Hot and humid, probably clear and sunny. Brain boiling hot in the sun. Yesterday wasn’t crazy hot but the humidity made it very unpleasant to be working outdoors. I spent most of the day in soaking wet clothes.
I did get some of the maintenance done on the mower. I didn’t have the right washer to use as a spacer with the new front wheels and tires, so I put the old one back on. It only leaks slowly and was fine for the day. I sharpened the blades, they were in rough shape but the grass was so long I didn’t want to abuse a new set. The cheap chinese blades don’t hold up for very long, but they are easy to sharpen. I broke them mower deck drive belt half way through, but I had a spare in the shed. I can get the deck on and off in minutes since I’ve had so much practice. I also replaced the blade engagement cable. Nothing wrong with the cable, but the plastic end that makes it all work was worn out. Poor design choice. Or not, if you think they want you to spend money replacing stuff.
We did get a spatter of rain while I was cutting, but not enough to stop.
There was a bit of putting stuff away, and some organizing, but mostly the day was spent working on the mower, or using it.
Today I’ll finish trimming the yard, and if it’s not raining, I’ll run the mower over everything again in mulching mode to get rid of the rows and rows of grass cuttings. Maybe I’ll do the park too.
I’ve got quite a bit stacked up here, but not all of it is well organized or put away. That will be an ongoing project.
Always be working. And stacking.
nick
Paxton will lose in the general election against the Dem if they don’t run a candidate as odious as “Doors” was six years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIYHz6fPAgo
People voted for Cornyn just so that they wouldn’t have to listen to the Wine/Ink Mom scold for six years.
Again, I don’t know about where she ran the Senate campaign, but Hegar’s actual campaign office in Round Rock for the House race was in a modern strip mall convenient to a Spec’s.
I saw Hegar in a local BBQ chain restaurant a few months ago, not far from the gated Fancy Lad neighborhood where I think she really lives here in North Austin/Round Rock.
I’m not posting any new comments about who I think served as her local benefactor for the House and Senate races, but my past comments have the name.
Colin Zachary is a bit of a scold having been raised in a single parent household by a Wine Mom, but I don’t think the Dems will run him in the general again.
The Wine/Ink Mom demographic is not as powerful as it was five years ago. If my friends are any indication, the inevitable divorces have taken a toll on a lot of households.
What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas, and Texas has jury trial divorce as an option to embarrass, assign blame, and influence settlement numbers.
Canada continues to push thousands of tons of smoke into the northern tier states of the U. S. With severe degradation of air quality and a quantifiable increase in deaths among vulnerable groups.
For the fifth year in a row.
It’s time to take a look at the level of wildfire mitigation and forest management. If the Canadians are not making a credible effort maybe an additional tariff or a claim in international court.
Bummer. I had almost exactly the same problem. Woke up in some serious pain that would not go away. After the wife’s experience with the heart attack, off to the ER we go. A couple of hours later the CT scan showed two stones, Fred and Wilma. A couple of weeks later I had them removed. I was put under general anesthesia and the stones removed by going through the penis. Some type of device that breaks them up and sucks out the bits. A stint was also installed. Peeing for the next couple of days was misery.
That tube they insert, with the camera, lights, grabbers, and what all is larger than what should be stuffed inside the urethra. A month later the stint was removed. No general anesthesia this time, just some stuff squirted into the penis. That tube, hanging on the wall, was a reminder of what was to come. No pain, but it was uncomfortable. Peeing for the next couple of days was again very unpleasant.
The good news Mr. Brad is that you are no longer a candidate to donate a kidney for anyone.
There’s no agenda to react to here. The fires in question are much further north than our major population centers, so much less subject to control or mitigation.
>>Can’t have that but IDK what to do about it.
Any of your BOL neighbors that put on the July 4th display have any leftover “bang-bangs?” Works when they do it on the Looney Tunes cartoons. 😉
I broke them mower deck drive belt half way through, but I had a spare in the shed. I can get the deck on and off in minutes since I’ve had so much practice.
My guy that mows the 14 acre office for me uses a Skag ZTR, a top brand. And his belt pops off occasionally too. That is problem with having one drive pulley and two or three blades.
I am guessing that a geared transmission could be even worse when the gears eventually strip. Then you have an expensive gearbox to replace.
Paxton will lose in the general election against the Dem if they don’t run a candidate as odious as “Doors” was six years ago.
Nah. Texas has gotten more conservative. Trump will support Paxton, this is Trump country. Many Texans like my mother think that democrats are followers of the evil one.
Although, Paxtons wife divorcing him right now is problematic. The guy really should of kept it in his pants.
