Cool and wet in Houston. Possibly getting warmer later, and maybe the sun will come out. Or not. Yesterday at the BOL was unseasonably cool, especially with the occasional drops of water from the sky. I do enjoy the cooler days when we get them.
I didn’t get a lot done, because of the short trip, but I moved stuff around and put some things away. Also took the boat out, cut the grass, and brought trash and debris home. Wife got a present for Mom’s Day that matched the decor at the BOL.
Today I will be getting both trucks inspected and also changing their oil. Both are due. Overdue really. And I don’t want to have any registration issues since I got them both back to current status. After that I’ve got other errands and domestic bliss, followed by kid taxi service. I am making slow progress on cleaning up the house though.
I may or may not get to Costco… there is still stacking to do.
And I’ll get to it eventually.
n
Yes, when done right, they are awesome. Easy to make at home, too. Finding clotted cream outside the UK is tricky, though.
Enjoy your trip. Some of my happiest childhood memories are of a month spent exploring London with my parents. Other trips with them to Wales and the Cotswolds were great too.
Nick, congratulations on getting W’s boat in the water. What broke on the maiden voyage? (Experience tells me that something breaks or gets lost overboard on every boat voyage…)
Good news. Heating at the BOL is on again. The solenoid for the gas-supply valve had tripped. There must have been a dip in the power supply. A simple reset of the valve and we have heating again.
I learned through this that the BOL heater unit does not give a specific error for “loss of gas supply”, which is irritating.
If this recurs, I will have to look into hooking the solenoid into a small UPS sufficient to bridge momentary dips in the line voltage. I did that at our principal residence, and it works well.
Proper clotted cream made using unpasteurized milk is illegal to distribute in the US under Federal law.
IIRC, Trader Joes has a “clotted cream” but it is made from pasteurized milk. I think I’ve seen it at Walmart too.
Well, I’m up. Coffee is slowly dripping into the mug. Lunch is made. Initial round of poking at the beasts has occurred.
———–
@denis, glad your water heater was an easy fix. That sounds like one of those things that is learned by experience and then never forgotten. Simple, but unless you knew, a complete mystery.
WRT the boat, I don’t think anything broke or got lost. I can see the universe tending that way…
The lake is 6-8″ higher than normal because of all the rain we’ve had lately, especially north of Houston. This means the shallow areas aren’t showing tree stumps, and the deep but still filled with standing timber areas aren’t showing tree tops. It gives us an extra margin of safety as we learn the lake, but it also obscures the hazards we should be seeing. Mixed blessing. The plus is easier access to our dock, and a chance to use the boat motor to “blow out” our slip area which tends to fill in with silt. We did what our neighbors suggested for about an hour yesterday, which was running the boat in the slip to stir up the muck and then “gunning” the motor to move the stirred up silt away. We’ll do it as many times as we can, or we’ll lose access to the slip in dryer weather.
Apparently you can buy an underwater ‘fan’ to blow the silt out by creating a constant current if your lake doesn’t have good circulation. Not ready to do that.
————
Time to poke the beasts again.
n
When I grew up that was all that I drank. Straight from the cow to our refrigerator. Sometimes debris would fall in while the cow was being milked. Strained it out and all was good. I also drank water from the creek. I have had manure splattered in my mouth. I gave mouth-to-snout breathing to new born calves with the associated debris. I ate raw vegetables straight from the garden that had been fertilized with manure gathered straight from the barn. I never got sick from any of that.
I probably have a high tolerance for tainted food that would kill wimpy civilians. That immunity built up over time.
I have this theory, based on nothing substantial, that our food supply is too sterile. A clean food supply is definitely good, and necessary. 100% sterilized? I am not so certain. The slightest problem causes dozens, or hundreds, of people to get sick. Maybe a little exposure to some of these pathogens in their youth might have forestalled the issues.
As Rambo would say: “I can eat stuff that would make a Billy Goat puke”. Well, maybe not to that level. I do think that the outbreaks with lettuce, onions, and other products would not have affected me. Maybe eating a little dirt as a kid would not have been so bad.
TBH, that sounds like a prescription for clogging the motor cooling passages to me.
The line was Richard Crenna’s In “First Blood”.
TBH, that sounds like a prescription for clogging the motor cooling passages to me.
