73F and maybe some rain… or not. It’s the Gulf and my little micro climate of a neighborhood, after all. Yesterday there were pockets of light rain all over town, and some pockets of heavier rain too. Your experience of the weather was entirely dependent on your zip code. Just one more example of how ridiculous the idea of recording temperatures and drawing specific conclusions that apply globally from them really is. If you can’t even say it rained in Houston, or it didn’t, how can you claim your temperature numbers really mean anything?
I did a lot of running around Wed. One pickup in Sugar Land led to a visit to the reStore, and a visit to another auctioneer about maybe taking some consignments… then a stop at Goodwill before my pickup in Tomball for my non-prepping hobby. Home to move one kid from her school to the other kid’s school, pickup the other kid, drop her and a friend off, chiropractor visit, get some groceries, make some dinner, and then get both kids home and fed……. and I did some domestic bliss in between. Yeah, I’m exhausted from sitting in the truck most of the day.
Today I have to visit my client. ATT finally figured out that he’s not coming back to them, and they want their very expensive networking gear back. Part of me says they were happy to send out crews to install it, they should be happy to send out crews to remove it, but I know that’s not how it works. Maybe I’ll get some time to myself later in the day, before doing the kid taxi thing again, because it’s Thursday.
At least I don’t have any pickups scheduled today. I’ll be picking up another two solar panels tomorrow though. 10c/ watt is too good to pass up. I got this pair for the same price as the last pair. Now I’ve got 6 big panels, and I better get the project moving forward. It might even be overkill for where I think I might use them. The best part is that the auctioneer still has about 14 panels so I might be getting even more. Or the consignor might find someplace better to sell them…
I’ve adding to the solar stacks, building up toward a project… think about what you need to add to your stacks and what your next project should be.
nick
I have a position account provided by a charity I am involved with, which I believe to be a Microsoft 365 online account.
I moved files up to the Onedrive. Subsequently I ‘opened’ Onedrive, but could not see the files I uploaded! I attempted to upload the files again, but got a warning that I was trying to duplicate files already on Onedrive. But I still couldn’t see them when accessing Onedrive from my home screen. Experimenting, I went to an icon in the top left of the home page, where it showed icons for all the available 365 applications, including Onedrive. I selected Onedrive (obviously I was already signed in to my 365 account) … and it asked me to sign in to my account!! I selected the ‘sign in’ option, which blipped (no sign in required) and immediately took me to my Onedrive, where I can now see the files I uploaded!!!
Who writes such code??
The problem with the AI is Garbage In, Garbage Out.
I’ve seen really awful AI-generated Hot Skillz code lately being used to drill into Json output of queries to a Redfish interface.
Lots of very expensive (in CPU terms) regular expressions and deep recursion layers involving separate HTTP exchanges which are even more expensive and unstable.
Who trained the AI to do that?
No one but me sees the problems?
73F and overcast, but I’m up. Coffee is brewed and lunch is made. Time to start another day.
n
Well, Fortran keeps advancing, there’s even a package manager now, supposedly.
So just hire 25 men for a two-year project.
Or 100 men for six months.
Or 200 men for 3 months. et Voila! All done!
See me for more project management tips.
Yes, I have an MSCS and have studied software engineering. And “The Mythical Man-Month” was required reading.
I’ll bet a firm in Bangalore could have that knocked out in a month, tops. What’s so difficult? /sarcasm
That was the exact approach which GE tried with the systems software for Seawolf 35 years ago. Anyone with Ada on their resume at the time got a phone call.
The goal was a 3-4 month death march during the dead of winter in upstate NY. Even though I was broke and unemployed at the time, just after graduation, I passed on that “opportunity”.
Many people bit, however.
Electric Boat ended up only building three Seawolf subs due to costs, necessitating the fast development of the Virginia class.
A public holiday here, so allowing myself a rare lazy day. Late to rise, and strawberries for breakfast. Tomorrow will be a busy work day for me, as I am holding the fort while colleagues take the “bridge” day off and make a long weekend out of today’s holiday.
