Still gonna be a hot one. So humid. So hot. Blazing sun. Forecast has us on the edge of some t-storm possible areas, but we’ll likely have another day like yesterday. And the week before.
I did more work with the machines, cleaned up some details. Put some stuff away. Chatted with one of the neighbors for a while. A slower day for sure, with a late start.
Today will be more of that. Sleeping in a bit, then doing all the normal visit stuff. Lawn needs mowing. Stuff needs to be added to the stacks. Machines need to be fueled and cleaned. They are scheduled for pickup on Monday morning. Maybe I’ll leave for home before dark, we’ll see how it goes. There is always more that could be done, but I’m not starting any projects.
It’s been a productive 9 days.
It’s been hot, and hard work too. Filthy work with red clay silt everywhere, and the dust from the slag too. My throat hurts from breathing all the cr@p. Or I’m getting sick, but I hope it’s environmental.
Time to wrap up this show and get ready for the next thing.
More stacking. More working to improve.
nick
Unless the law has changed significantly over the last decade, offering dial Internet service places some restrictions on what a company can do in terms of scanning email, especially empoyees’ communications.
As a customer, if you have “free” service, your rights are more limited about what the company can do with your communications once you press “send”.
Ironically, an old school paid AOL dial account with email and IM service was probably the peak of privacy that anyone could access. Emails and text messages required a warrant.
People traded privacy for “cool” POP/IMAP/SMTP and SMS, being able to use the communication applications from the OS manufactuer and third parties with the associated dopamine hits, culminating in Twitter eating discourse becuase the chimp portion of the brain really got off on refresh of their favorite echo chamber via boing … boing … boing.
I was an AOL user from the late 80’s to around 1994. Before that, I would dial into a bbs to download shareware, but nothing extreme.
I had my first non-AOL dialup account was at school from a local ISP. I remember going there in person to sign up. It was just one big room with all of the equipment in it, it it was so cool.
I‘ve had broadband since late 2001. I can’t imagine what we would do without it.
In most places, broadband services have much looser regulation under state law than old school phone service or even DSL.
Texas sold its regulatory soul to the Death Star for fiber state-wide.
Well, “state-wide” in theory. The Death Star gets to pick and choose who gets fiber.
With ATT fiber, we get a choice between straight high speed internet, or xfinity with pretty much mandatory bundling. The bundling kills me. No I don’t want even basic cable, and especially not ESPN. No need for your phone service either. Also commonly available speeds went from 50Mbps to 500Mbps even on xfinity when ATT fiber became available.
That’s a win in my book, I didn’t give up anything but high bills and slow service.
—————————————
It’s 82F and humid again. Sunny too. Beautiful day if I wasn’t doing yardwork.
Delicious bacon, toast and a fried egg are now slowly becoming me… and coffee with real cream is easing me into the day.
n
the Death Star for fiber state-wide.
– before ATT residential fiber, there was only Phonoscope, and only in the downtown areas, and only business plans. That was some old school telco shite right there.
n
Our new home in Vegas and the one in SA are streaming only. No cable TV for over 6 years now. Tubi and Pluto give us all the TV shows we want. Most new shows we want to see are streaming. Torrents to polish off the missing shows.
“Vegas is dying” is all over the news, especially the DM. Funny thing is we tried to get a room for a family member at one of our two favorite casinos and they were booked solid for a week. You also have heard “Vegas will run out of water in 30 years” for the last 30 years. I don’t care because I’ll either be dead in 30 years or a drooling vegetable.
Hi, Mr. Ray.
Verizon/Frontier offered Fios in the legacy GTE service areas of the Dallas Metroplex, and Austin had Google Fiber in the Fancy Lad neighborhoods east of Downtown, like Toro Canyon, where the big boss at my current employer lives.
Just enough to give select members of the Legislature a taste of that sweet “free” pr0n delivery mechanism.
Elsewhere, the Death Star was content to offer Internet and HD TV over bonded DSL, Uverse, and, son, that dawg just don’t hunt, ya’ understand.
By introducing fiber state-wide … in select neighborhoods .. management, led by Randall “the Rat” Stephenson and successor John Stankey (his real last name), wanted to cement the gains they made over labor by breaking the union in 2009 with Steve Jobs help.