– that is probably why his instructions were to run in reverse, bringing clean water to the motor with the current. Then the blast of forward to move all the suspended particles out into the lake could be short and isn’t really any worse than running the motor in the lake after a rainstorm.
Hadn’t really thought about it much though. I know the boat launch has a big deep hole where everyone first guns the motor to get off the trailer…
n
https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/05/political-storm-brews-as-trump-admin-considers-gift-of-luxury-jet-from-qatar/
No. Buy it.
I know. He said that Rambo could eat stuff that would make a Billy Goat puke. I changed to 1st person where Rambo says it.
That hole is from people gunning the motor to get the boat on the trailer. The unskilled who don’t back the trailer down far enough. Running in reverse does not impart as much thrust as going forward and the water is directed under the boat, not to the back of the boat. Under the boat should be concrete or some hard surface.
That is a bad idea. Tiny stones and other small debris can easily plug passages in the motor. And that is an expensive repair. The silt in the lake that is suspended just making the water brown does not have large enough particles to clog the ports in the motor. Stirring up small stones, by stirring up the muck, that are large enough to clog openings is a very real possibility. Don’t do it.
Of course the Trumpster said that a temporary trade agreement with China had been reached. He said that on Sunday with no details until Monday. That gave people in his inner circle and selected congress critters and senate ape time to contact their brokers and make changes to take advantage of the news. The swamp is not being drained, the color of the water is changing is about all that is happening.
Colonel Samuel R. “Sam” Trautman. Not much screen time, but what a character. I go back to the Real McCoys. He had quite the film and TV career.
Buy it for $1 just to piss off the ProgLibTurds.
The city is replacing my water line from the main line to the meter. Twice within the last two years the line has sprung a leak. The meter sits about six feet inside my yard and the city has torn that up with a big hole and a couple of piles of dirt. It is my problem to fix the lawn. The main water line is across the road and the city attaches a new line to the old line and uses their backhoe to pull a new line through the ground.
They started the process this morning, then had to leave because of a big water leak somewhere else in the city. It is supposed to rain today and it will be a bigger mess. The laborers are not the sharpest people in the woodshed. They do work hard between cigarette breaks.
I’m riding the wave. The remaining IRA is up $50K since before the tRump dUmp.
I had to have the pressure reducing valve replaced at our SA house a year ago. Pressure went wonky. I should have kept the valve and asked “what went wrong”. Dumb azz again.
“First Blood” was not a big hit until the film ran on HBO a year after the initial run.
Richard Crenna and Brian Dennehy featured prominently in the marketing for the theatrical release.
Tried my new radio last night. Couldn’t even hear WWV.
It came with a wire spool antenna extender, which I used.
Indoors in suburban Houston is probably not good. Too noisy and signals not getting through the roof and walls.
Next attempt will be hooking it up to my outside ham radio antenna. But I wanted to see what I could get from my easy chair in the living room first.
My ham radio antenna at the moment is basically a wire connected to my house rain gutter. It’s pretty marginal.
Ultimately may have to delegate the new radio for traveling and outside use.
Re: yesterday’s discussion of why Google search is so bad today has an answer, and it is what we thought: it pays to be bad.
https://instapundit.com/719290/#disqus_thread
For Mr. Ray:
A YT travel-nerd I follow, Portable Professional, recommends an eSIM provider called Saily. Maybe worth checking out.
Thanks. I have my former exchange student send me a SIM. They can get SIMS cheaper than that site. My current phone is from Xfinity, is ESIM only, but is locked to Xfinity until it is paid off. That will not happen until after my trip to Europe. I can pay it off early but Xfinity will no longer give me the monthly rebate once the phone is paid off. I would lose a couple of months of the rebates.
My plan is to use the tablet the VA provided that has an AT&T SIM installed. That device (Android) can use the DB train APP. I would have text and data but no voice which is good enough for my needs.
Did I mention it was chilly this morning? There is still a little chill to the breeze…
and it’s a gloriously sunny day.
n
(one truck inspected and oil changed.)
It is (was) the same here today.
Now it is 22 degrees C (73F for you banana-system folks) at 8 pm, and no wind to speak of.
I am, alas, driving into what will be a beautiful sunset when I really should be out in the woods bashing Bambi. Grrr.
Austin will hit 100s tomorrow or Wednesday.
Another week starting, another windstorm.