I read the latest Laden Universe novel. Enjoyed it, but it is apparent that the influence of the late male partner from the author couple is missing. A lot of the technology and sci-fi elements that I like about this space opera seem absent, and it has noticeably shifted to the fantasy, magic and emotions side of the sci-fi/fantasy spectrum. Not sure if I will purchase the next offering.
Weather is nice, and today is opening day of the short roebuck season. I can’t get to the woods until next week. Of course, the forecast for then is for patchy weather. Ah well.
Grr. Autocorrect. “Liaden Universe”.
I used to be a software teacher, and one of the programs that I taught was Microsoft Project. Great program, but you have to understand the limits in theory between software and reality. One of the examples that I used was: “While it’s true that one woman can have a baby in 9 months, 9 women cannot have a baby in one month.”
Home from kid’s “recognition” ceremony. The students were “recognized” by a teacher in class, and they got a medal and certificate. No mention of what they were “recognized” for, that I could tell. Some kids had only perfect attendance, some had “recognition” from 4 different classes…
5 white kids out of 50-70. The replacement is well underway.
n
Stephen Miller gives 2:34 of gold standard:
https://redstate.com/beckynoble/2025/05/01/heres-the-latest-idea-for-the-white-house-to-bypass-legacy-media-and-its-glorious-n2188568
>>Home from kid’s “recognition” ceremony. The students were “recognized” by a teacher in class, and they got a medal and certificate. No mention of what they were “recognized” for, that I could tell. Some kids had only perfect attendance, some had “recognition” from 4 different classes…
Participation Trophies.
Can’t damage any fragile egos.
Sunny & mostly windless here in the high desert.
Yesterday’s unpredicted 40 mile an hour winds have passed, and today’s predicted thunderstorms have not eventuated. 🙂
The little (used) $300 compactor started with just some new gas and a pull or two, so I was able to compact about 45SF of earth & then a couple of small lifts of base. I am about out of base, I’ll need a cubic yard or more to finish the entire project.
The final project is something on the order of 160 ft.², but it can be broken into bite-size chunks easily ( much like my lower back).
Nah, you just open a browser window, go to ChatGPT, paste in your code, and…voila!
ROTFLMAO.
At my last count, we are over 150 dialogs in the Windows User Interface. Just porting those to anything is a major disaster. Plus our diagrammatic main window that uses double precision floating point to align symbols and lines up to a grid. Plus our multiple sheet design that was inspired by Visio and Excel. Hundreds of man years of work, 34 years just for me.
https://www.winsim.com/media/refinery.png
from:
https://www.winsim.com/screenshots.html
Man, I need to refresh all of those screenshots.
Thur. May 1, 2025 – drawing a blank here…
Yeah, me too. You could have gone with the getting old thing again.
I test ran the generator this morning with a full grid down simulation (flipped the 200 amp breaker on the transfer switch to off). The test was successful but the genny did take about 6 seconds to fire up. There was a lot of natural gas in the air after it fired up so the carb was working too well.
Then I cleaned, flushed, and put new chlorine tablets in the septic tank. That was a really hot job at noon but that is the only way I can see into the five foot deep finishing tank, using the sun overhead as a big flashlight.
At least I don’t have any pickups scheduled today. I’ll be picking up another two solar panels tomorrow though. 10c/ watt is too good to pass up. I got this pair for the same price as the last pair. Now I’ve got 6 big panels, and I better get the project moving forward. It might even be overkill for where I think I might use them. The best part is that the auctioneer still has about 14 panels so I might be getting even more. Or the consignor might find someplace better to sell them…
Is this those double sided panels you got before ? I am fascinated by those.
https://www.amazon.com/BougeRV-N-Type-Bifacial-Camping-Marine/dp/B0D4F2QLBK?tag=ttgnet-20
Who writes such code??
Programmers in India at $8/hour.
New Canadian PM vows to run country into the ground so the bits can be bought up on the cheap:
https://redstate.com/bonchie/2025/05/01/canadians-are-about-to-get-what-it-voted-for-and-they-deserve-every-bit-of-it-n2188580
That will teach those ugly Americans.
What they need is a project to seed clouds with fentanyl to combat climate change.
