Hot today. Humid too. Rain in the forecast, but that’s generic for Houston anyway. It certainly did get hot yesterday, well into the 90sF. And the humidity was higher than a humidor. Pretty unpleasant outside.
So I stayed in. I needed to find and sort a lot of stuff that I’m taking to my sale. I spent the afternoon doing that. I spent the morning doing other stuff. Like working with the buyer to get shipping worked out for the item I sold. It’s 3ftx3ftx7ft and weighs about 400-500 pounds. I don’t have a dock or forklift. Fortunately, the LTL trucker they hired can provide a liftgate pickup. FWIW, if you get something big delivered, you probably want a liftgate delivery. That will get the thing into or out of the truck and onto the ground. After that it’s all on you.
Today I’ve got to pickup my rental trailer, which is a half hour away. Then in no particular order, shop for drinks for the crew, load my stuff into the trailer, get the kid to her Thursday activity, and make something for dinner.
Busy day. And then the weekend is non-stop. And it turns out the kids have stuff that they are doing so IDK if anyone is going to the BOL this weekend to get ready for next weekend…
Too much to do. Not enough time or energy.
But I can stack…
nick
Both our late host and Dr. Pournelle frequently observed that any regular on this site could bring down an airplane with equipment and materials which would pass through a security checkpoint. The only question is motivation.
The TSA never addressed the real failures on 9/11, starting with too much fraternization between pilots and flight attendants, something I observed first hand on my last trip prior to that date in March 2000, when the America West flight we were on departed Phoenix nearly an hour late because the captain’s mistress was late for her shift in the cabin and was threatening to phone his wife if he pulled back from the gate without her being onboard.
Dumba** kept yakking about “technical difficulties” over the intercom, but we were seated in one of the last rows in back, listening to the drama play out among the cabin crew.
Annecdotal, but I doubt it was isolated. The masterminds of the event – whoever they might truly be … cough – knew our society’s weaknesses. Nothing much has changed.
Bl*wjobs, both figurative and literal, are the currency of the realm.
Bl*wjobs, both figurative and literal, are the currency of the realm.
– apparently I’m seriously underpaid.
n
78F and sun poking out.
Lots of stuff to do today, little of it that I can do before 10am.
n
On a recent go through a TSA checkpoint, I had one of those credit card multi tools confiscated. I didn’t know I had it – it was included in a first aid kit I bought. My fault for not knowing it was there, but really, an ink pen could do way more damage…
I’ve also had, on previous trips, TSA pull my bag aside because of a bag of unopened almonds (big bag from Costco). A whole production was made about swabbing them down for bomb chemical residue. I suspect the TSA is bribed by the airport food vendors to discourage outside food being brought in.
>>Bl*wjobs, both figurative and literal, are the currency of the realm. – apparently I’m seriously underpaid.
So then what’s the calculation for the California minimum wage?
That is nothing compared to the fit that U.S. customs had when I was returning from Germany. I had six kilos of gummi bears in my suitcase. That set off sorts of alarms. I think the customs thought they were concealing drugs or the little bears were drugs in disguise. Several agents arrived, surrounded me and the luggage, the test kits were brought out, and each bag was opened and a gummi bear was tested from each bag.
Of course the tests were negative. I actually think I saw disappointment on their faces. The thought never occurred to me that there was the possibility that customs would fake the results if customs did not like my shoes.
Customs was also upset because I did not declare the gummi bears. I had to point out that the total value of the gummi bears was less than $50.00 and not subject to declaration.
Meanwhile, in a blue portfolio, I was carrying about 50 pens and pencils from Pilot Pen company, given to me by a friend in Norway who works for Pilot Pens. After I got back to the states I did some google searches on the pens and pencils and there was about $1,500 worth of pens and pencils. Customs did not bat an eye over the pens and pencils.
Of course, coming back into the U.S. has never been a pleasant experience with immigration. Going into Germany, one question, “why are you arriving in Germany?” Visiting friends. “Have a good time.”
The U.S. involves twenty questions about when I left, where I went, who I visited, and the kicker was “why are you coming back?” I live here. “Don’t get smart with me.” Exactly how would you like me to answer? “You me leave.”
Silly you. Two skaggs and a whore.
I’ve only had one experience with immigration. Getting into the UK was easy. Scan your passport and look into the face scanner. 20ish second on you are done and on your way.
