Hot. So hot in the sun. And humid. Crazy humid. Ten minutes of raking in the sun and I need to go inside and cool down. And a breeze? What’s that? I think today will be like the last three days. Gorgeous and sunny, if I was on vacation. Misery if I’m working outdoors.
I got a lot done. See yesterday’s comments for details. There is still plenty on the list, if they don’t pick up the machines today. If they do, I’ll go home. If not, I’ll stay and keep working.
I’ve got plenty still to do. I need to finish cleaning up from the walkway install. There are a few more grading things to do, and I need to finish knocking down the dirt piles I had left over from 2023 when I last had the machines here. And I’ll have to move the leftover crushed slag. I guess I’ll have a pile of something no matter what I do.
A second home takes a lot of work. A BOL takes more because of the rural setting, lack of local services and stores, and providing more of your own services and support. The work I’m doing this week isn’t critical. It won’t increase my readiness or resilience (well the new garden might), but it does impact the family’s use of the property, and it helps with integration into the community.
And those are good things.
Keep stacking. Keep working. Keep the faith.
nick
… and drink more coffee.
Actually, my FICO score is 820 on the sites that only go to 850, and rises to 848 on the sites that go to 900. Why the difference in scale is beyond my pay grade.
And yeh, I probably need a new hobby. Being an a-hole on reddit for a hobby is just not cutting it anymore.
And I have found out that I no longer have to set the clock on the truck. The time even changes when I cross a time-zone going west or east. I live about 20 miles east from the eastern and central time zone boundary. The son lives close to Nashville so we cross the time zone traveling there.
Temple has the VA pork barrel complex and the original BSW hospital with a transplant program. I’d say that gives it the edge over Waco and even Dallas.
I wouldn’t take a dog to the Southwestern/Parkland complex for anything.
It will be a long time before doctors are accepting a couple of chickens and a pie as payment for an appendectomy, and chickens don’t begin to pay the maintenance on 21st century medical miracles like the MRI machines that are dramatically cutting prostate biopsies.
I paid $900 cash for the MRI when United (!) balked, and I consider avoiding the biopsy to have been worth the cost.
YMMV, but bartering isn’t coming to your local healthcare provider anytime soon.
The AMA will replace your GP with an MBBS long before that happens.
It’s difficult to justify taking more than $250,000 from my income-producing retirment investments forwhat amounts to an extra room and a workshop…
– you could add on or build a shed/garage for less than that, if you have the room.
————-
I’m up, although getting out of bed has been slower and harder each day. Feel ok. Being in the machine is hard on your body. You are constantly bounced around and bumped into things.
Coffee is still dribbling into the pot. Breakfast is still not made.
78F and sunny, beautiful if I didn’t have to work in it.
n
Start an OnlyFans.
Even without GPS, the truck is online 24/7 via 5G modems.
My ford has an option to use my cell to get the time, or the GPS, or set manually.
I don’t like time zones changing automagically. I used to get screwed up by outlook while traveling as appointment times would change when my time zone changed, but they were made in local time anyway. Flights were the worst.
Even here, my bedside clock was suddenly one hour fast. Thought I’d missed my phone alarm but it must be an old DST definition file. There is a switch to set DST automatically. Thought it was Off.
n
I’ve got a funny story about buying my wife’s truck and credit scores but it’s too long.
The punchline, is, after spending a couple hours in the dealership, now 9pm, after doing all the paperwork for the cash deal, my wife says “Oh, we can’t take it tonight, I don’t have my checkbook.” The exasperated and tired finance/closer dude snorts and says “Take it. Bring the check by at your convenience. You’ve got an 849 credit score.”
(out of 850)
We had no idea it was quite that good, and certainly didn’t include me. Hasn’t ever been that high since.
—-
Truck battery is still charging, but I think I’ll try to start it after breakfast.
n
I presumably have a credit score. It’s probably not very good. I’ve had no loans since I sold my house almost 20 years ago (I was a year ahead on paying off the 15-year mortgage, but it was still a loan), I don’t use my credit cards much and pay them off every month. (Except for one missed payment maybe five years ago. I paid online but either missed the final confirmation click or their system glitched.) I pay cash wherever I can, paypal where necessary (I greatly dislike PP but in practice have to use it), credit cards only if I must. My finances were separated from my wife’s after I found that she’d been dipping into the joint account, playing games to disguise it, and lying about it. I don’t know if her score will affect mine, given that we’re married.