“Did a recent Texas Rangers game become a measles super-spreader event?”
https://www.chron.com/sports/article/texas-rangers-measles-super-spreader-la-dodgers-20304645.php
“Health officials warn that a person with measles in Denton County attended a Rangers game.”
We are all going to die.
“Judge orders release of UMass student accused of Tesla firebombing so he can continue sex change”
https://www.theblaze.com/news/judge-orders-release-of-umass-student-accused-of-tesla-firebombing-so-he-can-continue-sex-change
You have got to be kidding me.
You don’t want to know what I want to do with the ALLEGED miscreant and the ALLEGED judge.
“Programmers in India at $8/hour.”
In the sixties the joke was Chinese labor at 8 cents an hour.
I see the price has gone up but it’s still a joke.
“We are all going to die.”
Not from measles–I’ve had measles.
It may be from too many nighttime trips to the bathroom. At some point I will not have time to get back before the next one, so I will either have to invent a time machine or die from lack of sleep.
Or float off to sleep…
n
Turned some money into noise and I feel better. Was feeling pretty blah, very minor headache, and tired. Call it a mental health break…
—————
Now it is time to do some domestic bliss around the house. Maybe take a load of stuff to my buddy’s shop.
n
You confuse me. I thought he emptied his shop and drove away somewhere with an over-full truckload.
“SALT Talks Stall as GOP Mulls Limiting Tax Break to Middle Class”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/salt-talks-stall-gop-mulls-162424950.html
“(Bloomberg) — Key House Republicans on Thursday discussed ways to direct an expanded state and local tax deduction to those making less than $400,000 as they seek to balance the cost of the tax break with the political needs of several lawmakers from New York and other high-tax states.”
Lets pass on this.
If the Texas Legislature whiffs on renewing property tax “reform” this session, raising that SALT deduction is going to become really important to voters in this state, especially once the trim notices with uncompressed rates go out in about a year.
“Lets pass on this.”
Hard pass.
No reason for taxpayers to subsidize idiocy.
There’s senators and representatives from 40 states who would benefit by getting a stack of photos in the mail in the mail with captions like “$100 million-dollar high school football stadium that the Texas property voters would like to have subsidized by other states”.
I don’t ask you to subsidize my church; don’t ask me to subsidize yours.
Yawn. One judge says tRump can’t RIF an executive agency by 80% because that would be “unfathomable”. Another judge says tRump can’t use the Aliens act because there is no war, invasion, etc. So they think the President of the United States doesn’t run the Executive Branch as stated in the Constitution. They do.
These azzholes are clear indication of the Deep State running the country. Nothing from SCOTUS. They must be rocking back on their heels clinking martini glasses.
These judges are ruling by judicial review and SCOTUS does nothing. That’s the Constitutional Crisis right there.
I’m at the point if SCOTUS does nothing by June, frack it, ignore them completely.
“Robot Fried Rice”
https://www.reddit.com/r/EngineeringPorn/comments/1kb2qxs/robot_fried_rice/
Needs to be more general purpose.
Some cells blowing through the northern parts of SoCal now, a few rumbles, an occasional flash.
—–
Ordered a new robot vacuum (before the shelves empty), the old one is still functioning, but there are signs of robot dementia setting in.
Yawn. One judge says tRump can’t RIF an executive agency by 80% because that would be “unfathomable”. Another judge says tRump can’t use the Aliens act because there is no war, invasion, etc. So they think the President of the United States doesn’t run the Executive Branch as stated in the Constitution. They do.
These azzholes are clear indication of the Deep State running the country. Nothing from SCOTUS. They must be rocking back on their heels clinking martini glasses.
These judges are ruling by judicial review and SCOTUS does nothing. That’s the Constitutional Crisis right there.
I’m at the point if SCOTUS does nothing by June, frack it, ignore them completely.
We are getting closer and closer to Rule 308.
https://www.americanpartisan.org/2020/09/bracken-what-i-saw-at-the-coup/
I just told my wife that if she is looking for a Christmas present for me, I would like this book.
https://www.amazon.com/Wings-Story-Band-Paul-McCartney/dp/1324096306?tag=ttgnet-20/
I sort of think it is. Anything cooked in a wok. No $20 an hour FU to mess up. Next up – box and bag. Orders fulfilled. Unheard of!
