Rain yesterday. Maybe rain today? The nice thing was it lowered the temperature and cleared out some of the crazy humidity. Not so nice was interfering with my plans. I guess it’s just too bad for me. It would help me for it to be cool and not raining today though.
I got nothing done on my list yesterday. Even though I was up early, all I did was nap, read, and watch some auctions close. Gah. The list gets longer, and I’m not making progress.
I’ll work on that today. I have a couple of things I can pickup, and a long list of things to do, but little actual motivation. And that is my real problem. Malaise. Ennui. Depression? Dunno. It’s mild, whatever it is, but it does drag a bit. Work and progress should help with that though, and be good in their own right.
I’ll try to make some progress, if you try too.
n
(I’m stacking anyway, if much slower than two years ago.)
The phrase my great-grandmother had for this was, “I’m just all et up with the I-don’t-cares.”
Wrong! Totally wrong! Egregiously wrong! So wrong, I can’t even!
It rains because the temperature dropped, not the other way around. Please make a note of it.
You work every day, right? Not necessarily paying work but fixing things around the house, landscaping the BOL, hauling kids around, and getting things set up for future work. Even going on vacation with the family broadly counts as work, if it wasn’t a trip you particularly wanted but you went because the family wanted to go. When is the last time you had a day completely to yourself, with no responsibilities and no pressure?
If my diagnosis is correct, fixing it is not a simple or quick task, not when others have gotten used to you taking care of the thousand things that keep life going, from “the car hit the curb and now the steering wheel shakes” and “something smells funny in the living room” to “I need help on my homework” and “I need money”.
Are both daughters old enough to get drivers licenses? If they can start getting themselves around, that would help a lot with the burden, though it adds another burden because adding new drivers to the family car insurance is painfully expensive. (Ask me how I know!)
In the immediate term, get some sleep. Make sure you’re eating well, even when by yourself at the BOL. Hungry Man Dinners and canned whatever don’t really cut it. Carve out a day for yourself to just relax and not even have to think about earning money or the to-do list. Easier said than done, I realize.
Easier said than done, I realize.
– this.
Eldest is driving youngest to some of the dates and activities. That does help although having all my eggs in one basket, being carried by a 16yo with an inflated sense of ability is its own kind of nervewracking.
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70F and 73%RH this morning. No matter the cause and effect, it’s a nice break.
———-
Having a little Earl Grey, hot this morning. The single serve keurig makes tea. Dunno if it’s good tea, but it tastes fine to me.
———-
Still working on some sort of routine for this new school year. I was spending a LOT of time driving to pickups, which I’m trying to not do now. I really need to get some structure in my day, and not be so reactive.
———–
It’s all a ‘work in progress’.
n
Emphasis on work.
Yah, I know. I was giving advice that I don’t follow myself. (Except that I eat well, almost entirely stuff I cook myself from scratch.)
My load has been slightly lightened for the past week, with The Child having gone off to college. Preparation for that placed a great burden on me toward the end of Summer, with pushing her to take care of all of the things which needed to be done but which she’d been putting off. “I’m tired.” “I’m in a bad mood.” “I can’t concentrate with all this noise.” And of course her going to college puts a financial burden on me. Oh, did you think that tuition and dorm were the only costs? Oh, my sweet Summer child! There were various nuisance fees when her brothers went to college, and even when I did, but the college is outdoing themselves this year. $480/semester technology fee? For what? She provides her own computers. That’s quite a steep rate for internet service. The cafeteria charge, mandatory for students living in dorms, is $2600/semester, not bad for restaurant meals twice a day but very high compared to buying groceries and cooking for yourself. There’s a Residence Hall Fee, on top of the dorm fee, which is already quite high compared to sharing an apartment. And so on. The time I’m no longer shuttling her to doctor appointments and such has to be put into working for money, to cover just the surprise fees.
What’s that you say? What is her mother doing to help? Well, she’s covering the kid’s health insurance, which doesn’t cost her much but is a big benefit. Technically, she gave the kid her old car, but that doesn’t count for much because my wife wrecked the car last Winter; it would have been totaled for economic reasons but I put the time and money into fixing it to be safe to drive. (The plastic front end is pretty banged up still. I told The Child that I’ll replace it if she gets through this Winter without driving into anything. No sense in making the bodywork perfect for a new driver in snow country.) Other than that, nada. And the college savings account got folded into the household account some time ago, and then used for general expenses or vacation or whatever. Surprise!