When we were in Las Vegas in July there was a constant line at the check-in at the Luxor. Sometimes 30-40 people deep. The casinos were jammed on Friday through Sunday morning. In-And-Burger was hard to find a seat, counter line six deep and four registers. Long lines at The Wheel. Traffic everywhere on the strip.
You plan to run for President as a Democrat?
My bad. East of Downtown Austin headed towards the airport is a sh*thole part of town.
My remaining non-annuity IRA is up $133K since the tRump tAriff dUmp. I hope it is up $200K by the end of the year. The plan is to trade in the current Subie, Mini Cooper, and Bug next year for a new Outback and Ascent. I’d draw out the trade-in difference from the remaining IRA. Subaru matches car buying services like USAA and Costco.
I plan on being the first non-verbal President. Well, since plugs The Last.
Cable TV committed suicide by not offering a la carte services without the sports channels, a forced subsidy of programming for a niche audience of NCAA football fans who are alumni of schools outside the SEC and Big 10.
Sling is similarly crippled so we dropped that as the price started to head towards what we paid for basic cable.
We have two big antennas in the attic aimed in different directions for H&I and MeTV. Weigel is all the “linear” TV we watch anymore except for local Faux News.
Unles the Boxer is burning oil, you might want to consider hanging on to the existing Subaru.
The nanny “features” on new Subarus are out of control.
If you insist, pre-pandemic, I had Subaru fans ask about the drive down from Portland since the deals in Gresham are apparently hard for the faithful to ignore.
Subaru imports the vehicle supply for a big chunk of the West through Vantucky.
From Gresham, Austin is a hard three day drive through some tough terrain, but Vegas is closer.
Costco’s buying program licenses the name from Issaquah and can be a scam.
My “cr*p” balanced fund where I regularly throw dividends, capital gains, and CD interest until tax time is on track for 12% this year with only 2-3% unrealized capital gains. Even my bond fund experiment with very short term paper is on track for 6%.
Good news for when I write the tax check, but not a healthy sign for the markets overall.
The Geico Gecko even received a relative beatdown this week.
Report: DOJ Appoints Prosecutor To Probe Adam Schiff, Letitia James Mortgage Fraud Allegations
https://thefederalist.com/2025/08/08/report-doj-appoints-prosecutor-to-probe-adam-schiff-letitia-james-mortage-fraud-allegations/
“No one is above the law.”
It’s good to see these two beneath the wheels of justice.
PSA: The end of summer sales are going on at the supermarkets now, at both Winco and Albertsons the seasonal summer gewgaws are on sale. I picked up a couple of cheap dry sacks to throw into the camping gear.
It seems weird to me that they do that this early, but then I remember being laughed at by the women in my life for trying to buy a jacket when I needed it in December (lead time is apparently months for distaff clothing buys). Amazon fixed that.
Taking a break.
Lawn is cut. I decided to do big spiraling circles for the main part of the yard. I try not to do the same pattern twice in a row because I don’t want to get wheel ruts or permanent damage to the grass. They were much less effort and I think quicker than lines and constant turning the wheel back and forth and changing direction drastically.
It was also quicker because most of the front yard, an all of the side yard are currently bare dirt. I’ve got some seed, so I’ll seed the areas and water it in today. Not really expecting it to last or even grow, when it’s so hot.
I’ll look at sprinklers, but they will have to use house water as fixing the irrigation system fell way down the list with all the rain we’ve had this year.
——–
Low 90sF in the shade. Some clouds are helping with that.
Time to head back out.
n
and this
n
Wisconsin. State fair closed early. 10-12 inches of rain. Oh my.
Fresh green beans and bacon for lunch.
I may be (no, am) crazy but it seems covering the whole house fan louvers makes a difference. The kitchen seems cooler. Nope, I have no before and after temperature readings. Shame on me!
I ran a load of laundry this morning. Opened the kitchen window a couple of inches while the dryer was running.
I can see times coming where the weather is sort of ok so I would open the bathroom window a couple of inches and that would draw air from the other side of the house. Any window actually. It doesn’t have to be the kitchen window.
I’m going to go watch the second Mummy movie. Somehow I suspect they will go back to the tomb to find the “good” book that fell into a pool of water. Maybe not but that sure looked like a hook to make a sequel movie.
“Midnight Midway Madness”. Lots of people were sh*tfaced.
They probably knew the weather situation was bad heading into the fair, but the passes were non-refundable.