“Amazon Announces $4 Billion Rural Delivery Network, Estimates 100,000 New Jobs”
https://thelibertydaily.com/amazon-announces-4-billion-rural-delivery-network-estimates/
“(The Epoch Times)—Amazon will invest $4 billion by 2026 to expand its network in rural America for delivering packages faster in less densely populated areas, the company said in an April 30 statement.”
““This investment will also grow our rural delivery network’s footprint to over 200 delivery stations, and we estimate it will create over 100,000 new jobs and driving opportunities through a wide range of full-time, part-time, and flexible positions in our buildings and on the roads,” the company said.”
““Once this expansion is complete, our network will be able to deliver over a billion more packages each year to customers living in over 13,000 zip codes spanning 1,200,000 square miles—an area the size of Alaska, California, and Texas combined.””
That is a lot of Rivian electric vans.
I thought he emptied his shop and drove away
– It wasn’t quite empty, and I will be trying to sell off the remainder over the next month. I’m still debating taking over his lease, and getting rid of my storage units. It’s almost a wash money wise, and there is a lot more space. Plus it’s a good neutral place to meet buyers from craigslist or FB Marketplace. It’s close to my house too.
n
In between running kids around, I did some more scrapping and breaking down stuff to get it out of the driveway.
I got another LiFe battery and charger/inverter, for a total of three. I think the scrap, lots of aluminum, will pay for the three carts so the parts I kept will be free. The rack is sold, just need the money and to deliver. That particular salvage lot worked out really well.
@lynn asked about the new solar panels I now have 4 of, they aren’t the ones I linked before, but similar in size and capacity. I think they are this one. https://a1solarstore.com/bluesun-415w-solar-panel-108-cells-bifacial-bsm415m10-54hph-wholesale-36-panels-per-pallet-min-3-pallets.html
n
Dinner was delicious. I put a “tri tip roast” in the oven. In Texas we usually see tri tip as smoked meat with hours involved. I picked up the roast on sale at HEB.
It was good. The grain is consistent and there isn’t any gristle or connective tissue in the roast. There is a thick fat layer, which adds a lot of flavor, but you pay for it too, bringing up the cost/pound of meat.
I will cook it a bit less, the Joy of Cooking says 20 mins at 325 per pound, but that was a bit long for me. The meat was done medium to medium well, and we prefer rare to med rare.
Live and learn, another tool in the box.
———–
I’m headed to bed early. Really. I’m beat, and my upper back and neck are killing me.
n
Chicken or Egg…
“Amazon Announces $4 Billion Rural Delivery Network, Estimates 100,000 New Jobs”
“UPS to cut 20k jobs, close 70 facilities as it reduces Amazon shipping volume”
I suspect Union vs. non-Union is the driver of those headlines. As long as Amazon’s AWS subsidizes the retail shopping, too.
Amazon has so many regional centers now that it would be nuts to send stuff to UPS for sorting and distribution… There are dozens in Houston alone.
UPS should have seen the writing on the wall years ago. And when AMZN started buying trucks, they should have been able to see the end in sight.
n
– It wasn’t quite empty, and I will be trying to sell off the remainder over the next month. I’m still debating taking over his lease, and getting rid of my storage units. It’s almost a wash money wise, and there is a lot more space. Plus it’s a good neutral place to meet buyers from craigslist or FB Marketplace. It’s close to my house too.
This is the place that you need. To bad it is so far away from your house.
https://www.har.com/homedetail/9702-surrey-ln-richmond-tx-77469/2527183
1,800 ft2 of air conditioned space, 4,000 ft2 of non air conditioned space.
Amazon has so many regional centers now that it would be nuts to send stuff to UPS for sorting and distribution… There are dozens in Houston alone.
UPS should have seen the writing on the wall years ago. And when AMZN started buying trucks, they should have been able to see the end in sight.
UPS gave Amazon a DISCOUNT. They should have never given Big River a discount.
This will get interesting…
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/30/health/hhs-vaccine-placebo-testing/