Cool to start, but warming rapidly. It was in the high 80sF or more by late in the day yesterday, although it started cool enough. Sun came out and it was actually pretty bright and sunny later. More of that would be ok with me.
I had lots to do, and it was awkwardly timed, so of COURSE I got a service call from my client on top of everything. I was able to flip some stuff around and accommodate him. I stopped on my way there and grabbed a new APC UPS. We have Cyberpower there, mainly because of cost, but I prefer APC. The store had an open box unit discounted enough I could go with the APC. He was back on grid when I got there, and the UPS was still beeping, so it was time to swap it. They do wear out, they do catch surges. At home, I try to replace the battery once, but after that, the power electronics seem to be just worn out and the unit needs replacing.
Anyway, got him back up and running, then picked up D1, dropped her home, did my trash run, came back to take D2 to the orthodontist, then took her with me to get two pickups before time ran out. Came home and crashed out in front of my PC. Wife took care of the other kid taxi duties last night.
Oh, and I cut myself. Details in yesterday’s comments. We’ll see today if there is any infection. I didn’t really want stitches with the heavy bandage, and water restrictions, especially with my trip to Disney coming up. Fortunately I had the steri-strips, antibiotic, cleaners, etc. Well, it’s not down to “fortune” exactly, but it’s down to preparation and stacks. Which is the whole point of prepping.
So fail for cutting myself, hooray for preps for treating the injury.
Stack stuff you might need, as well as stuff you know you will need. Then stack some more.
nick
73F and cloudy. Not so distant thunder. I don’t want rain this am, but then I’m not in charge.
Females all poked at, lunch made, coffee brewing, my work is almost done.
no sign of infection in my finger yet.
n
Rain started. Just gentle misty drizzle.
Just enough that I can’t have stuff in the bed of the pickup truck.
n
Some small business entrepreneur? “Have accelerant -will travel”.
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Speaking of heat. About 90F here yesterday. Suppised to hit 103F today or tomorrow.
It was time to do lawn work before the heat. The gas mower would not start, my carb orifice cleaning tools are nowhere to be found, so I ordered a cheap set from Amazon and hand weed pulled & battery weed whacked (most of) the front yard.
I am a bit creaaky this a.m., go figure.
We focused on getting the Southwest LUV Companion Pass for years. Your companion only pays the security fee. We milked that puppy for tens of thousands of dollars over the years. We currently haven’t qualified for it due to more schools going with virtual programs, which is even better for us. SWA will probably cashier the pass during their transition to more regular fees. We are on the A-List and get a free checked bag.
In preparation for Memorial Day, MrsAtoz had her gallbladder removed on Sunday. It became so inflamed and infected last week (a lot of pain and nausea) the docs got it out before it burst. She is home and recovering, but when you hit 70, any surgery is tougher. They did it laparoscopic so recovery is faster.
It was done at Methodist Stone Oak in SA which is one of the best hospitals in SA. The other Methodist hospitals in their stable suck ass.
Plus I wretched my back lifting a box. Not fun.
Louis Jordan. Love him.
The A-side was “Let the good times roll”.
He’s buried in St. Louis, even though he never lived there, nor did he die there. His fifth and final wife was from there.
Ain’t nobody here, but us chickens…
One of the great Louis sss.. or however the plural of Louis works…
Prima, Jordan, Satch and more.
n
It’s Obvious That the Obamas Are Hiding Something
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/05/28/its-so-obvious-the-obamas-are-hiding-something-n4940211
I leave it to your imagination…
Biden’s Autopen Scandal Grows As Watchdog Finds ‘No Evidence’ Former POTUS Knew About Signed Orders
https://redstate.com/rusty-weiss/2025/05/28/bidens-autopen-scandal-grows-as-watchdog-finds-no-evidence-former-potus-knew-about-signed-orders-n2189705
DOJ needs to an opinion that unauthorized use of the presidential autopen to sign EO’s is forgery, and treason, plotting with others to do so is conspiracy, and multiple times will also get a RICO charge.