After his freshman year, we gave my son a $400/month food budget while living in an apartment. That didn’t include any fast food – that is on his dime.
This semester (second to last!) he wanted the cheap meal plan, as its more convenient to eat on campus with his schedule. $777 for one semester and it provides 55 all you can eat meals. Just over $14/meal. No worse than the price of fast food, and there’s a chance he will have something a smidge better for him.
Someone is trying hard to push NVDA back above the 50 day moving average this morning.
Have your plans changed?
Double-plus ungood.
@dcp:
Somebody else occasionally uses Newspeak?
G.
A nice full moon last night. No sign of the eclipse here.
Cool out, 58F in the morning. It might hit 90F later, it seems like Fall is here, this is supposed to continue through the end of the week.
I know the heat will return, it doesn’t reliably cool off in the valley here until October. Halloween can be shirtsleeves or thick jackets.
The tomato plants finally produced a few cherry tomatoes, and I can see some bigger green fruit on the vines, hurrah!
—-
Quiet too, perhaps the letter from Animal Control arrived at the neighbor’s place? I was able to go out into my yard this morning and feed the
rabbitsbirds and water some plants without being raged at for once. We shall see (or hear).It really seems eerily quiet.
——
My friend from San Diego can’t make it up. That sucks, but I guess there’s some health reasons.
My brother might come down from Carson City towards the end of the week, so setting up the bed in the spare bedroom isn’t a complete loss…
I noticed that the laminated wooden headboard and footboard for it are starting to separate, I suppose that the heat in the container that I stored them in is to blame. I used some construction screws in hidden spots to hold everything together for now. They’re old and not worth anything so it’s not a big deal as long as it doesn’t collapse on him.
We started a college fund for The Twins when they were born. Only each and me were on the account so there were no withdrawing shenanigans. When college rolled around, they wanted to stay together in a dorm or apt. I said why not just live at home, UNLV is 15 minutes away in the car I’m giving you. So, they did and had money left over at the end of uni.
Of all the special life-long “friends” I made in college living in a dorm, I’ve contacted only one in 45 years. Dorm life is overrated IMO.
A friend sent me a link to a Savannah Banana’s game. Looks wild.
—-
That brought up a plethora of baseball links.
Among the shorts was a short clip of a pitcher for the Astros’ deliberately hitting his own catcher because of the batter before hitting a slammer. Of course everyone involved is claiming that it was an unintentional cross up now: but the body language of everyone involved shows what really happened.
No.
I need to find time to talk to a lawyer with details. More difficult, I need to find time to organize all the information he’ll need so that he can give me good advice.
I spoke to one a while ago but that was more generalities. It’s time to nail things down and figure out whether I should move out right away and file, wait a while, or what, figure out what I can realistically demand from the family assets, and so on.
The plan for the past two years was for The Child to live here and drive the approx 15 minutes to the nearby community college, get the AS, then figure out what she wants to do and where she wants to go. (Note also that a couple years ago she was signed up to start college at 16, in place of the last two years of high school. That fell apart for justifiable reasons.) But early this Summer she said that she couldn’t and wouldn’t live here any longer than she had to, for different but also justifiable reasons. What came together ended up being much more expensive, so I told her that I’ll fully pay for this year, including car insurance, letting her continue to use my credit card, and so on, but she has to figure out her own funding for next year. It was her decision to triple the cost of her freshman year so she can deal with the consequences of that decision.
Same here. Though I have fond memories of a few other dorm rats.
Amusing (to me) story about my last roommate. In 1984, 10 years after he graduated, I was at the MGM Grand in Vegas at a computer convention (DECUS). I was waiting for an elevator, and when the door opened, out he stepped. I did not expect to run into anyone I knew there.
We had lunch together and caught up. I’ve reached out every 10 years or so, and I bought his book. I have to admit, it’s been on my SBR for over a year now, never opened. It’s called Russian Encounters, and it’s non-fiction.
All five of our daughters have BS+ degrees. None of them had college debt. One of the biggest gifts we could give them. College funds, financial assistance for good grades, living at home, etc., all add up to debt free degrees.