104F in the high desert shade right now but the swamp cooler has it at a pleasant 75 indoors … but that means maybe flirting with 80F late afternoon.
i’m going over to the neighbors for dinner so I don’t care, and the cats will be delighted.
I will probably have to run it all night long though.
Did you saute the green beans in the bacon grease? My mom did that a few times. Smells wonderful. But to me it’s still green beans and I’d as soon eat a Popsicle stick soaked in bacon grease.
I just don’t like green beans. No reason.
I’m fascinated with swamp coolers. Yeah, they are more fuss than a/c. It’s too humid here when the temps get up around 100f like today.
I wonder why there isn’t a system to spray water on a/c coils? Spray filtered and softened water mist. I could spray the coils with the garden hose at the old house and you could really tell the difference. I suppose corrosion and mineral build up is the problem.
Occasionally rinsing off the bugs and dirt probably wouldn’t hurt if you made sure not to get wiring wet, but corrosion of the copper or aluminum would be a problem in constant moisture.
Talk to your AC professional first, however.
The mineral content in Central Texas water is a lot higher than people commonly believe because the lakes stopped being adequate supply sources more than a decade ago, and most municipal water systems now tap the deep aquifer whether or not the management wants to talk about it openly.
It has been a while since I saw that series. I remember that the second film made The Rock a star.
Geesh. 20-25 years.
Universal Florida was on the edge of pulling the roller coaster based on The Mummy series until Brendan Frasier’s career revived in the last few years with “The Whale” and his casting as the villain in the “Batgirl” movie which Warner turned into a tax writeoff rather than releasing.
The infamous Brendan Fraser “cup of coffee” clip shown to riders at the end of the Universal Studios ride based on “The Mummy” series.
At the time the ride opened, the gag was hilarious but the clip hasn’t aged well since Fraser’s career fell off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxsr6D8wXWA
Yes, they still use the video.
Back in Cacafornia, I had an “Arizona Mist” system along the south facing wall of the house. Summer weather was generally 105F and 15% relative humidity. In fact, in Sacramento, you could generally add the temp and the RH and get about 120 all year long.
Our house faced south, so the metal garage door would get hot enough to burn my fingers if I touched it. The misting system used about 5 gallons of water per hour, and kept the garage door almost cool. And the garage was much more pleasant, as well. The mailman and delivery people would walk up the driveway and pause for a minute or two under the mist.
Here in San Antonio, it’s too humid for the misting system to have much of an impact, and our well water is SO high in minerals that it would clog all the nozzles in a day or two.
“Did you saute the green beans in the bacon grease?”
Yup.
Cut one pound of thick-cut bacon into pieces about 1” long. Cook to almost crispy, drain most of the fat. Add two pounds green beans, ends trimmed and cut into 2-3” pieces.
Toss the beans with the bacon, and toss every 3-4 minutes while cooking. Serve al dente with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of parmesan.
Best out of the pan, but leftovers reheat well.
>>You also have heard “Vegas will run out of water in 30 years” for the last 30 years. I don’t care because I’ll either be dead in 30 years or a drooling vegetable.
For the latter outcome, do you have a “DNW (do not water)” order in place?
>>When we were in Las Vegas in July there was a constant line at the check-in at the Luxor. Sometimes 30-40 people deep.
“… 30-40 people deep.”
Umm… self check-in anyone?
Available, but a person needs the MGM app. There are about 20 check-in stations at the Luxor, but only 3 were staffed. That is a failure on the part of management. I saw basically the same thing at the MGM Grand, Bellagio, Caesar’s and The Venetian.
Ok. Return of the Mummy was pretty good. Not sure if it would stand alone but as a Part Two Movie it was pretty darn good. The next movie of the set is something dragon something. I guess we gonna turn Japanese or something. Grin.
The water coming out of the house when the AC is running is soft water. Capture this water and spray it on the outside A/C coils. I wonder if you timed the spraying of this water for the hot afternoon would that get the best payoff.
The MGM app probably has some unsettling permissions defaults designed to take advantage of those who are not paying attention.
I really think so.
My guess is that it allows a person to tracked in the hotels and casinos.
About water supplies…..
Burnet city water was all from the aquifer 30 years ago. Remember the signs at city limits with population and water quality? That’s gone away. Way back when the population sign said 3100 and water quality was Superb. Uh, about 100 million illegals ago. Yeah, We got a McD’s and a What-a-burger and both are plastic tasting crap. The last pop sign I saw 10+ years ago said 6800.
