Cool, but not cold, and certainly as damp as can be. We had morning fog/heavy mist/early morning low clouds Friday, and in some places on Saturday. We might have some again today. After that, it was gorgeous Fall weather.
I did my non-prepping hobby meeting and quarterly swapmeet yesterday morning. I hadn’t had a lot of sleep, and the meeting went long, with a long Board meeting afterwards, mostly related to the web site and regularizing some stuff that had grown organically and was as krufty as 40 year old software. Volunteer organizations are manned by volunteers with different skills, experience, and levels of commitment.
Often, if something works, even if just barely, there is a LOT of momentum and resistance to changing. In this case, it’s been over a year since I moved our web stuff to a modern host and platform, but I hadn’t touched the related IT of payment systems. I’ve been paying for the hosting because it’s easier than just about anything else, and isn’t that expensive. The guy who handles our credit card machine and processing has been doing much the same, even though he’s not the Treasurer. The paypal account is ‘owned’ by a guy who moved across the country, and we can’t change passwords or anything else related to the account because the email addy or phone number for the 2 factor authentication has been long lost. People have been using their personal email accounts for org business, and those Board positions change every year…
I was a bit surprised how resistant people were to the simple idea of having dedicated emails for board positions, that would move when the positions change hands, and could be used as the official point of contact for new paypal and credit processing accounts. It’s a change in the way they are used to managing, and they didn’t want another email addy to check. In the end, we’ll be doing a limited number of new emails, and the Treasurer will establish new Paypal and CC accounts linked to the new emails instead of individuals.
I think it’s sensible and straightforward, especially as all the online services are moving to 2 factor, and it captures all the email chains for official business. From a business continuity standpoint, it makes more sense too, as we’ve already experienced what happens when someone personally tied to the infrastructure leaves the group. I must have done a poor job of communicating the issues and benefits because it took far longer and more talk to get the changes approved than I expected. Herding cats comes to mind.
Meatspace baby. Interacting with other people definitely has challenges and costs, but the rewards are there too. It’s a bit intimidating that whatever solutions I put in place or cause to happen will probably still be in use a decade from now, just like the current kludge-fest that I want to replace has been.
This place has and had something similar happen when Bob got sick. I don’t think we’d be here today if Bob hadn’t already set up my (and a couple of other peoples’) access, and given us permission to participate on that higher level. It’s been my privilege to do so and to continue to do so.
As this year winds down, take a look at whatever organizations or communities you are involved in, and think about continuity. Maybe make a plan, or let some other people know the things they might need to know. Do the same for your personal life. At a minimum, a list of accounts, passwords, and their relevance to you should be accessible to the right people.
Whatever can’t continue forever, won’t. And that includes us and the things we participate in.
Do some stacking too. Whatever might ease a transition…
nick
The first clause is indisputably true. The second clause is an assertion made without proof or even evidence.
Good advice. Why, if something happens to me and no one can access the files on my computer, my trove of Hello Kitty fanfics will be lost to the world!
Thanks for keeping it going. Coming up with a daily post for eight years must be something of a burden. Dealing with the weirdos – Denis, I’m looking at you! – must be a bigger burden.
Bah. Just opened up the chicken coop and discovered that it’s raining. And the temperature is probably 10F colder than forecast. I had plans for the day and they’ve been disrupted by weather. Bah.
This video spooled up while I was typing that. I’m not Tim Pool’s biggest fan, but y’all should watch that clip. And harden up. Things will get worse before they get better.
That would be the “privilege” part, timezone loser boy 🙂
Venison to cook for lunch. I am hesitating between doing it Asian-style with Bok Choi, garlic, ginger and soy, or French, with cabbage, red wine sauce and baby potatoes. Decisions, decisions. Listening to Beethoven’s 9th on the new Hi-Fi while I cogitate. Life is hard.
Perspective, perspective. Everyone is weird from the right vantage point.
My Dyson stick vacuum’s runtime has dropped to less than 5 minutes. The battery is failing. A new battery from Dyson is $130.00. A new battery from some third party is $49.00. Guess which one I chose. The 3rd party battery is supposed to have more capacity. Easy replacement, three screws. I also ordered new filters for the vacuum.
I did look at getting a new Dyson vacuum. Holy sucking power Batman, the new ones are expensive. The cheap version is $300.00, the latest version is almost $800.00. Even Costco prices were high and Costco does not carry the latest version. While exploring Dyson, I looked at that fan/Air Purifier that Dyson says is the best around, no exposed blades. Yeh, the blades are in the base and that fancy “no blade” enclosure is just a fancy diverter. No thanks for $400.00 at Costco. That $11.00 box fan at Walmart moves air just as well.