NEVER STOP BELIEVING. GET AFTER IT. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
Get moving, if only so you don’t have to have this guy in your face ever again! 😉
Huh. When you tell tourists that they aren’t welcome, they listen. Who knew?
And when your whole economy is built on tourism, you pretty much need the tourists to come…
n
Leaving aside the maori words, what mother talks about her kids like this?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15076073/Missing-children-Marokopa-Tom-Phillips.html
So dad grabs the kids and heads into the bush. Tiny little place like NZ and they can’t find him in 4 years? When he’s breaking into stores for supplies?
Mom’s first statement is about “reintegrating” the kids? WTF?
n
Is this the book?
https://www.amazon.com/Russian-Encounters-Memoir-Glenn-Bever-ebook/dp/B07LC64HJR/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3G66LB8WJ31CR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8uGfLHLB88Zc8BvnTdT9mDjbHPLN9g-YAFuZx-bW4ky9qBQrY-1mQFIJPzaRRqHHMOsKLDEFJcN4BYfquHmEGbe1j3655gmalhg8MvBijMU-Ps5lZcMnRzoaKLRgRgSpOa1dKUrtZV94cerBTPtmIfWjtAupkdUk1kOWrk2h_YqRg4Dmx3tDw6LgIQgnmA5PO2Oz9lzbG0fc0FNRs_njeOr4dIKBMz8PFr6o8SK2xMg.zKnNrP1eO6Xl_K8CrwyZrZ2lS4tFi8NHi3-htgCUJD4&dib_tag=se&keywords=russian+encounters&qid=1757350027&s=books&sprefix=russian+encounters%2Cstripbooks%2C547&sr=1-1&tag=ttgnet-20
Looks interesting!
Not so tiny. North Island alone is bigger than Virginia, with a much lower population.
Keep in mind that Nick is in Texas. Anything smaller than “Michelle” Obama’s schlong is considered tiny.
(If I were a decent human being, I’d apologize for making you think about “Michelle” Obama’s schlong. I am not apologizing. Draw your own conclusions.)
Just remember what happened to Joan Rivers for getting too close to the truth about Big Mike.
4 years in the back country is impressive as heII, especially with 3 young kids along.
n
Currently 91F but only 37%RH. That should actually feel pretty good.
n
SCOTUS hands tRump another win:
Supreme Court LIFTS restrictions on Trump’s immigration raids despite claims agents targeted people by race
The three libtards dissent, of course. Illegals have no Constitutional rights. Only basic Human rights. The Wise Latina tries to invoke the 4th about illegal searches. No way, Jose, you lose.
Yes. Glenn has an interesting life story. When we were roommates,(1974) he made a list of 10 things he wanted to accomplish before he died. A bucket list before the term bucket list was common.
By 1984 he had completed his list. He had to make a new one.
I disagree. Illegal immigrants are part of an irregular, undeclared, non-uniformed invading army. As such, they can be detained, given a drumhead court martial, and summarily executed. I’m not sure the court martial is even required.
“Goldman Sachs chief economist: US economy is in ‘stall speed’”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/goldman-sachs-chief-economist-us-economy-is-in-stall-speed-174203126.html?guccounter=1
“It’s a stall-speed US economy in need of a few interest rate cuts to reignite growth.”
“”I think we are close to stall speed. Where exactly we are relative to stall speed, it’s hard to know,” Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius told me at the firm’s annual Communacopia + Technology conference on Monday.”
Yup. Way past time to lower the interest rates.
I think that the Fed is doing this on purpose to mess with Trump.
The total lunar eclipse was not visible from the Americas; only in Eurasia, Africa, and OZ.
Well, I agree with you. I’m saying you
can’tshouldn’t throw them in a cage, starve them, beat them, and THEN hang them. The cage is OK, though.If the $240k floor under housing in most urban areas is not eliminated soon, people are going to start voting Socialist like what is about to happen in New York City.