Microwaves Against the Swarm: A New Phase in US Counter-Drone Strategy.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14980117/addiction-sweeping-US-Americans-hooked-substance-slipped-popular-drinks.html
Kratom. Which I see advertised everywhere, with the sly hinting you used to see about “tobacco pipes” and head shops, and no explanation… well, now I know. All the people who believe an unregulated “natural” product is better for them just because it’s “natural” seem to have forgotten that cyanide is natural, as are lead and arsenic. I don’t understand why you’d take something with no idea of the actual dose.
There’s also an element of that culture that seems to be proud of somehow “sticking it to the man” or “getting away with something” that they shouldn’t. Which also makes no sense to me.
n
@mediumwave – I don’t think I’d like to be downrange of that thing with a pacemaker, or a cochlear implant. That is one big muther antenna.
n
My immediate reaction also!
Show Ya.
Plus Wine/Weed Moms really get off on sticking to the man.
My recently divorced friend learned that the gummies which were the catalyst for his marriage’s demise came from an organized buying club at the temple.
And he just thought his wife “found religion”. Please.
X-er is another layer of tude.
John Hughes was a soulless ad man who sold an empty materialistic fantasy to my age group.
Dear sweet Summer father, what Mr. Paul said.
Odd turn of phrase, given that you’re older than I. Dang it, I told myself and told myself that getting involved with that time travel startup five years from now would cause trouble, but I didn’t listen and went and will do it anyway.
On the politics front: Trump has cooked up the “Mar-A-Lago” Accord. In an attempt to reduce US interest payments, he is trying to pressure countries to convert their US bonds to zero-interest 100-year terms.
Funny, no one is taking him up on it. The US dollar is continually inflating, in fact, Trump has said he wants it to get weaker faster. With 0% interest, in 100 years those bonds would make good toilet paper. Or not – they might be scratchy.
Oof.
That’s always annoyed me on the 2019 Ram, its online all the time, why can’t they set the #!%@ clock in return for their creepy stalking?
Seems like the least they could do.
The US had a short term bond auction which was a disaster at the beginning of the week.
Maybe Trump should convince Warren Buffett about buying that paper first.
It annoyed me on my 2014 F-150 that I had to set the time manually when the time was available on the GPS system. When traveling to Nashville I had to manually set the clock back one hour, then on return, set it forward one hour.
There is probably an option to turn that feature off buried in the dozens of settings on the screen. I have been through most of the settings and got the settings the way I like.
None of the time zone changes really bother me as I use the Apple calendar and have all the events set to the proper time zone. Sometimes a little confusing when in another time zone. When in the proper time zone it works OK. On the iPhone and iPad the time zone can be set when entering the event, for the start time and end time, individually. What I do not like is that on the MAC some idiot decided it was better to have to change the time zone on the MAC, in the System Settings, to get the proper time zone when entering an event in the calendar. It is not possible to have a different begin time and end time time zone unless I enter the event, change the time zone on the MAC, then update the end or being time. A really stupid design.
My 2019 Nissan Frontier sets the clock. I assume via GPS. If that fancy radio system (built in Sirus) has any kind of cell service I’m not paying for it. I have not link my phone to it. I simply do not use the phone while driving. Leave a message or try later.
That year is new enough that the truck has 5G modems for telemetry to the manufacturer.
That is decent of them to keep the time synced, but they probably do not anyway for the vehicle reporting.
I am sure that like my RAM someone is hovering up the data and selling it. We are products.
Time, speed, location, what radio stations i like (none). My phone # and type, Sim #, who I call and when…
There needs to be some sort of pushback to this. First is that the owner gets notified and a copy of everything, second that they get half the gross of any sale and any resale.
Auto correct. Grr.
Another possibility for time is a stratum 1 server. Once you have GPS hardware receiving signals, the server is easy.
I had fun today. I took six bags of crushed cans to the recycle place. I also had three foot long scraps of copper tubing that I was just going to give them. Better than going to the dump. Nah, they gave me $3.50.