I went through one mower every five years in Florida. Once the self propelled drive gears strip, the mower is useless. Replacement then was equal to the cost of a new mower,
The HOA mandated Floritam grass is not something that possible to cut in 90 degrees and swamp humidity levels without the self propelled feature, especially on a hill.
Also necessary was a 6+ HP gas engine.
“Trump Exempts 12 Louisiana Plants from Pollution Rule”
https://www.chemicalprocessing.com/environmental-protection/air-environment/news/55305715/trump-exempts-12-louisiana-plants-from-pollution-rule
“Proclamation cites technological limits, concerns over cost and national security impacts from supply chain disruptions. Shell, BASF, Dow, Union Carbide, Denka, Sasol, Westlake and others on the list.”
The greens are trying to get all manufacturing shut down here.
Williamson County split the top of the ticket last year. Trump won the top race, but Collin Zachary beat Rafael Edward by a solid enough margin that the donors are letting him try it again next year.
Colin Zachary would be a reliable Prog vote in the Senate. He overdid it with the commercials using the video of the visibly out of shape Rafael Edward berating the clerks at the Southwest counter in 2020.
The lawncare companies around here will mow in the pouring rain. They only get paid when they mow and they’re not going to forego a week’s worth of revenue because it’s suppose to rain everyday. Sometimes it works out well and other times the tires on their mowers are tearing up mud and grass and they’re leaving wet clumps of grass clippings everywhere. It can be painful to watch.
It’s similar to the snow removal guys trying to plow up a ½” of snow because it’s been dry winter and they need the revenue. Most smart businesses have standing orders for them not to plow unless we get at least 2″ of snow.
“SpaceX Traces Starlink Outage to Network Upgrade”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/spacex-traces-starlink-outage-to-network-upgrade
“Since Thursday’s outage, a few Starlink users have reported faster speeds, raising speculation that the outage happened while SpaceX was trying to upgrade its network.”
It is time to get my lazy butt out of bed. There is a realtor coming by and we are going to pick out a headstone for mom and dad.
, the inevitable divorces have taken a toll on a lot of households.
— from all the youtube “manosphere” vids I’ve watched lately and all the reaction vids about the dating scene, the word “inevitable” is spot on. There are a couple of generations in a row that are just F’d. Social media with the emphasis on envy and FOMO is destroying marriages. Add the social dissonance caused by the everyone is beautiful and special in their own way vs reality, and there are a LOT of delusional people who now think they deserve more and can do better.
——–
Currently sunny, 84F and getting hotter.
Time to get some work done.
n
Starlink– currently 20 down, and the up was 10 for half the test, 20 for half, 52ms latency
Feels faster though.
n
Finished most of my yard. Still have a couple of places to trim. It’s 95F in the shade and much hotter in the sun. No one is up here which is the way I like it. So quiet.
Stopping for lunch and a cool down.
n
Check out patent number 6025810. Hyper-light-speed antenna.
The patent has expired, so feel free to manufacture them with no license.
Hey Nick, did you ever consider working outdoors before the sun comes up? I used to know an aircraft mechanic who worked mostly outdoors. In the summer, he started around midnight and worked until it was too warm for him. Our mornings are usually very nice, though. Sometimes if there is a breeze, a jacket feels good.
Counterpoint: I remember when we went to a wedding in Scottsdale in August one year. It didn’t cool off much at night. Humid, too. Lots of shade, though.
Nick’s mower may not have useful lights, and most HOAs have quiet hours before 8 or 9 in the morning, so he’d be limited to non-motorized work.
Plus, that would mean actually going to bed earlier. Not something Nick is known for.
I grilled a steak today. NY Strip dated Nov, ‘20. You never know if it’s going to be tough or tender. We bought a couple of whole NY Strips and did the slice and vac seal routine. The two were mixed together in the freezer. They look the same to me.
Today’s was on the tough side. I cooked it caveman style. That’s where you put it on the grill, walk inside for a drink of water, come back out and well. Flame Kissed. Or is it Charred Broiled? Flame Charred, that’s it.
It wasn’t cooked quite enough but close. Plenty of chewy fat trimmings for the dog’s supper tonight.
I think tomorrow I’ll air fry the french fries I forgot about today. I’m not hungry now.
@Gavin
No agenda needed, and the pollutants affect the Canadian population centers as well, but the smoke is triggering air quality alerts for millions of people, including advisories that are basically “stay home” for all the people in the affected areas and “breath the smoke at the risk of your life” for vulnerable.
I bought a movie today. I looked at Big River but didn’t like the prices. I found a copy on eBay. Paid. Looked around some more and looked at the movie again.