I have global entry, so coming back into the US was easy too. Same as UK, just scan passport and have face scanned. We didn’t talk to any human. I don’t know if they pull random people out for more screening, but I guess we got lucky. We also didn’t have any checked bags, and didn’t have anything to declare.
I hope I didn’t jinx us. Lets see how it goes next year when we go to Spain.
Speaking of travel, I have a friend in Buenos Aires right now.
He shared his location with me from his iPhone (just in case of trouble), it’s kind of cool to see him move around.
I didn’t know that “find my iPhone” was interactive like that.
Oddly it only works on the phone, the iPad doesn’t see him at all, for some unknown reason.
Tish Takes a Tumble
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/jeff-charles/2025/08/21/new-york-appeals-court-tosses-500-million-civil-fraud-judgment-against-trump-n2662144
“Fertilizing the moron farm”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2025/08/fertilizing-moron-farm.html
“That’s how El Gato Malo, blogging at Bad Cattitude, describes our society today. (He [?] eschews capital letters.)”
Yup, we are definitely encouraging the grifter class. We need to stop doing so right now. And Uncle Santa is screwing up our relationships between men and women. See
https://wilderwealthywise.com/the-lighter-side-of-dating-mating-and-civilizational-collapse/
for more info.
So this story isn’t dying. And it’s basically the opening chapter of a scifi book…
Harvard scientist says interstellar object on course for Earth could be nuclear-powered in latest wild claim
A respected Harvard astrophysicist has shared new claims about the mysterious interstellar object in our Solar System, saying there are signs it is not an ordinary comet.
n
“DOE extends order to delay retiring Consumers’ Michigan coal plant”
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/doe-consumers-energy-emergency-order-miso/758265/
“Emergency energy conditions may last for years in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator footprint, the Department of Energy said.”
“DOE’s initial emergency order and its contention that MISO faces an emergency is being challenged in court by Michigan’s attorney general and a coalition of groups, led by the Sierra Club and Earthjustice.”
““The evidence indicates that there is also a potential longer term resource adequacy emergency in MISO,” DOE said. “The emergency conditions resulting from increasing demand and accelerated retirements of generation facilities supporting the issuance of [the initial Campbell order] will continue in the near term and are also likely to continue in subsequent years.””
“In what DOE said was another sign of emergency conditions, MISO issued “dozens” of alerts to manage grid reliability in its central region between June 11 and Aug. 18.”
This is absolutely crazy. The utility says that it does not need the power yet it is having many power alerts. Is the MISO management totally incompetent but they hate coal so much that they are willing to blackout their customers ?
“Harvard scientist says interstellar object on course for Earth”.
I ain’t skeered. Ever read or watch War of the Worlds“? Our planet will kill invaders from another world.
I figure, and I might be full of it, but while the Euros discovering the Americas may have given the natives smallpox and whatever, when no one knew about germs, the natives in return gave the Euros some nice stuff like syphilis.
So. Alien Invaders will have a hard time. Just by drinking the water and breathing the air.
“they hate coal so much that they are willing to blackout their customers ?”
You answered your question.
I pray a chip of the “interstellar object” breaks off an hits DC.
We, (the Royal We) had a bit over a half inch of rain a little while ago. Temps dropped from 92 to 78. Humidity is crazy so the house is staying closed.
Lots of nice rumbling bass drum thunder rolling through. No lighting.. I went outside and the breeze was cool and the carpet scrap door mat was toasty warm. Pretty nice. I don’t like cold feet.
“I pray a chip of the “interstellar object” breaks off an hits DC.”
Only if the Congress Critters are in session.
I mean, if DC is to be destroyed, take the crooks if we have to lose the museums and such.
“Harvard scientist says interstellar object on course for Earth”.
I ain’t skeered. Ever read or watch War of the Worlds“? Our planet will kill invaders from another world.
I figure, and I might be full of it, but while the Euros discovering the Americas may have given the natives smallpox and whatever, when no one knew about germs, the natives in return gave the Euros some nice stuff like syphilis.
So. Alien Invaders will have a hard time. Just by drinking the water and breathing the air.
It is a Space Tug bringing in a Stargate as documented in “Live Free or Die: Troy Rising I” by John Ringo. It will not go well for us.
https://www.amazon.com/Live-Free-Die-Rising-Paperback/dp/B00ZATORM8?tag=ttgnet-20
“First Contact Was Friendly”
“When aliens trundled a gate to other worlds into the solar system, the world reacted with awe, hope and fear. But the first aliens to come through, the Glatun, were peaceful traders and the world breathed a sigh of relief.”