Then I had “fun” at Home Depot. Gas cans seem stupid high priced. $12 for a gallon can. $15 for a 2.5 gallon can that had directions of how to work the spout.
I buy gas for 2 cycle engines a gallon at a time. I rinse the oil bottle with gas, too. With a larger can I don’t have to run totally out to buy another gallon. The little bottles of oil have almost doubled in price since I last bought any.
I looked for furnace filters. “Aisle 38.” Never found aisle 38. I did find a flip lock for the back door. It’s a visual thing. The door doesn’t have a dead bolt and it seems I check it several times before I go to bed. I have no delusions that it will stop an axe murderer killing me while I sleep.
I bought a compressor. A Porter something. $150. It’s a pancake tank. It goes to 150 PSI I think. Same specs as the $199 Rigid (?) next to it. But I don’t need a pneumatic nail gun. Brad gun. I think I have one. If not I’ll buy when needed. Meanwhile, a bit less clutter. There was a Rigid to the left for half the price that goes to 120 PSI and has less oomph for pumping air. CFM, I know. So pay the $150 and not be complaining about the $69 compressor taking eternity to air a tractor tire.
Tax exempted all of it I think. I’ll need to check the receipt.
Then I went to Lowes. I know where the air filters are stocked. Then HEB for point 95 gallon of gas. Topped off the truck, too. I always short the gas amount for 2 cycle fuel. More lube for the engine. Worst case is the spark plug fouls but I have never had a problem.
So now I’m going to go unpack the compressor. And assemble the brush cutter, too.
New toys!!!
The new Chinky Koof is picking up. I would not be surprised if Blue States are already putting face diaper and distancing mandates in place. Red States might fold also after pledging “never again”.
I wonder how much of that information, especially driving habits, is also sent to the manufacturer. And do insurance companies have the ability to get the information? I know information is stored after a crash, speed, accelerator, braking, g-forces, steering wheel angle, direction of travel, etc. for about 5 seconds before the crash. I am guessing a rolling buffer that locks when a crash is detected. I know insurance can get access to that information as can the police.
Forget about putting them back on, I still see people that never took them off.
—
cooling down over lunch
—-
Picked up 5 gallons of diesel and some heavy cream at the local HEB. Also got some Hungry Man dinners in flavors they don’t have at my home store. you can tell the median income for the area by what cuts of meat, and how few they carry. No $19/lbs steaks here.
—–
I will be staying up here for the weekend. The office confirmed they won’t pick up the machines until Monday, so as long as I don’t exceed 40 hrs run time, I’m good to use them. This time I’m using the track loader / skid steer much more than the mini-ex.
n
I wonder how much of that information, especially driving habits, is also sent to the manufacturer. And do insurance companies have the ability to get the information?
– there was a linked article here some months ago that talks about that. The manfs are collecting and selling the info including to insurance companies. IIRC it’s “events” like ‘hard braking’ or ‘excessive speed’ or ‘high rpm’… that get logged. And no disclosure about what the manf considers trigger points for those logged items.
n
“Ferris Beullar to the white courtesy phone…“
You do know that half the guys (and girls) on this forum would be delighted to
play around with heavy equipment on someone else’s dimehelp a pal out?It’s fun and satisfying moving dirt around with the machines.
n
With Ford, yes, since 2016 model year.
The system was a collaboration with Prudential.
I just added an event to the calendar on MacOS for our trip to Germany. I am running the public beta of MacOS 26. Well doggies, Apple finally allows the time zone to be entered on the calendar.
It occurs to me that my Covid experience was radically different from the majority. As an ‘essential worker’ I didn’t even change my schedule, and never qualified for any of the cash giveaways that supported so many of the whiner generation who now don’t understand why work is, well, work. One of them is soon going to find out that being fired from a large chain retailer known for having lowest common denominator hiring and retention practices does not look good on a resume.
Florida won’t fold at this point. DeSantis don’t surf and, with JD Vance as the current favorite for the nomination in 2028, doesn’t have much to lose opposing the White House if the Orange Man loses his nerve again.
Texas is a huge unknown. If Abbott doesn’t cater to the Chicken Littles, the cry will go out across the land …
All right. All right. All right.