I tried to cancel 20 minutes later. “It looks like it might be Region 2 and if so, cancel. If it’s Region 1 please send.” The listing doesn’t say. The seller is in Florida. I learned my lesson when I bought V for Vendetta and didn’t notice it was coming from Germany.
Well, eBay says the order was not canceled and has already shipped. It’s still estimated to arrive Thu, Aug 07 – Wed, Aug 13. Which seems extra slow for USPS.
I’ll see what I get. If I can’t play it I’m only out $5.
Paul, you might be able to play it on your computer, depending on what kind of optical drive you have. Or, you might need some “special” software.
I haven’t really done much of this. Good luck.
We have an agreement about this. It came into play for the LA fires, and for the current Canadian fires.
Then
Now
Mowing in the dark isn’t an option. I bought an LED light bar, but haven’t installed it yet.
Finished the string trimming and need to cool down. Spent some more time talking with my buddy.
I need to put more stuff away. Then if I have time, I’ll mow the HOA lot.
IF.
n
Defeating the region lock is a nit with DVDs, but the problem with a lot of German DVDs is that they don’t include English audio tracks in my experience. That’s ok if it is a German domestic film, but I wouldn’t want to watch an American film with subtitles.
My first copy of V for Vendetta was Region 2 and played in my PC’s CD drive. But this chair isn’t comfortable enough to sit long enough to watch a movie. The speakers in my monitor are crummy to boot.
Well, eBay says the order was not canceled and has already shipped. It’s still estimated to arrive Thu, Aug 07 – Wed, Aug 13. Which seems extra slow for USPS.
Book parcel special postage, very slow. Used to be $1 shipping, not sure what it is now.
On a whim, I typed “telling in-laws that they are going to be grandparents is a polite way to say I raw-dogged your daughter” into a search engine. The “AI assistant” response I got was
it is best to address them in a mature and respectful manner.
/ha ha
n
Ok, back in February I mentioned some reel-to-reel tapes I found, potentially containing my father’s voice.
I was going to digitize them myself, but I did a little research, and it turns out there are issues with old tapes, including “shedding”, and the process to play them without destroying them is complicated.
So I started looking at places to digitize them for me, and there are many of them, each claiming to be the best. Of course.
Anyone here have any experience with this? About 20 years ago I had all my dad’s silent 8mm movies copied to VHS and DVD by a service in Kansas. It was expensive, but the result was ok. Dad had a tendancy to under-expose or shoot in low-light.
In the abscence of first-hand recommendations, I suppose going with a big name like LegacyBox is the way to go.
Look for a local place that does it on site.
Absent that, get an order ID and write it on the reel and the tape leader. Date, too.
>>I tried to cancel 20 minutes later. “It looks like it might be Region 2 and if so, cancel. If it’s Region 1 please send.” The listing doesn’t say. The seller is in Florida. I learned my lesson when I bought V for Vendetta and didn’t notice it was coming from Germany.
Well, eBay says the order was not canceled and has already shipped. It’s still estimated to arrive Thu, Aug 07 – Wed, Aug 13. Which seems extra slow for USPS.
If the seller is using some type of auction management software, once you pay it probably prints a mailing label with a tracking number, which to the USPS is as good as mailed.
One of The Child’s friends just stayed with us for a week. Before she came, The Child said that she wanted steak, lots of steak, for that week. The friend was agreeable so The Child and I went to the butcher shop the day before the arrival and I got a 12# ribeye subprimal and an 18# chuck roll subprimal, from which I cut chuck eye and denver steaks. (With most of the chuck roll going to chuck roasts and stew meat, of course.) We did indeed have steak every day that the friend was here, though she was less enthusiastic about it by the end. The bigger problem was eyes-bigger-than-my-belly-itis, which resulted in a fair amount of leftovers. Leftover ribeye is still decent, but nothing like fresh-cooked.
@ stevef, the best way I’ve found to reheat steak is to put it back on the grill for a minute or 2 each side. Microwave is right out.
————
Home. Left the BOL very late. Worked until dark, then still had some stuff to do before leaving.
Gonna sleep soon.
n
raw-dogged ???
I don’t want to know.
I do know this. When we announced that she was pregnant, everyone was ecstatic. First kid on either side in over 15 years.
Funny, I remember the kid was unplanned. But my wife told me the other day that he was totally planned. Maybe unplanned for me and planned for her ?
One reason I object to the use of “raw dogging” to describe taking a plane flight without any distractions like a book or music, just sitting there staring ahead, is that the term comes from a sexual practice, having unprotected sex, typically with strangers, especially risky ones.
It’s like the way “money shot” has come into mainstream use.
n
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LV9oYFJ2YI “you let him hit it raw, now you’re a single mom…”