“Who Controls the Orbitals, Controls the World”
“When the Horvath came through, they announced their ownership by dropping rocks on three cities and gutting them. Since then, they’ve held Terra as their own personal fiefdom. With their control of the orbitals, there’s no way to win and earth’s governments have accepted the status quo.”
“Live Free or Die.”
“To free the world from the grip of the Horvath is going to take an unlikely hero. A hero unwilling to back down to alien or human governments, unwilling to live in slavery and enough hubris, if not stature, to think he can win.”
“Fortunately, there’s Tyler Vernon. And he has bigger plans than just getting rid of Horvath.”
Highly recommended.
Back in 2010, I went to Oslo, Norway, to visit my step-mother. On the return journey I stopped in London, UK, for five days of sightseeing.
The plane arrived at Heathrow about 9:30 in the evening, and the immigration line was about 90 minutes long. By the time I arrived at the desk, I was pretty groggy.
“Why have you come to the UK?” the guy asked.
“Just visiting,” I said.
That earned me a scowl. “Who are you visiting?” he demanded.
I was flummoxed. I stammered a bit, then managed, “No one. I’m just a tourist.”
He grumped, but stamped my passport, handed it back to me, and waved me on.
The other day EdH mentioned replacing his window screens.
I’m not a fan of that chore. I can do it but it always looks “fair”, not “excellent” to me. But the screens that came with the windows are just charcoal colored fiberglass stuff.
I understand some of the tears. I moved the bench so the cats can’t look into the house. But random holes, like someone takes the time to snip the screen, is that grasshoppers or something?
I have a few windows that could use re-screening to block the sun. That most face the place where folks park is a bonus. OMG if the screens don’t match!!! Like,, if I cared I’d keep the yard mowed.
Yeah. Me and Mrs. Bucket wouldn’t get along.
The screening comes in 100 foot rolls. Seems “not cheap” but I haven’t priced what the existing screen costs.
And blocking 70% -ish of the sun seems like a good thing. On the other hand the low-e windows block 50% already. From memory, I’d have to dig in the file cabinet for the paperwork.
Something else onto the to-do list.
Tish Takes a Tumble
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/jeff-charles/2025/08/21/new-york-appeals-court-tosses-500-million-civil-fraud-judgment-against-trump-n2662144
https://thelibertydaily.com/andy-mccarthy-explains-why-appeals-court-tossed-letitia/
It is that pesky USA Constitution again.
“She Thought That Her Computer Science Degree Would Get Her A Six Figure Job – Instead It Got Her An Interview With Chipotle”
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/she-thought-her-computer-science-degree-would-get-her-six-figure-job-instead-it
“If you recently graduated from college, good luck trying to find a decent job. What we are experiencing right now reminds me so much of the early 1990s. If you were a new college graduate in those days, it was extremely difficult to even get an interview for a good job. Sadly, we are now entering a very similar environment. There is enormous competition for any good job that is available, and mass layoffs are occurring all over the nation. In fact, through the first 7 months of this year the number of job cut announcements in the U.S. was 75 percent higher than it was during the first 7 months of 2024.”
Crap, it really is getting bad out there.
“Woke Cracker Barrel CEO Sparks Uproar After Changing the Company’s Iconic 47-Year-Old Logo”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/08/woke-cracker-barrel-ceo-sparks-uproar-after-changing/
“The woke CEO of Cracker Barrel has sparked a social media uproar after making an infuriating change to an iconic part of the restaurant chain.”
Nope, not going to a place that advertises its relationship with the woke crowd.
Heh, funny you should bring that up today.
I replaced the kitchen window screen over the sink with the 65% this morning before it got too hot to work out.
It had those mysterious holes in it that you mentioned. Birds? Desbris strikes from windstorms?
I have to admit that my replacement job wasn’t very good, even by my amateur standards, but it was 95 by the time I got around to it and I really don’t care that much since it is normally covered by curtains.
Currently 105F in the shade, btw, 77F indoors, the best a swamp cooler can do in 14% humidity.
p.s. If you do decide to get the thick Phifer or equivalent, get narrower spline, Adfors 0.125″ works well for me. Standard diameter is near impossible.
“Some Chicago Residents Unhappy About Obama Presidential Center ‘Monstrosity’”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/08/some-chicago-residents-unhappy-about-obama-presidential-center/
Straight out of Star Wars.