Offer the first one to break a deal, the first part of which is that the death penalty will not be sought and the sentences will run concurrently, unlike the ones that get charged without a plea deal.
My money is on Ron Kain to fold like wet single-ply tissue in a third-rate gas station on a state highway near Cooterville.
and:
House? A Shocking Report Is Raising Questions
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/jeff-charles/2025/05/28/watchdog-group-finds-no-evidence-biden-knew-about-climate-executive-orders-n2657746
We also need a DOJ opinion that the 25th Amendment includes a requirement to act, with failure to do so another count of treason.
I’ve lost track of the current protocol to carry out the federal death penalty. Maybe quietly appoint a commission to review the procedure, and then make public the report.
Two Arrests in Fatal Texas Jet Ski Crash: One Suspect in the Country Illegally
https://redstate.com/wardclark/2025/05/28/two-arrests-in-fatal-texas-jet-ski-crash-one-suspect-in-the-country-illegally-n2189715
Is renting to an illegal alien legal in Texas?
The owner of the property needs criminal charges for aiding and abetting, accomplice before and after the fact, etc. Her parents need a creative attorney to file suit for damages and attach the property.
https://redstate.com/mike_miller/2025/05/28/its-hopeless-crestfallen-cbs-hack-lesley-stahl-doesnt-see-a-path-out-of-trumps-america-n2189700
Find 11 others in the CBS/60 Minutes newsroom that feel the same way and you can save on the discount lot of Robin Williams Memorial Multi-Use Belts.
Not trying to argue or beat a dead horse. But… I find nothing where Starlink uses cell networks as a co-connection or back-up. Seems it would show when running tracert but maybe they can spoof that stuff.
I did re-find this from setting up the system: http://192.168.100.1/ That’s right into the Starlink router. I can reboot the system here. No phone app or wi-fi involved. The aiming of the dish part interesting. It looks like real time. Since everything is moving the numbers “flicker” a bit. The page says this:
Tilt recommendation 8.22°↓
Rotate recommendation 1.33°↺
Current rotation angle 1.34°
Current tilt angle 69.85°
Target tilt angle 61.63°
Target rotation angle 0.02°
Tilt recommendation varies from 8.58 to 7.8. Pretty steady from 8.14 to 8.28. Current tilt angle changes, too. I think it wants less tilt.
Rotation is off by a degree. Sometimes almost two degrees. I missed perfection by one degree out of 360.
I was very sure to mount the wall mount as vertical as my bubble level measures. It was still good after tightening the bolts. I can’t do anything if the rest of the mounting system is off. I sure can’t do a thing about the orbital mechanics involved.
I could loosen the lag bolts holding the wall mount and change the tilt a tiny bit. Add some shims and tweak the rotation, too. But, nah….. it’s good the way it is.
DOGE Just Scored a Tremendous Victory in Federal Court
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/jeff-charles/2025/05/28/federal-judge-allows-doge-to-access-treasury-departments-payment-systems-n2657741
DOGE gets full access to Treasury data as long as the investigators are properly trained.
Stock in Depends should go through the roof.
We need a good accounting on fraud across the board, with a line item for illegal alien activity. Then we need to confiscate property held by illegal aliens and sell it off to repay the citizens.
Pipe hitters. We got ’em. Let them swing.
>>metal insulation
metal??
My office building is built out of wooden 2x4s on the sides and 2×10 rafters. Just outside of this on both the sides and the rafters, they put up 4×8 foot rigid sheets of tin foil and rigid foam insulation. The tin foil blocks the heat waves from going through it. Something like this:
https://insulation4us.com/products/rmax-4ft-x-8ft-polyiso-rigid-foam-insulation-board-thermasheath-3
This drops the air conditioning usage of my 5,300 ft2 office building by about a third. The only better thing is to coat the walls and rafters with three to four inches of spray on foam insulation. But, the tin foil sheets cuts radio signals significantly.
