purses. Tech-free heaven for about an hour, even inside the obligatory gift shop.
Pay attention to the Bush family portraits, Shrub and Poppy, on the Republic of Texas currency samples behind the register. They aren’t for sale, unfortunately.
That is, if the samples are still there.
I did get a Bubba Clinton prototype dollar coin. Oversized but probably accurate for what we will see when he passes.
I’m going to get a few rolls to go with the Poppy coins I have for when the Chinese relatives come to visit with their kids and the red envelopes get handed out.
You take those coins to a special arcade, kids …
I toured the bureau of printing and engraving in DC back in 1970. I doubt much has changed since then.
The Blue Bell planted was surprisingly crowded. The parking lots were full with people parking on the grass.
Any excursions out to Cut-n-Shoot, hometown of the idiot husband of my wife’s associate in Vantucky?
SxSW in Austin and, on weekends Sherwood Forest Faire in … McDade … ? US 290 is a popular route for anyone starting in Houston and heading west.
If the wildflowers are blooming, older women with Southern Living and/or Texas Monthly subscriptions will be out in force to take pictures on nice days.
“Lee Zeldin: “The Death of the Green New Scam Is Upon Us””
https://rumble.com/v6ql53k-lee-zeldin-the-death-of-the-green-new-scam-is-upon-us.html?e9s=src_v1_upp
The new EPA administrator sure is talking the talk. Now, will he walk the talk ?
All we need is the original Clean Air Act and the original Clean Water Act. All of the tightening over the years since those has just been spit shining the old pig. The costs of Clean Air Act X and Clean Water Act X are way too high for the USA to live with. We have chased most of our heavy industry out of the country to China and other Pacific Rim countries to our own detriment for defense and jobs.
SxSW in Austin and, on weekends Sherwood Forest Faire in … McDade … ? US 290 is a popular route for anyone starting in Houston and heading west.
If the wildflowers are blooming, older women with Southern Living and/or Texas Monthly subscriptions will be out in force to take pictures on nice days.
The rattlesnakes and copperheads are out in the wildflowers too.
https://www.fbherald.com/news/the-best-case-of-a-worst-case-scenario—a-richmond-familys-encounter-with/article_676d4cbb-1192-54d2-878a-31c959dff4d6.html
I ran across the old Inspiron P25T while cleaning (this happens every couple of years).. Wow, 2016 and Win10, but even then it was so underpowered as to be nearly useless.
Even my 2012 MacBook Pro crushed it, but I needed something for on the road Windows work.
I hate to throw anything away, but it isn’t useful for anything.
Working in a factory sucked before the pandemic. Now everyone with a degree expects a “work from home” job.
That is definitely useless for Windows 10, but if you have 4 GB in the machine try a recent copy of Fedora.
My road laptop is from that era. I dual boot with the most recent Linux Mint, but the machine spends most of its time in Fedora.
First priority would be to replace the 2.5″ HDD with an SSD.
“I hate to throw anything away, but it isn’t useful for anything.”
And modding it into an aquarium or something would not impress anyone.
On one of the early Storage Wars Barry took a vintage tv to a friend who turned it into a really cool diorama. I have a vintage Bondi Blue iMac that has a lot of potential…
No excursions planned.
This trip has really been taxing on me. Sleeping in strange beds I am not getting enough sleep. I also miss my CPAP machine. Dealing with stupid drivers, truck drivers that camp in the left lane many times staying next to another truck for miles, traffic jams for no reason. So far 1,600 miles on the trip with about another 1K to go to get home,
I see former Jew Senator Schumer (D, Palestine) is still a liar and his claim that there were not enough votes on cloture for the budget bill are just more spouting sewage from a man not smart enough to know that the cheese goes on the burger after it is cooked.
Who knew that Fetterman would be the Dems comparative intellectual giant?
Working in a factory sucked before the pandemic. Now everyone with a degree expects a “work from home” job.
Not every one has a degree. And a lot of those degrees are in psychology or history, low demand degrees with few openings.
The USA is transitioning from a wealthy society to a not-wealthy society. If we do not want to have 50% unemployment in the short term, we had better get cracking on the factories.
Incitatus is allowed to run free in his pasture when it suits the Dems. His voting record is still solidly left.
I continue to believe that Fetterman died in the hospital of his stroke, and was replaced by a bad duplicate; the original Fetterman had ridges on his forehead that made him resemble a Ferengi. The double has a fairly smooth forehead. Let’s call him “Festerman”. Festerman is smarter and more moderate than the original, but he dare not vote contrary to Schemer’s orders, or he’ll be revealed as an impostor.
A co-worker from the tolling company whom I keep in touch with decided that she wanted my job and poured a bunch of money into a “Software Engineering” Masters from Purdue.
MechE and works in a medical device factory here in town, but lacks the 30 years of sh*t job dues paying and learning from bad projects under worse leadership than the tolling company. Still, hiring quotas might get her in the door of a development shop somewhere.
That’s a story that will play out a lot as DoD contractor and Medical-Industrial complex jobs go away as the Feds cut a Trillion or two out of the budget.
Like a heroin addict, the US economy will have to bottom out before the climb back to “sustainable” begins. It will be painful, and everyone will get a haircut before the turnaround truly begins.