You’d need to look into the board makeup, a lot of these people are connected deep state types, making the rounds from highly paid position to position, happy to see you roast/freeze if it means their virtue signaling is on display.
“US Space Command Prepares For Satellite Vs. Satellite Combat”
https://www.zerohedge.com/military/us-space-commands-prepares-satellite-vs-satellite-combat
Nuclear bomb pumped lasers are coming to space !
I paid my two credit cards a couple of days ago. Yikes. But…. I did have the hallway re-floored…. and I did buy the brush cutter… and a new air compressor… then doubled it all and paid for a year of house insurance and six months of auto.
Ouch. But I was gonna spend the money anyway.
Funny thing. The HEB/Imprint card pushes direct draft payments in the phone app. The Frost Billpay system sends them a check in the mail. Which seems to take a long time to get from San Antonio to Dallas. So I tried the direct draft thing. Sent $20 on a Tuesday. It never showed on my Frost app. I called the bank, yadda yadda whatever. It took a week to show.
I did the clicky-click a couple of days ago to pay my bill in the HEB app and by golly, it hit checking the next day.
So. I guess that’s good. Until something effs up.
Dude, “p.s. If you do decide to get the thick Phifer or equivalent, get narrower spline,” is an awesome tip. Thank you.
Cracker Barrel is 100% institution owned, very little retail. I’m wondering at this point if the major stockholders decided to tank the stock and line up the sheeple for shearing with dark pools.
Private equity may want to buy and strip mine the company for the real estate assets.
There is obviously more to that story than the Mail revealed.
As usual.
My friend’s kid didn’t graduate from a Fancy Lad school like Purdue, but he did finish at my undergrad alma matter with a MechE degree in May and started at Electric Boat in Groton this week.
That chick couldn’t run a deep fryer at one of the restaurants if her life depended on it.
Girl Boss.
Prof. Loeb apparently has the master schedule for materials movement through the galaxy, including orbital path. I would have thought that random meant just that, as in, any path is as likely or unlikely as any other, but I never took ‘Alien-based Causes in Interpretation of Data’ course.
I’m hungry for a chicken fried steak. Gravy on the side, maybe in a little bowl. Yeah, I like to dip my steak into the gravy. With a pile of french fries on the side. A salad with bleu cheese dressing would be simply frosting on a cake.
I know a place to go. The Bluebonnet Cafe. But by my self? Nope.
Perhaps she didn’t get her visa application in on time. She’s from ‘abroad’.
Also this one
Less jobs, pickier hiring, especially regarding diversity hires.
I still remember the Chicken Fried Steak I had at the Live Oak Grill in Sugar Land, about 10 years ago. It was a birthday lunch.
I really want to go back, but it’s not exactly on my low carb diet.
Maybe for my birthday next year.
MechE, ChemE, ElectE will do well, no matter the year.
“San Roman [sic], California native”
Go and sit at the counter.
We get our annual trip to Schilo’s next week.
Catfish Haven in Fredericksburg is also good for comfort food.
Just home, around midnight, from a “late” concert in the “Masters of Tradition” festival in Bantry, West Cork. Irish traditional music at its very finest. Scintillating performances. If anyone is interested in some different music look up Martin Hayes and The Gloaming.
Data point: when preparing bedtime cocoa, Irish whiskey is – surprisingly – not a good substitute for rum.
Goodnight!
Ya know what? The entire noise about Cracker Barrel is pure bovine squirty excrement.
Think about it…. when is the last time you ate at a Cracker Barrel? Place has good vibes but you never eat there.
Kind of an over priced Denny’s, right? A Denny’s with old license plateş on the wall as decor. And then, how often do you go to Denny’s? Maybe once every four years?
This is ALL a distraction from something else. Something to get folks riled up and yelling. about “ our heritage” or some kind of bull crap. Gee, Cracker Barrel as part of “my heritage” has never crossed my mind.
Cracker Barrel is just a restaurant. It’s like a Denny’s or Appalbee’s (sp) or whatever. Almost all of the food come from Sysco.
We eat there every couple of months. We saw a steep price increase on the last visit a couple of weeks ago, easily 25% over what the same food cost back in May.
I’m hungry for a chicken fried steak. Gravy on the side, maybe in a little bowl. Yeah, I like to dip my steak into the gravy. With a pile of french fries on the side. A salad with bleu cheese dressing would be simply frosting on a cake.