The Dem nominee will be a de facto Shadow Governor come March. The Texas primary to general election timeline needs to change.
We may yet hear that cry without pandemic kabuki if Texas has a solid freeze with rolling blackouts before the December primary filing deadline.
A blessing he is not suffering.
True. If he was suffering, I would insist that we put him to sleep.
I was thinking tonight that he may have actually put some weight back on. You can still count his ribs though.
If he lasts another week, the vet wants to put him on steroids. They will either make him super hungry or crash his system.
I keep on putting cat treats out for Remy Lebeau. But Lily, the schnaupin, keeps on walking by and vacuuming everything up that Remy left for later.
You can try Churu style treats.
It’s 99f outside with no breeze. Assembling the trimmer can wait until morning. It looks pretty simple.
I can’t find my receipt for the compressor. I thought it might be linked to the tax exempt number so I could get a copy. It may be linked but I didn’t see where.
So I saved $50 on the compressor. I don’t need the pneumatic nailer. But ya know? Including an air hose would have been nice. Then again, an extra $50 for a nailer and an air hose doesn’t leave a lot of room for quality of the nailer. I’ll just suffer and use the old air hose. Ugly as it is with blotches of paint and smears of what looks like caulk.
It’s a pretty quiet compressor. About like an idling car. The push mower is louder. It had 60 PSI in it by the gauges. I would think it would be shipped empty.
Too hot outside to air any tires today.
BREAKING: WNBA betting volume on dildos surpasses betting volume for who will win the game.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2025/08/08/wnbas-no-bag-rule-to-deter-this-certain-activity-was-never-going-to-work-n2661556
Interest in the WNBA has surged. It still sits slightly below the zero baseline (watching paint dry) but is firmly ahead of Women’s golf and Women’s soccer, both of which lag the -3.0 benchmark (sticking needles in your eyes).
I miss roller derby.
“Repo Revenge: Buyer Grabs Dealership’s Name After Car Seized.”
https://www.carpro.com/blog/quick-shifts-august-7-25
“In a plot twist worthy of a legal-themed soap opera, a Lima, Ohio, woman had her car repossessed by a dealership, then promptly turned the tables by seizing something of her own—the dealership’s name. After Tiah McCreary bought a 2022 Kia K5 from Taylor Kia of Lima and drove off the lot with financing arranged by Global Lending Services, the deal soured when GLS couldn’t finalize her loan. A month later, while McCreary was at work, Taylor Kia repossessed the vehicle. But McCreary didn’t just fume—she filed. While researching her legal options, she discovered that Taylor Cadillac, part of the Taylor Automotive Group, had failed to renew its registration for the trade name “Taylor Kia of Lima.” So, she registered the name in her own name and promptly sent the dealership a cease-and-desist letter demanding it stop using it. In June 2024, McCreary filed a lawsuit against Taylor Cadillac and GLS in Allen County Common Pleas Court, claiming violations of the Consumer Sales Practices Act, along with fraud, conversion, and unjust enrichment, and sought an injunction to bar the dealership from using the Taylor Kia name. The dealership fired back by demanding arbitration, citing the agreement McCreary signed during the sale, and the trial court agreed—dismissing the case so it could move to arbitration. But McCreary appealed, and the Third District Court of Appeals agreed with her, at least in part. The court found that while she did consent to arbitration for disputes related to the car purchase, her separate claim over ownership of the dealership’s name didn’t fall under that agreement. Writing for the court, Judge John Willamowski said arbitration only applies to issues tied to the consumer transaction—i.e., buying the car. Since naming rights aren’t tied to the sale, that claim must go back to trial court. So, while McCreary may be without a car, she might just get to keep the name Taylor Kia of Lima—if the court agrees it’s legally hers to begin with.”
Heh, heh, heh.
Interest in the WNBA has surged. It still sits slightly below the zero baseline (watching paint dry) but is firmly ahead of Women’s golf and Women’s soccer, both of which lag the -3.0 benchmark (sticking needles in your eyes).
I would argue that watching paint dry is more fun than watching the WNBA.
They were movies meant to entertain, not instruct in something useful like simplex method.