The dweebs out in The Hamptons are not going to give up $120/lb lobster salad easily.
To be fair, in New England at the beginning of November, the going rate was $30 for a quarter pound lobster roll just about everywhere we went, including the locals-only place in Portland, ME where my wife finally gave in and bought one.
$120/lb lobster salad is probably more common than many outside of the region imagine.
It has an N3710@1.6GHz, 4GB ram, and a Toshiba 5400rpm drive….
Currently updating & complaining bitterly about my non-longer-extant work email.
I think I remember buying an ssd for it, but maybe not.
@EdH, look at putting Kodi on it as a media playing box… the demands are very low.
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Got my concrete saw running and finished the cut I was making a year or more ago when it quit working. Should have put in my ear pro. That 8 hp kohler is LOUD.
I’ve washed with carb cleaner, alcohol, and soap and water and I still stink of old gas.
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Walked around and picked the spots for my cameras. I can start that install when I’m doing the other attic work too.
Now that I spent $3500 and had the dead and dying trees removed from near the house, it is REALLY open to the lake. The view improved, but standing at the water and looking up, the house and patio are now very exposed.
I might have to plant something.
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Did I mention I forgot to bring up the apple trees? I wanted to get them in the ground but they are in pots in Houston.
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Started the grill. Steak tonight. And asparagus. and bread.
n
I’ve called him Uncle Festerman since day one. When the DeepState whips him, he whinneys whatever they say.
Chuckie Schemer has apparently caved on the CR. That could be another nail in the coffin of the Dumbo’s
The Dems are not intelligent enough as a group to recognize that they do not want to be responsible for a shutdown and giving Trump the power to decide the priorities. The only explanation for Schumer “caving” is that he didn’t have the votes, as indicated by the contentious lunch meeting today.
After the CR (continuing resolution), the targeted cuts will start coming. Those cuts will come to the Senate from the House as reconciliation bills and will not be subject to 60 vote minimum in the Senate. Just a straight up or down in the Senate. Then you will hear the screaming across the fruited plains. The screaming right now is nothing.
Hey are any of you guys staying up to watch the eclipse?
n
1.6 GHz/4GB is very marginal for media playback.
My road laptop is ok for YouTube, but it struggles with video beyond that.
Raspberry Pi 500 kits are $100.
I received a real Chamberlain/Liftmaster universal garage door remote today from an online vendor located in Pennsylvania. It took about 20 minutes of experimenting with the DIP switches to get the legacy Genie programmed while the new Liftmaster was less than a minute.
No more Home Depot remotes.
Going to bed now. The esclipe would be interesting but I can not stay awake until it happens.
“Hey are any of you guys staying up to watch the eclipse?”
“‘Blood Worm Moon’ US weather forecast: Best places to see tonight’s total lunar eclipse”
https://www.space.com/stargazing/eclipses/total-blood-moon-lunar-eclipse-2025-what-is-the-us-weather-forecast-for-march-13
“As far as viewing prospects for tonight’s total eclipse of the moon are concerned, it would appear that three-quarters of the nation will have at least some occasional views of the moon plunging through Earth’s dark shadow. The period of total eclipse will begin at 2:26 a.m. Eastern Time early Friday morning, which corresponds to 11:26 p.m. Pacific time late this evening or 0626 GMT. Totality will last 66 minutes.”
“The region of the country that will likely have the best overall weather conditions for tonight’s total lunar eclipse will be the lower Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, southwest into the Central Plains and down into the Lone Star State of Texas.”
So the lunar eclipse will start at 1:26 am here in south Texas and end at 2:32 am.
Maybe. I am at work eating my supper of cucumbers, celery, and carrot sticks. I may follow it with some no fat peppered beef jerkey from Prasek’s Family Smokehouse that I buy at HEB.
https://www.heb.com/product-detail/prasek-s-peppered-nbsp-smoked-dried-beef-3-oz/4384531
I’ll go outside in about an hour to see if the sky has cleared any; an hour or so ago, the Moon was visible, through the clouds. Texas doesn’t like me for eclipses; the annular solar eclipse and last year’s total eclipse were both cloudy, although I did get a couple of good photos of the annular eclipse through the broken cloud layer.
I am headed down to southwest Texas in the morning to go spend a weekend with the two people who miraculously claim me as their firstborn. And seem to be quite proud of it.*
If I am lucky, my firstborn will be coming along with me. He has indicated such plans.
* Mom has told me that their five year plan in 1959 did not have any children in it. I was born in 1960 about a month after Dad graduated from TAMU. My middle brother was born in 1963, my little (6’3″) brother was born in 1965. When one makes plans, God laughs.
Well, it was interesting. Got the 4″ dob out and the clouds were drifting past. It was a bit hazy on top of that but it would clear, and cover, clear and cover…
It looked more orange than red to me, but we did get some good views in between the clouds. At 2:45 the white sliver showed back up.
I had a tiny little fire and my wife read in between views. I had my infrared heater going to take the chill off.
I took about a 2 hour nap before hand or I wouldn’t have made it.
Worth seeing, not super dramatic though.
It was pretty dark during the totality when clouds covered even the reddish disk.
Radio was horrible. Very poor reception on all the bands with some stuff in the middle 5 Mhz, but low and noisy.
Bedtime now…
n