“ExxonMobil’s $8B Texas Gulf Coast Plant Moving Forward”
https://www.chemicalprocessing.com/asset-management/economics/news/55289304/exxonmobils-8-billion-texas-gulf-coast-plant-moving-forward
“ExxonMobil is hoping to start construction of the plant as early as 2026 with facilities starting operation around 2031.”
Another huge chemical plant being built on the Texas Gulf Coast since our natural gas is so cheap due to directional drilling and fracking.
This is why you can’t hate the LSM enough:
PEAK CNN: Car Prices Aren’t Shooting Up Despite Tariffs and ‘That’s Not Necessarily a Good Thing’
tRump’s tAriff dUmp is working out, but the Commie News Network has to find something negative. The hate is strong with the LSM.
“Dark Truths About the McRib”
https://rumble.com/v6t9td5-dark-truths-about-the-mcrib.html?e9s=src_v1_upp
Yum !
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
I am heading into the cold and wet but hopefully not very windy. Last year’s gusts to 50 mph on the Missouri River were cold, very cold.
https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/us/mt/cascade
We are all going to die!
Scientists reveal exact date universe will end: ‘Sooner than we feared’
Scientists can’t predict tomorrow’s weather, but know when the Universe will end. So say researchers in the Netherlands so it must be true. Based completely on theories, guessing, and azz scratching.
“Conflict Center: Naator (Perry Rhodan #77)” by Clark Darlton
https://www.amazon.com/Conflict-Center-Naator-Perry-Rhodan/dp/4041660610?tag=ttgnet-20/
Book number seventy-seven of a series of one hundred and thirty-six space opera books in English. The original German books, actually pamphlets, number in the thousands with several spinoffs. The English books started with two translated German stories per book translated by Wendayne Ackerman and transitioned to one story per book with the sixth book. And then they transition back to two stories in book #109/110. The Ace publisher dropped out at #118, so Forrest and Wendayne Ackerman published books #119 to #136 in pamphlets before stopping in 1978. The German books were written from 1961 to present time, having sold two billion copies and even recently been rebooted again. I read the well printed and well bound book published by Ace in 1975 that I had to be very careful with due to age. I bought an almost complete box of Perry Rhodans a decade or two ago on ebay that I am finally getting to since I lost my original Perry Rhodans in The Great Flood of 1989. In fact, I now own book #1 to book #106, plus the Atlan books, and some of the Lemuria books.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Rhodan
BTW, this is actually book number 85 of the German pamphlets written in 1963. There is a very good explanation of the plot in German on the Perrypedia German website of all of the PR books. There is automatic Google translation available for English, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, French, and Portuguese.
https://www.perrypedia.de/wiki/Kampfschule_Naator
There is alternate synopsis site at:
https://www.perryrhodan.us/summaries/85#
In this alternate universe, USSF Major Perry Rhodan and his three fellow astronauts blasted off in a three stage rocket to the Moon in their 1971. The first stage of the rocket was chemical, the second and third stages were nuclear. After crashing on the Moon due to a strange radio interference, they discover a massive crashed alien spaceship with an aged male scientist (Khrest), a female commander (Thora), and a crew of 500. It has been over seventy years since then and the Solar Empire has flourished with tens of millions of people and many spaceships headquartered in the Gobi desert, the city of Terrania. Perry Rhodan has been elected by the people of Earth to be the World Administrator and keep them from being taken over by the robot administrator of Arkon.
Perry Rhodan has been informed by Atlan and Khrest that the Robot Regent of the Arkonide Empire probably has a secret deactivation circuit. And the Robot Regent is recruiting sentients to replace the robot commanders of the vast Arkonide spaceship fleets. So Perry Rhodan, Bell, and 200 scientist soldiers change themselves to look like Zalites and transport themselves to the Zalit home world, just three light years away from Arkon. The groups then are transported to the Arkon home system for integration into the Arkonide space ships.
Two observations:
1. Forrest Ackerman should have put two or three of the translated stories in each book. Having two stories in the first five books worked out well. Just having one story in the book is too short and would never allow the translated books to catch up to the German originals.
2. Anyone liking Perry Rhodan and wanting a more up to date story should read the totally awesome “Mutineer’s Moon” Dahak series of three books by David Weber.
https://www.amazon.com/Mutineers-Moon-Dahak-David-Weber/dp/0671720856?tag=ttgnet-20/
My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 5 out of 5 stars (1 reviews)
Lynn
Certainly, we are all going to die. But not from the universe disintegrating.