John Hughes was a brilliant writer and director whose first decade (1982-1991) will probably never be surpassed. Still, if you gave him a 9.9 like they used to score gymnastics (leaving room for the unobtainable perfection) and used a zero baseline (deteriorated Betamax home movies from 1980), it would just exacerbate the fact that every Disney and Marvel director of the past ten years has a negative average.
Or, as we call it here, Kitty Crack.
Girlfriend has gotten our semi-feral black cat to let her pet him on his head. But only when she has a treat in her hand.
@Lynn
“I would argue that watching paint dry is more fun than watching the WNBA.”
Interest in the WNBA has surged. It still sits slightly below the zero baseline (watching paint dry)
I vote for eggshell.
“Another wave of mass layoffs to hit Texas, with Houston bearing the brunt”
https://www.chron.com/news/article/texas-layoffs-houston-20806774.php
“The largest share of job losses will come from the non-profit, Southwest Key Programs.”
Things are not going well right now in the economy.
A lot of lefty parasites in there. You are better off without most of them.
“Huge Win for Trump Administration As DC Circuit Court of Appeals Tosses Boasberg Contempt Order”
https://redstate.com/smoosieq/2025/08/08/huge-win-for-trump-administration-as-dc-circuit-court-of-appeals-tosses-boasberg-contempt-order-n2192597
“In March, Judge Boasberg entered a temporary restraining order effectively requiring the administration to turn around planes of illegal aliens (Tren de Aragua members, at that) that were en route to El Salvador. When the administration did not abide by that (for numerous reasons, both legally and practically), Boasberg later found probable cause to hold the administration in contempt. ”
Cool.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
Tariffs raising consumer prices (who do you think is paying for tariffs? not the other countries); worry about prices; the “Big Beautiful Bill” raising taxes and medical costs; medical/pharmacy costs rising (see ‘tariffs’); decreasing jobs; worries about AI influence on jobs.
And a president that keeps changing his mind on just about everything, along with his attitude of “don’t bother me with the facts, my mind is made up” (and “If you don’t agree with me, or do what I want, you’re fired”).
Lots to worry about.
Microwaves Against the Swarm: A New Phase in US Counter-Drone Strategy.
@mediumwave – I don’t think I’d like to be downrange of that thing with a pacemaker, or a cochlear implant. That is one big muther antenna.
Or any implant such as replacement joints or pins / screws in your bones. They might get really hot.
My finances were separated from my wife’s after I found that she’d been dipping into the joint account, playing games to disguise it, and lying about it. I don’t know if her score will affect mine, given that we’re married.
Um, chances are that you have a few new credit cards or a second / third mortgage on the house. All in your name of course.
On the politics front: Trump has cooked up the “Mar-A-Lago” Accord. In an attempt to reduce US interest payments, he is trying to pressure countries to convert their US bonds to zero-interest 100-year terms.
Funny, no one is taking him up on it. The US dollar is continually inflating, in fact, Trump has said he wants it to get weaker faster. With 0% interest, in 100 years those bonds would make good toilet paper. Or not – they might be scratchy.
100 year bonds are worthless to common people but worth something to nations. Maybe 25 cents on the dollar as present value.
My employer’s typical severance package is two months salary minimum so WARN notice isn’t necessary.
We have a lot of people working remote from Houston, and I think that is going to end soon.
The new Chinky Koof is picking up.
I think that I already have it.
You can try Churu style treats.
Remy is already passed those liquid salmon treats.
Lily loves licking that stuff up.
103 F outside again today. Hot, hot, hot.
But ERCOT is doing well until 7 pm when the solar goes away.
https://www.ercot.com/gridmktinfo/dashboards
I found ePubs of all Mr. Lynn’s Six Star List. I’ll take the time to run them through Calibre to check the metadata, covers, look, etc.
“Two men arrested, charged with squatting in Harris County home while owners were on vacation”
https://www.fox26houston.com/news/two-men-arrested-charged-squatting-harris-county-home-while-owners-were-vacation
“HOUSTON – Two men are in custody at the Harris County Jail after allegedly breaking into a family’s home and living there while the homeowners were away on vacation, deputies said.”