Goldman Sachs wants to borrow on the cheap at the discount window to loan OpenAI and other companies money which will fund the buildout of the monkey trick.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/06/openai-business-to-burn-115-billion-through-2029-the-information.html
Why do we have an income tax ? This answers the question:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE6EYG429J3Z-TajndEnc75xSwLPc5zZpZbyNzByIP6kQlNjztne31VZewa_ri_h2v1WYiaaMh-XxnixONYFGUzs-ONDd2q3Vb2RdA-lyBiv18XqSiUhWQt1QvOjP3hUfGW_z-4g_upmYfhEIeHS4BN6-VIMN8KvFCNV_37D_LuxsVzbf-6jzV1JIrjXw/s715/Meme%20-%20why%20tax%3F.png
From:
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2025/09/memes-that-made-me-laugh-277.html
If the $240k floor under housing in most urban areas is not eliminated soon, people are going to start voting Socialist like what is about to happen in New York City.
I am sorry but I am not understanding your statement here.
“Sharia Comes to Houston”
https://areaocho.com/sharia-comes-to-houston/
“Islamists are now demanding that everyone in Houston follow Sharia law:”
The war between the muslims and the rest of us is coming. It is detailed in this book, “Caliphate” by Tom Kratman
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1439133425?tag=ttgnet-20
Kill, convert, or extract tribute.
Though, in the case of the individual in the video with the bullhorn, he’s just being an a**hole, wanting Whitey to start something.
“Please help Peter Grant pay for multiple surgeries”
https://www.givesendgo.com/GJPZ6
Seems very legit. I donated.
From:
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2025/09/asking-for-your-help-dear-readers.html
Interest rates edging closer to historic norms will restore some sanity to the housing market which was distorted by cheap money, 0/3% down mortgages, and the $8k first time home buyer credit passed in Obama’s first year.
Market forces need to resume driving real estate at least until the Dems get back into office and enact the $20k first time home buyer credit which will make every existing owner a millionaire on paper.
Once people get that wealth effect in ’em, they get all antsy in their pantsy. There won’t be any going back for the politicians then.
The housing market will be supported at all costs … like it is now in Texas.
Trump is a real estate developer. He knows the deal.
I mentioned the other day that an awful lot of
Americanspeople in America think that they can FA endlessly and never have to FO.They exist on both sides.
With the documentary about Paula Deen’s “racism” scandal about to hit, this isn’t surprising, but when we went to the Family Kitchen in Nashville three years ago, I noted that about a third of the customers and half of the staff were of the demographic which should be deeply offended by the word Deen admitted to using.
https://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending/paula-deen-announces-shuttering-2-savannah-restaurants/6H2IBZLGZNHXDKSM27Y7EI24UU/
I wonder how many of the news media lined up for the Blue Plate at the Lady and Sons covering the South Carolina primary last year. The press conferences held by the Biden Thing always seemed to originate from Savannah.
I released version 16.25 of my software on August 29. I am putting up patch #2 for a customer now. The software developer (aka bug creator) job is never done.
We’ve been in crisis mode for a month with nightly 10 PM calls on work nights regarding the final version of our latest release supporting the newest monkey trick hardware.
The 10 PM phone call on the Thursday before Labor Day weekend led to me not getting to bed until 3 AM, ruining most of the holiday until Sunday afternoon, when I finally caught up on sleep.
Everyone in the customer base is worried that the cap ex gravy train funded by Wall Street is going to end soon.
With NVDA still sitting just below support, 168.31 at today’s close, they’re probably not wrong.
Most 401(k) plans and private pensions have a big interest in NVDA right now, another reason Wall Street wants a rate cut.
Oof:
Boat carrying Greta Thunberg towards Gaza is set on fire ‘by drone’ off north Africa: Flotilla organisers say ‘acts of aggression aimed at derailing our mission will not deter us’
I doubt this was Israel, unless it is a warning shot, they would sink the SS Turdberg no problemo.
FAFO could be next.
I just cashed out a 9 month CD covering the college expenses for Fall for both offspring.
4% annual yield so roughly 3%. I’m hoping to get a similar rate when I set up a CD for next Fall at the end of October.
I think I did better than my employer’s stock over the same period, but they do pay a dividend.
The new Fire arrived. Nice shade of emerald green. I stuck my SD card in it from the old Kindle and it powered up (I really don’t think I bumped the power button) and the screen said “Hi Paul! Enter your password.” 63% charged. Kinda slick. Or I’m easily impressed. Your call. The power button has moved. I’ll adapt.
It seems snappy. It’s kind of wide. I’ll have to figure how to hold it. The picture is great. What sounds it has made, I haven’t tried any music yet, sounds pretty good. Stereo, even. The camera is ok.