“Out of the Dark” by David Weber
https://www.amazon.com/Out-Dark-David-Weber/dp/076536381X?tag=ttgnet-20/
Book number one of a three book science fiction alien invasion series. I reread the well printed and well bound MMPB published by Tor in 2011 that I bought new on Amazon recently. I did have the hardback that I bought in 2011 but the dirt dobbers destroyed that book in my garage storage. I have the other two books in the series and plan to reread the second book soon and read the third book that I bought recently.
The Shongairi, a canine omnivore aggressive race of the Galactic Hegemony, announced their presence in Earth orbit by dropping thousands of kinetic weapons and killing a quarter of the human race on the first day. The Shongairi then landed enormous numbers of troops and weapons and tried to force the human race to submit as they had done to several other alien space races. But humans do not submit and we fought back, losing another quarter of the human race to the invading ground soldiers and more kinetic strikes. And starvation and disease.
Hey, there are vampires in my alien invasion story ! Leave it to Weber to write a great alien invasion story and then use a deus ex machina of Vampires in the last 50 pages of the story to close it out. Worked for me but quite a few people on Amazon did not like it. Also, Weber really cut back on his description of military technology in the book, not that I care. Also, Weber makes a great argument for private ownership of Stinger missiles (MANPADS).
The author has a website at:
https://www.davidweber.net/
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars (I raised my rating on the reread from 4 stars)
Amazon rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars (3,927 reviews)
Lynn
“Viewpoints”
https://areaocho.com/viewpoints/
“I know this story is 7 years old, but it displays an important point. A 17 year old was burglarizing a woman’s house and set off her burglar alarm, which alerted the 54 year old homeowner of the break in. She called police while rushing home, and arrived before the police to find the burglar climbing out of a window. She confronted him, he attacked her, she shot and killed him. Police ruled that the shooting was self defense. I won’t comment on the details or legality of the shooting, as there just aren’t enough facts in this article to say either way. (Although I think it is important to note that I can’t find where charges were ever filed.) What I want to concentrate on is what the man’s mother had to say:”
Nobody is entitled to steal stuff from another person. This is a tough love situation.
“Debt is still killing us, and President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” isn’t touching it”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2025/05/debt-is-still-killing-us-and-president.html
The federal governments spending over the past couple of decades has risen from 17% of the GDP to 23% of the GDP. This cannot continue forever.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_spending_in_the_United_States
I like this comment because it is true: “They will continue, until society collapses, while stealing everything they can- your IRA, your 401k, your home and land and business , and every cent of the value of your money aka fiat currency.”
I hope that the Senate adds a lot of spending cuts to the House bill but I doubt it.
For anyone who wonders how this might play out in the USA, here is a magnificent book about the economic collapse of the USA: “The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047” by Lionel Shriver
https://www.amazon.com/Mandibles-Family-2029-2047-Lionel-Shriver/dp/0062328247
The disaster starts in 2029. Yup, just under four years from now.
Texas will have serious problems in less than a year if the Legislature doesn’t pass more tax “reform” in the next few days.
Monday is the end of the regular session.
Something tells me the uniparty in Austin already has a deal that people won’t like.
re: Out of the Dark.
Weber used to be one of my favorite authors.
Now, I can’ t even pick up one of his books.
There have been many books, by many authors, that I could not finish. Usually, I’ll figure that out in the first 50 pages or so. Out of the Dark is the first book I ever walled, and that’s after I finished it. I’m saddened to hear he wrote 2 sequels to that piece of dreck.
I won’t say Out of the Dark was my turning point. That happened when I finished one of the Safehold books (or was it Honorverse?) where I realized I had just read over 500 pages and NOTHING HAPPENED.
I’d probably pick up a Reader’s Digets condensed version of his last 20 years of work. And I’d probably be disappointed to discover that Safehold has gone 100% cyberpunk, where it wasn’t endless, pointless discussions of religion and politics.