“The incident occurred Aug. 5 at a residence on Thiess Road near FM 1960 and Aldine Westfield. Homeowners Connie and Joe Cases told FOX 26 their son-in-law drove up to the home and spotted one man, later identified as 43-year-old Jerry Vallade, sitting on the front porch.”
“The Cases returned from their trip immediately after getting a call from their son-in-law and discovered the suspects had been staying in their house, helping themselves to food, the shower, clothing, and alcohol.”
“”They drank all our alcohol, chopped up some brisket, had hot sauce out,” Cases said.”
Wow!
“Trump Gerrymanders U.S. To Include Canada”
https://babylonbee.com/news/trump-gerrymanders-us-to-include-canada
“WASHINGTON, D.C. — The geopolitical balance of power appeared to experience a significant shift this week, as President Donald Trump announced that he had gerrymandered the United States of America to now include Canada.”
“The savvy political maneuver by Trump completed his plan to annex Canada, simultaneously solving the U.S.’s trade deficit with its northern neighbor while also now merging the two nations into one supercountry that possessed the largest maple syrup reserve in the world.”
Works.
Why aren’t the invaders in the morgue?
See also: “undocumented” invaders to the nation.
“VP Vance Confirms He Went to Indiana to Talk Redistricting”
https://rumble.com/v6xbhnu-vp-vance-confirms-he-went-to-indiana-to-talk-redistricting.html?e9s=src_v1_upp_a
Cool !
I’ve heard of Texas hospitality, but wow.
I’m on cooldown. Still sunlight left for working though.
I have 7 hours left on the skid steer, with probably an hour or two tonight. It’s hard to level and fill an area by eye under certain sun conditions, so I do better at different times. 95F in the shade, 104F in mixed sun.
n
I just watch The Mummy. The version with Brendon whoever. Pretty good movie. Sort of disjointed in the “who are these folks” way. A bit too long. Good special effects. I only heard one “damn” but it fit the moment. So, ok for kidlets.
I was going to buy just the used movie from Big River but the trilogy was an extra two bucks, why not. It can’t be any stupider than Matrix sequels.
And. Quarter to seven and it is still 98f outside. August….
@Nick
“They called the trucks “bobtail” trucks.”
A “bobtail” has always been a semi tractor without a trailer.
Reading and skimming through the directions for the Echo brush cutter is pretty boring. Way too much “this s(h)it causes cancer crap lawyer crap. Seems pretty light on maintenance of the machine.
It appears the engine is made in Japan. If not the entire machine. That’s good. My Solo brush cutter was made in West Germany.
They say to wear good work gloves and shoes, not flip flops or barefoot. And eye protection. Hearing protection, too. Ok, got it. That’s normal. That’s what I do. Although I do ride the riding lawn mower wearing flip flops.
They also say to not wear shorts…. well. Ok, I am at the end of the road and pretty much in the middle of 40 acres. I do have a joke sign on the gate that says “clothing optional beyond this point” so folks have bee warned. Decent shoes, gloves, and the rest and I guess be naked is the way to go. No tan lines, I’m cool.
Jebus. watched. I’m not totally illiterate.
The first and second films of “The Mummy” series are decent. The third is where the series goes off the rails, with Maria Bello replacing Rachel Weisz and Universal attempting to cater to the Chinese audience.
Barnard Fox was the most unexpected supporting cast member to appear in the first film. IIRC, he was 70-ish but still channeling Colonel Crittendon/Doctor Bombay with perfect timing.
Even back then, very few adult cast members of “Bewitched” were still alive.
There are also dump truck sorta trucks that pull trailers. The trailers have two rear axles with another axle up towards the hitch. But the front wheels are retracted, off of the ground. Sometimes it is all one truck… like a long bed dump truck.
I suppose the names change in various parts of the country.
That was Dr. Bombay? Cool. He looked familiar. I always like him in Bewitched. Along with Aunt Clara. And Endora.
Well, I wasn’t at Nick levels of accomplishment, but I did some small yard chores and actually assembled a couple of really cheap Harbor Freight shelves for the garage.
I can actually see the top of my workbench.
I need it because I want to build a couple of half screens, with the SunTex 90, to fit around the window a/c units. The windows are mostly blocked by the air conditioners but it affects my sense of aesthetics not to have the black lower window where possible.