The junk I don’t want is all tossed into a folder on the desktop. Clear up the clutter. Not much interest over here for Amazon Kids or Amazon Music or Alexa or Prime Video. But that’s me, full of hate.
That app that lets you un-install things on your phone? That I babbled about a couple of months ago? It works on a Kindle. Ok, seems to work, I have not tried un-installing anything. I think the new Kindle is running Android 11.
I did install Solitare and Tri-Peaks and Pyramid with the app.. They are the old Win 3.1 or so versions. I bought them on Google for like $1 each. I have the .apk files on my site. files/phone
I got e-mail working. Not sure why that took a couple of tries. But it’s working.
It’s not exactly happy with my SD card. I’ll have to pull it and check for dog hair. Maybe buy a newer card. The file system is different. It looks like it is all one place. No internal storage or SD card, just a pool of storage space. Maybe I’m looking at it wrong.
It had an e-mail address. emuranch and a bunch of numbers. I went online and deleted the Kindle that is going back. Ain’t anything on it. Changed the name of the original Kindle. Changed the name and e-mail address of the new Kindle. Pretty painless.
Time for Buddy’s bed time potty walk.
I think t-bills are better. A little more work on your side but the bank isn’t taking a 1% skim.
But that’s me. I’m not a financial expert. of any kind.
Oof:
Boat carrying Greta Thunberg towards Gaza is set on fire ‘by drone’ off north Africa: Flotilla organisers say ‘acts of aggression aimed at derailing our mission will not deter us’
I doubt this was Israel, unless it is a warning shot, they would sink the SS Turdberg no problemo.
FAFO could be next.
You know, submarines do not have to surface to launch torpedoes.
Well I did manage to get a couple of things done. Pickup was fine. Somehow my low bids won me 4 portable a/c units. I’ll sell them next summer.
Cut the back yard and was part way thru the front when the battery died. I got out the pole saw and did some pruning and other cleanup. I’d never used this saw since I picked it up for no money at an estate sale. The chain was on backwards. Doesn’t cut well like that. Cut just fine when I installed the chain correctly.
Didn’t get enough charge in the mower battery before I lost the light so it’ll be tomorrow before I finish.
Fixed the toilet at my shop. It needed the gasket between the bowl and the tank and new tank bolts. Cleaned the toilet and sink after. Started going thru some of the auction stuff there.
Came home and tried to fix a couple of small ‘turbo’ fans. No luck, bad from the factory. Nothing obvious wrong and I metered and looked at everything. They just don’t work. Don’t buy the AmazonBasics small turbo fan.
Fixed a ceiling fan controller. Tried to fix the adjustable base remote for our Tempur Pedic bed at the BOL, but it was all eaten up by leaking batteries. Best price for a replacement was $100 from the manufacturer. Decided to let W use my remote on her side since I never use it.
D1 went to dinner with a boy. A date. Kid came to the door to get her and shook my hand. Good way to start.
Think I’ll read for a bit and try for an early bedtime.
n
Four portable a/c units? That vent with ducts? I bet you find a use before you sell them.
I bet you find a use before you sell them.
– I am thinking of swapping the bigger two units for the ones I have in the garage at the BOL. Even running two of them, they can’t keep the garage below 83F on the hottest days. I’m really watching for a mini split for the garage, but they are either only half a system, or they go for almost retail.
I”ve got two at my secondary, two at the house here, two in the garage at the BOL, and another in the shed, and one at my shop. And now 4 more.
They are great for hurricanes or other power outages as they will run off the gennie, and they do a good job of cooling.
n
… while you just happened to be “cleaning” your gub collection on the porch? 😉
“cleaning” your gub collection
Rocking chair, blanket, half chewed cigar, “get off my lawn” scowl… MAGA cap optional.. 😀
>>That does help although having all my eggs in one basket, being carried by a 16yo with an inflated sense of ability is its own kind of nervewracking.
Called being a parent…getting their DL spikes the timeline a bit…and the spike ends, well, ‘turning in their DL’ is an event you (hopefully) get to miss.
In between, we try not to worry too much…
>>The list gets longer, and I’m not making progress. I’ll work on that today.
My tally so far for today is one task completed and two more added – net in the wrong direction. Having a chronic illness doesn’t help sometimes…