“SpaceX reached space with Starship Flight 9 launch, then lost control of its giant spaceship (video)”
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacex-launches-starship-flight-9-to-space-in-historic-reuse-of-giant-megarocket-video
“SpaceX launched its Starship megarocket for the ninth time ever today (May 27), on a bold test flight that featured the first-ever significant reuse of Starship hardware.”
“Starship‘s two stages separated as planned on Flight 9, and the upper stage even reached space, which was an improvement over the giant vehicle’s most recent two flights. But SpaceX ended up losing both stages before they could accomplish their full flight goals.”
“”Starship made it to the scheduled ship engine cutoff, so big improvement over last flight!” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on social media after the flight. “Leaks caused loss of main tank pressure during the coast and re-entry phase. Lot of good data to review.” Musk said the next three Starship test launches could lift off every three to four weeks in the days ahead.?
Bummer.
There have been many books, by many authors, that I could not finish. Usually, I’ll figure that out in the first 50 pages or so. Out of the Dark is the first book I ever walled, and that’s after I finished it. I’m saddened to hear he wrote 2 sequels to that piece of dreck.
I thought that also and then I read the second book in the series where he explained that the “vampires” were actually marooned aliens from 700+ years before that had unique physiological bodies.
That’s a concept borrowed from classic “Doctor Who” and revisited by the revived series in 2010.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws1aH4hPteI
“One day that will work.”
Yeah, I have to 2nd that. No interest in the sequels.
Did my running around. Even had time to talk with my local auctioneer and get a commitment to take more stuff next week.
Got the kid home.
Now I guess I need to get some food on the table.
n
“Debt is still killing us, and President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” isn’t touching it”
Majorities in the House and Senate are thin. Not much room to work.
First order of business is to get the RINO’s in the Senate to vote. If they need convincing, please: “Send me! Send me!!”
I will explain they either vote or they get primaried RTF Out, followed by enough lawsuits and investigations to last the rest of their lives and cause their families to have them expunged from the family tree.
Trump just set a record with the first 50+% approval record ever.
Pass the bill. Hammer the Dems flat and win the 2026 elections by a landslide.
Then take a chainsaw to the budget.
You don’t like the plan? How do you think you’d like having Trump in prison and the Dems back in full control?
Speaker Hakim Jeffries is almost a lock at this point.
after the rain this morning, it cleared up all around town, and we had a nice cool sunny day. 79F in the afternoon. even cooler before that.
Crazy, but welcome.
n
Probably should keep your success to yourself. Or treat it more seriously.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14757721/billionaire-brats-bender-tortured-crypto-businessman-Manhattan-townhouse.html
n
Dinner tonight was vegetable beef soup made with sirloin and sided with homemade cornbread. Big glass of milk.
Refrigerator-sized machine makes gasoline out of thin air
https://www.popsci.com/environment/aircela-gasoline-machine/
Sure, just add one troy ounce of platinum*.
Trash like this is a good example of why I don’t subscribe to Popular Science.
Fifty years ago any newspaper reporter would have asked the right questions, much less a writer for a publication with a long and respected history like SA.
Now they send some dumphuq out who can’t even be bothered to ask what it takes to buy and run such a machine.
10 gallons? CO2 is a gas at room temperature and pressure. Not enough carbon there to build the organic molecules in a gallon of gasoline. So if not in the gas phase then what?
Gasoline is a mixture many different organic molecules. Does this machine make a blend? If it’s direct to an engine what is the octane number (RON) and vapor pressure?
*see “Adventures of Superman” tv show.
Another variation on The Pizza Box dream is to be able to fire the corner gas station along with the phone, cable, and power companies.
“Leaks”. Yeah, that was obvious seconds after SECO, when it became clear that SOMETHING was venting to space. Watch the video from 9:30 after liftoff. I asked if it was a stuck reaction control thruster that caused the Ship to start tumbling.
And “leaks” also caused Ship 7 and Ship 8 to explode during the boost phase passing over Florida. I might worry about sabotage….