Since it was 97F in there it was an episodic endeavour.
Astronomy club tonight, I will pick up a friend before braving Palmdale after dark.
A SpaceX dragon returns tomorrow, btw, it might be visible here though it is after local dawn.
I just watch The Mummy. The version with Brendon whoever. Pretty good movie. Sort of disjointed in the “who are these folks” way. A bit too long. Good special effects. I only heard one “damn” but it fit the moment. So, ok for kidlets.
If you are in for two hours of torment, watch Brendan Fraser in “The Whale”. I’ve watched it twice and still call it a masterful set of acting from a supposed grade B actor. The shower scene with the toilet brush was the worst part, after all, how do you clean a 600 lb man? Fraser got his Oscar the hard way, he earned it.
And I liked the first two Mummy movies too. The third movie was definitely too pandering.
So on my running around today I went to Wal-mart. I want a carpet sweeper. The mechanical thing that has a brush and what it picks up goes into a couple of trays.
Nope.
I went to the eyeglass section. Had a nice conversation and she knew exactly what I was talking about.
Anyway. You have to make an appointment. Without insurance it’s $80. If you want your retinas inspected it’s another $30 to be dilated. You get your full prescription, take it anywhere..
So I have a price. Now to see what the local place charges.
No rush. Just a thing to do.
And why do I want a carpet sweeper? Because the area rug in the living room is thin, the pile is like velvet. The vacuum cleaner sucks it up like running over a stray sock jams the beater bar in a Hoover. . Too much suction. Buddy pees on it and it does not soak through. Generally beads up…. Penny’s legs are getting wonky. She’ll be 14 in October, so, yeah. Both of them slip and slide on the new flooring. So guess where they get their cookies?
Yeah, I can fold and tote this 8×10 or whatever rug outside and shake off the cookie crumbs. That seems like a lot of work. I can hang it on the bridge rail and hose it down to wash it in a few months.
A carpet sweeper seems like a good idea to pick up the cookie crumbs. Dang things are almost like stepping a sticker burr.
Great. Another movie to look for. The Whale. 🙂
And ya know, Tom Cruise ain’t all that. He’s good and solid. Is not ugly. Not at the level of Bette Davis or Joan Crawford.
I didn’t get much done today. Or yesterday. Or the day before. Interrupted sleep, and I’m lying down for only five hours a night under the best circumstances. Mother-in-law is getting incrementally worse, not monotonically but steadily, and the last several nights she’s been screaming at about 0300. (She’s not being neglected. She’s being cared for with 24/7 aides. The issue appears to be that the meds need constant adjustment and it usually takes a few days to see if the last adjustment did any good.)
I tried to do paying work but there wasn’t much to do, one of the hazards of freelancing. (Especially when one generally sucks at scrounging up work, heh.) Worked on a handful of things around the yard and on the cars but not much because I’ve already taken care of most things that aren’t major projects and don’t want to do a few things that require a functioning brain. eg, open up the (now spare) washing machine and figure out why it stopped turning on. There are a handful of common causes and I have a step-by-step for identifying or eliminating possibilities, but I looked at the sheet and couldn’t figure out what it was saying. This is what they call a Sign.
And all of the stupid pullets – which is to say, all of the pullets – were atop the coop again. Nine nights in a row now? Something like that. As usual, I set a small light shining into the coop before I lifted them down one at a time so they could find a perch or huddle together in the brooding bays. I recently learned that chickens have poor night vision, which I should have figured out on my own from their behavior. Most were fine with being moved but the last one panicked and scratched me up pretty good. Listen, dumbhead, have you ever heard the word “poultry”?
I saw the 1999 The Mummy, the one w Brendan Fraser, in the theater with a girlfriend. She clung to my arm like a leech for the rest of the evening. I didn’t think it was that scary but there you go. I saw The Blair Witch Project with the same girlfriend, left her at her apartment, went home, and got a call about two seconds after I went through the door. “Steve? Can you come back? I’m scared.” Amusing thing is, she’s the one who picked each movie. She and I also saw The Matrix and she was so hyped up that she tried to kung fu me on the way to the car. Would have been dumped on her head if my reflexes weren’t good enough to catch her after I caught her kick and flung her. Excuse me, young lady, but do you not recall the conversation in which I clearly stated that you must never never never startle or threaten me? No harm done and she was honest enough to admit that she’d screwed up.