And yeah, parts of living in a little town means you have to go to Austin for some stuff. Sure, you might find it somewhere locally eventually but for the price difference? Drive to Austin. Too bad Stripling Blake is gone.
I remember a big ditch dig and pipeline being installed along highway 29 several years ago. It’s a lot of solid granite rock. So, Burnet city water is now from Lake Buchanan. The well is still there as a back-up supply. Buchanan is a FLOOD CONTROL LAKE. Ditto for the rest of the chain of lakes going down to Austin. Flood control. A couple of small lake are constant level most of the time. Lake Travis is also for flood control.
Burnet planned ahead, gotta give points there. Sometimes it tastes like a fresh water aquarium that needs a filter change.
Don’t know about Bertram. Marble Falls is right on the Colorado, so , whatever.
Thirty plus years ago Austin was having a boom and they had the “water your lawn on odd number days” stuff going on. Best I ever figured was they got lazy/stupid/full of DEI folk and suddenly didn’t have enough supply or treatment plants. More and bigger pipelines from Lake Travis. I guess pumping from Town Lake wasn’t enough supply.
Meanwhile… I’m on a well. The well is about 240 feet deep and the pump is at 180 feet. Don’t know why, that’s just the numbers I was told. I do know the water is ice cold as in run the faucet a bit and you don’t actually need ice cubes. We are supposedly at the south end of the aquifer. I forget the name, it runs from north of Dallas down to here. Good tasting water. Plenty of minerals which are good for growing kid’s bones.
I have a water softener. It’s a pain sometimes. But I don’t have faucet nozzles liming up and I don’t have to scrape the lime off at the water line in the toilets. The machine is worth every penny.
Suddenly it is time to walk the dogs.
I would like to add
Yep. About 60 miles to the Furrows on Lamar, a bit north of 183. There was nothing out here or in Leander or Cedar Park back then, Those towns were just wide spots in the road with a stop sign or two and a gas station.
I would also like to add that I remember clearly when the intersection of Burnet Road and US 183 was a four way stop sign. There were pastures of cattle on two corners. And past that the next stop light was one in Lampasas on the way to Comanche.
Turns Out Major Climate Study Peddled By Media Relied On Bunk Data
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/08/10/turns-out-major-climate-study-peddled-by-media-relied-on-bunk-data/
Removing the biggest turd from a steaming pile of crap does not change it into something other than a steaming pile of crap.
A Massive Fraud Ring Is Publishing Thousands of Fake Studies and the Problem is Exploding. “These Networks Are Essentially Criminal Organizations”
https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/a-massive-fraud-ring-is-publishing-thousands-of-fake-studies-and-the-problem-is-exploding-these-networks-are-essentially-criminal-organizations/
Let me make a prediction: If this problem is studied a bit more, they will find the problem originates in a country that begins with C-H-I-N
Buchanan was down to 50% full as recently as three months ago. Now it is as close to 100% as the LCRA will allow.
Burnet was probably tapping that well frequently until the beginning of July.
No no no. All problems in the world are caused by the J-O-O-S. Don’t you know anything?
Say… you don’t suppose the Chinese are Joos and always have been, do you? Or maybe it’s that Joos are Chinese and always have been. Joos come from Asia. The Chinese come from Asia. Joos say their history goes back about 4000 years. The Chinese say their history goes back about 4000 years. The Joos (allegedly) work to undermine freedom, democracy, and all good things. The Chinese (allegedly) work to undermine freedom, democracy, and all good things. If that isn’t proof, I don’t know what is.
“Joos say their history goes back about 4000 years. The Chinese say their history goes back about 4000 years.”
Very suspicious.
short lithium lesson:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yGDkiUAwxRs
Out hunting tomato horn worms with a UV flashlight.
More successful than I like, the heat has supercharged their numbers & growth.
>>Sling is similarly crippled so we dropped that as the price started to head towards what we paid for basic cable.
One of the classic commercials: https://youtu.be/CoXoErAkles?si=yc8U1JhpDsL-FIUa
Home safe. Took a while to get out of the house and I still managed to leave the garbage bag sitting in the kitchen. And forgot to secure a board on my truck rack and lost it at some point.
Kid has band practice in the morning so I better get to bed.
n