Most new television, movies and print books are worthless trash, largely owing to a lack of refinement that comes with removing the scarcity of resources each requires, but in the case of the video formats the advent of dirt-cheamp special effects that glitz over the chasm-size plot holes and contempt for character development.
There are more good old tv, movies and books in my library than I have the time left to watch.
The secret agent genre of the mid-20th century is underappreciated. Ian Fleming had a lot of good and better contemporaries. Donald Hamilton’s Matt Helm is the best example, but Edward Aarons’ Sam Durell, Adam Hall’s Quiller, Philip Atlee’s Joe Gall, Jack Higgins’ Sean Dillon…
Top 125 Best Spy Authors Ranked by Tim Shipman for Spybrary
https://spybrary.com/top120spyauthors/
is a good list badly ordered, but useful nonetheless.
John Fraser’s good but not comprehensive appreciation of Donald Hamilton’s Matt Helm:
https://www.mysteryfile.com/Hamilton/Hamilton.html
If you are unfamiliar with Hamilton and like westerns, I would advise starting with one of the six that he penned before starting the Helm series.
And then there’s mysteries…
Every failure is another learning opportunity for Space Exploration, inc.
—–
Dinner ended up being fresh corn on the cob, that we didn’t eat at the BOL, a costco sou vide take and make meal, beef tips in savory sauce, egg noodles from the stacks. The heat and eat meals are generally very good, will freeze (although they don’t recommend it, that’s how I store most of them), keep in the fridge for much longer than they say, and don’t take much effort or energy to make. Paired with rice or noodles they go a lot farther too. They are a bit expensive, although less than fast food or takeout.
——-
I’m checked in for our flight tomorrow. I’m not looking forward to this trip, but I’m trying to keep an open mind and get ready to enjoy it. Mom is still sick with something like the flu or an URI so she probably won’t join us after all. That is a shame because time for her to be with the kids is limited.
Last half day of school is only for a party and “leaving” celebration at the middle school, although D1 will have two tests tomorrow in High School.
Our district plays games with length of “educational day” to change the number of days ‘in session’ needed to meet the state minimum requirement. Everyone knows the extra couple of minutes of class every day do not equal an extra week of days in the classroom, but frankly the school year is already too long by far,so we all play along.
——-
the United website doesn’t support my “old version” browser (the samsung browser on my phone) and wants me to update to a new version of chrome. No. I suppose I should try the app, so it can update here under wifi. Every time I’ve used it, it needed to update first. — and I was right, updating now. —and still useless as I can’t log in. “Sorry, something went wrong.” is about the least helpful message I’ve seen in a while.
n
>>First order of business is to get the RINO’s in the Senate to vote. If they need convincing, please: “Send me! Send me!!”
Concurrently let’s dispose of the RINOs and replace them accordingly.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss…
… won’t get fooled again…
n
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzLs-xSss0
Refrigerator-sized machine makes gasoline out of thin air
https://www.popsci.com/environment/aircela-gasoline-machine/
No where do they state the price of the machine nor do they state the amount of electricity to run it. I do not doubt that the machine works, I just wonder what the byproducts are. Most of these machines make immense amounts of glycerin. If the reactor runs outside of its desired temperature and pressure range, the glycerin can be 2/3rds of the product.
I also note that they do not state the octane numbers, research and motor, of the produced gasoline.
BTW, CO2 under extreme pressure becomes a liquid at room temperatures.
Remember Jerry’s axiom, you can do a lot with energy that is cheap enough…
even make gasoline.
n
>>the United website doesn’t support my “old version” browser (the samsung browser on my phone) and wants me to update to a new version of chrome. No. I suppose I should try the app, so it can update here under wifi. Every time I’ve used it, it needed to update first. — and I was right, updating now. —and still useless as I can’t log in. “Sorry, something went wrong.” is about the least helpful message I’ve seen in a while.
That’s why I’d always print a paper copy (aka stack) of my boarding pass and stuff it in my carry-on bag.
Safe travels @nick and co…