EVERY such prediction has been proven to be false. Or it’s misinterpreted. Or it was based on hysterical delusions.
What about the ground up ligaments, softened in a chemical process which Smithfield developed to maximize the use of the pig?
Pork shoulder. I doubt that there is much of that. Real meat costs money.
Realize that if you got your wish and the switch to Daylight Savings Time ended, the sun would be up at 4:19 AM local time.
What about the ground up ligaments, softened in a chemical process which Smithfield developed to maximize the use of the pig?
Pork shoulder. I doubt that there is much of that. Real meat costs money.
Have you bought a McRib lately ? I paid $6 each for two of them a couple of years ago. No fries, no drink.
“Yes, Luke. Let the hate flow through you…”
CBS News Touts Bogus Expert Study That Just Happens to ‘Prove’ Climate Change Made April Storms Worse
The climate grift is grinding to a close. Activate The Goracle!
Al Gore Says You Should NEVER Compare Anyone to Hitler … Unless It’s Trump (Watch)
Donald J. Hitler is ruing Gore’s climate grift.
Smithfield wanted to take all of the ligament meat back to the motherland to sell so McDonalds staged a Streisand-esque “farewell” tour.
As Letterman once quipped back before the meds and mistress days started in 2000, “Mom hasn’t missed a single Streisand ‘farewell’ tour in 20 years.”
Scientists cannot predict yesterday’s weather with their current models. They adjust the output to match the result. Then brag about being accurate. I always aced my high school tests after the fact when I was told what the correct is supposed to be.
Don’t … stop … thinkin’ ’bout tomorrow …
Don’t … stop … it’ll soon be here …
It’ll be here … better than before …
Yesterday’s gone. Yesterday’s gone.
Keeping with the Lindsay Buckingham theme, Al Gore’s been on “Holiday Road” since losing the election in 2000.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsYqIJqlPNc
Gotta use the snouts and ears for something besides dog treats…
n
“Dark Truths About the McRib”
McMolded McMeat
Just Shut Up and Eat
Remember Oscar Mayer’s Motto:
“Everything but the squeal”
When I worked at the pack there was a work classification called “Trim Cheek Meat”. They stuck the hog heads on a pike and trimmed off the various bits, the largest of which was just where you’d expect from the description. Now they use high-speed rotating power tools that look like the Harbor Freight Hercules Surface Conditioner, which create near-aerosols that require special ventilation and moon suits.
Episcopal Church Shuts Down Its Migration Ministries Over Trump Resettling White South Africans
https://redstate.com/jenniferoo/2025/05/12/episcopal-church-shuts-down-its-migration-ministries-over-trump-resettling-white-south-africans-n2188985
Claim? Past time for an audit.
Federal Judges’ Ability to Issue Nationwide Injunctions Could End This Week
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2025/05/12/federal-judges-ability-to-issue-nationwide-injunctions-could-end-this-week-n3802707
It either ends in SCOTUS or Trump gets fed up and tells Roberts that his building is closed for repairs until further notice.
Well. I got the hobby website updated. Sent more info to the National org so they can host the store. I’ve still got to clean up a pdf and make it fillable, but that has to wait until I get the copy.
Got youngest sorted with her costume for tomorrow. She’s Ulysses Grant, and needed a set of clothes. I pulled several choices out of my … goodwill and thrift stores… this afternoon. Wife did some quick and dirty alterations. Kid is dressed like the picture but isn’t going to do the beard, or anything with her hair.
Went to dinner with an old friend who had moved away. She’s the wife of my buddy with the shop cleanout, and has been part of our very limited friend group for almost 2 decades. She was in town for work. Niko Niko’s, soo goood.
Got both trucks inspected and had their oil changed. Now I can do the online reg renewal. I’ll try that tomorrow. Dunno if I can with the Radio Operator plates being the same on both vehicles, but there should be a way.
All in all, it’s been a good and productive day, although not necessarily spent the way I planned to last week.
n
BTW, walked home from the mechanic in the morning. 20 minutes, 100 paces per minute. About 6000 feet. I was feeling pretty good, which is a big change from the first time I did it. I timed my pace and I was still doing the same when I ended as when I started. Walking up and down the hill at the BOL is helping my overall fitness too.
n