Paul, what about a fitting for the vacuum’s hose and pipes, to let air in and reduce suction? The one that came with my Kirby 30 years ago is the pipe with the 45 degree bend on the left side of this picture https://www.ebay.com/shop/kirby-vacuum-attachments?_nkw=kirby+vacuum+attachments .
If you don’t want that and can’t find a mechanical carpet sweeper, what about a battery powered vacuum? They’re usually very low power, compared to a plug-in vacuum.
from AoSHQ:
An MIT professor says she (of course it’s a she) spends one third of all of her working hours fighting “Trump terrorism.”
Sounds like MIT should claw back one third of her salary then, doesn’t it?
LOL. So much communist cant.
Rare spelling error from Ace.
RIP Jim Lovell
https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/08/astronaut-james-lovell-famed-apollo-13-commander-dies-at-97/
Blanche Lovell, Apollo 13:
“If they could make a washing machine fly, my Jimmy could land it.”
https://www.quotes.net/mquote/1186966
The Commander is finally walking on the Moon.
I might have his signature on a NASA ball cap.
It was one of the giants, I remember that much.
Godspeed.
n
I indulged myself a bit this week, and picked up two Badfinger CD’s to add to the collection.
Then I found out that Joey Molland, the last surviving member, passed in March. One of the CD’s, Badfinger “Live” was taken from a charitably described “moderate” performance at a U.S. venue in 1974, and not released until 1995 after Molland did extensive “improvement”.
Ham committed suicide in 1975 after a night of drinking tipped him over the edge into final despair of his financial ruin. Mismanagement by Apple records, theft by a dishonest manager, legal disputes that halted record distribution and deteriorating mental illness all contributed. His bandmate, Tom Evans, who had been his drinking buddy on the final night, committed suicide in 1983.
So on my running around today I went to Wal-mart. I want a carpet sweeper. The mechanical thing that has a brush and what it picks up goes into a couple of trays.
Saw a lady running one of those at Chikfila the other day at the side entrance carpet. I know exactly what you want.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/JEHONN-Carpet-Floor-Sweeper-with-Horsehair-Non-Electric-Manual-Sweeping-Black/1180896595?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=101183155
Dadgum, most of the carpet sweepers are electric. That seems to defeat the purpose of a simple lightweight cleaner to pick up crumbs.
I indulged myself a bit this week, and picked up two Badfinger CD’s to add to the collection.
“Badfinger – Day After Day”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVnFJzggLHo
Great song.
Tiny fire was ok. Radio was noisy and weak. Moon is full with just enough cloud to attenuate the brightness to look directly at it. Quiet night on the dock, but now I’m off to bed.
I think I’ll sleep in an hour or two.
n
“e-Fuels for climate-friendly data centers: Rolls-Royce and INERATEC launch partnership”
https://www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com/news/2025/08/e-fuels-for-climate-friendly-data-centers-rolls-royce-and-ineratec-launch-partnership/
“Technology group Rolls-Royce and INERATEC, a leading manufacturer of Power-to-X plants and climate-neutral e-Fuels, have formed a strategic partnership to decarbonize backup power for data centers. Their goal: to replace fossil diesel in emergency power systems with synthetic fuels produced from renewable hydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO₂). The collaboration opens up a new and largely overlooked use case for e-Fuels in the digital age—powering critical infrastructure in an increasingly artificial intelligence (AI)-driven world.”
Hydrogen does not care if it is blue, green, black, red, etc. Hydrogen just wants to be free.
True, but it sounds like they are just using hydrogen to make methane. Which makes some sense as a fuel for backup generators that may sit unused for long periods of time.
.- – –
We’re now on the highest alert level for forest fires. July was cool and damp, but the actual quantity of water hitting the ground wasn’t all that high. Technically, we could still have a fire on our seating area, since it is gravelled and not near any trees, but I reckon it would be frowned on. So we’ll have to change our weekend plans.