I know a place to go. The Bluebonnet Cafe. But by my self? Nope.
Dude, there is a The Bluebonnet Cafe just south of you in Marble Falls.
Or go sweet talk your local Dairy Queen, they may make you one on the side. Bring your own bleu cheese dressing. Or get a DQ Dude with gravy on it minus the bun and add gravy. Or the steak finger basket with gravy. Some DQs have side salads. If you take it home, better get three orders cause Penny and the other dog are going to be all over you.
https://dqtexas.com/food/the-dude-chicken-fried-steak-sandwich/
https://dqtexas.com/food/steak-finger-country-basket/
I had some chicken strips with gravy and fries from Mom’s local DQ last week. They were awesome, I brought them and burgers home to Mom and her helper. Heavy on the breading though. And I went heavy on the gravy, next time I ask for an extra gravy bucket. A side salad would have been nice.
So… Irish whiskey is BETTER? Grin.
Heritage. Please. Cracker Barrel was developed in the early 70s by a Shell marketing exec looking to sell more gasoline along with knick knacks.
I do think the fuss is a distraction from a bigger scheme by Blackrock and Vanguard to manufacture an excuse to unload a major portion of the company to retail investors. VTSMX alone holds 3% of the shares.
The major players have seen a jump in the value of their Chili’s subsidiary, also mostly owned by institutions, and they want to shake up Cracker Barrel in a similar way.
I know what you are saying Lynn. I do. But the Burnet Dairy Queen is garbage food. Has always been garbage food. And yeah, we try again about once a year. Because stupid.
I mean, steak fingers with the texture of cheap chicken nuggets.. But with gristle?
The Bluebonnet isn’t a chain.
We go twice a year, once for Father’s Day and again on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Cracker Barrel is an easy choice to stop at on a road trip. Something for everyone, and I can eat low carb there. The food used to be consistent and good. Since covid, I’ve noticed a general decline in both service and food quality. This isn’t localized to one restaurant, but across many locations in many states.
Luckily, a couple of our most traveled routes now have the beaver, so it’s taken the place of a decent, consistent meal stop. Quicker too.
I know what you are saying Lynn. I do. But the Burnet Dairy Queen is garbage food. Has always been garbage food. And yeah, we try again about once a year. Because stupid.
I mean, steak fingers with the texture of cheap chicken nuggets.. But with gristle?
Bummer. DQ is usually good. I also like their grilled chicken sandwich.
Perfect evening for our 1.5 mile walk. 78 F and a steady breeze from the north, then south, then north, etc. I like cool fronts in August, they are very rare in Texas.
And the continuous chain lightning in the clouds lighting up the landscape for us.
Our ten day forecast after today has highs in the upper 80s or low 90s and lows in the low 70s. I can deal with this.
Usually late August is upper 90s or low 100s for us.
We had crazy rolling thunder for minutes at a time right around dusk. Not much rain for all the grumble and flash.
I’ve got my trailer loaded with everything except the money stuff here at the house. I’ll be sorting some of that tonight. It did cool down with the rain and the front moving thru. Power even blinked.
———-
a Fancy Lad school like Purdue,
— when did Purdue get fancy? When I was in college it was as basic and midwestern blue collar as a university could be, with SOLID degrees. Real meat and potatoes degrees. My cousin ended up the highest paid grad in his class with a civil engineering degree and a talent for running large projects (like mines in Chile’.) Mom got a Masters of Social Work in the 90s so she could advance in Catholic Charities. (not the replacement immigrant pipeline enabler divisions, but in home visits making sure seniors got the treatments and care they were supposed to get.)
n
Purdue isn’t as Fancy Lad as The Most Expensive Engineering School In The United States (TM) down the street, but it is up there anymore.
Colonist interest is a sure sign that you run a Fancy Lad school.
Well, I’m pretty much packed. Still need to get a few bins into the trailer, and stop for ice in the morning.
Found some hidden treasures. Hope I make some money.
n
Bl*wjobs, both figurative and literal, are the currency of the realm.
If you hang out on reddit, you will see everything under the Sun. Including crazy questions like this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AITAH/comments/1mns8o1/am_i_the_asshole_for_asking_husband_to_shower/
But then see:
I’ll concede it doesn’t get into her actual arrival or visa/citizenship status, but the fact that her origin is being mentioned makes me think that it’s either an attempt to garner sympathy or gloss over an irregularity in her status.