Being next to the heat source isn’t as much of a problem as electronics in the Gulf Marine environment.
There is a reason that the EV spontaneous combustion fires all seem to happen in the Gulf states but particularly Florida.
West Central Florida is particularly harsh.
60 F and a strong wind is blowing out of the North. No clouds in the sky.
It is beginning to look like my Aggies are going to run the table after the whoopin they put on Missouri yesterday. One can only hope as Texas stands in our way after turkey day.
I think our coach has gained 50 lbs so far this season. I hope that he does not have a heart attack.
Probably Ben Rich with regard to the F117 development. I have his book around somewhere.
We saw a decommissioned F117 at the air museum in Palm Springs back in the Spring. All of the radar absorbing coating had been removed, but the shape … and size … remained.
It is a surprisingly big plane, burying two F18 engines inside the frame.
Of course the line from Dr. Strangelove immediately popped into my head.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxLe8MWdWe0
Ironically, the F117 shape was derived using formulas in a Russian textbook. Once the shape was set, the Skunkworks had to make it fly.
Don’t overlook South Carolina. If everything plays out, it should be a good SEC championship game.
Roll Tide!
Billy Napier is available for consultation.
I think the fix is in by the Manning family for UT to at least make the playoffs, however. That would require a meaningful win somewhere in the last few games.
Georgia in Athens would be too obvious, and Arkansas is unranked.
I’ve been busy this week so I had this comment parked in a tab.
I gave up on sharing files from my various Windows boxes since SMB is a moving target thanks to Redmond. Around 20 years ago, I installed the stock Samba package on my home server running Linux and dug enough information out of the O’Reilly book to put together a crude configuration file to serve the system’s user account home directories as mapped drives across the network to any of my systems, Mac, Linux, or Windows.
I map my home directory to Z: on all the Windows systems around my house.
I haven’t changed the configuration much, but when it does need a change, I usually have a research project spanning months. Otherwise, the arrangement just works.
My home server is $200 worth of parts with the last refit, done in 2017.
I’m looking at going $1000 with the next refit just so I can play with an Epyc 4545p.
The reporter gets eaten alive in this interview.
I’m sure her parents consider the Fancy Lad education at Brown to be money well spent.
She’s “Features Director”, an editor at GQ after all.
Borrower Defense will gut those schools.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TwhvC_iPCc
Next week will be UT dropout Glenn Powell eating them alive in publicity for “The Running Man”.
@paul
@Lynn
There is a wide variety of regional practices wrt siting of HVAC and hot water heating in different parts of the United States, all complicated by various ages of housing stock built during various utility fads.
Generally speaking, the northern latitudes have basements and the HVAC and water heater are located there in a more or less central location. Central heating practices ca. 1900 were coal delivered once a year into basement bins where it was used in furnaces immediately adjacent. Oil, natural gas and propane came later and were retrofitted. (Lots of oil tanks in coal bins in the Northwest) It made sense to locate water heaters nearby–unheated spaces above Zone 6 or 7 and power failures are not a good mix. Likewise, cooking cpu’s in an uncooled attic in Houston is not good practice, but lowers installed cost vs. 20-feet of control cable and an electronics enclosure in a cool interior closet.
Acidic furnace condensate is corrosive to concrete and cast iron drain pipes in particular. Adding limestone filters to raise the pH complicates the plumbing, adds expense and maintenance. The South also has a problem with biological contamination and clogging–putting the HVAC in the attic makes the runs longer and often necessitates addition of a condensate pump for more expense and complication.
There is no one solution for specifying the efficiency of appliances. Selection involves use levels, climate, building insulation, retrofitting vs. new construction, installed and operating costs. If installed costs are decoupled from operating costs, as in rental properties the selection can greatly affect the results. Establishing minimum standards while allowing a range of product choices makes sense–letting radicals control the standards setting process does not.
Watching the same people who forced energy conservation, net zero, carbon offsets and other piously preached policies onto the masses suddenly reverse course and whore themselves at the temple of AI is amusing and points to the real motivations which is primarily control of everything by a self-appointed and anointed group of hereditary elites. With profligate consumption of water and electricity by the proliferation of data centers, it’s only a matter of time before efficiency standards become a topic, and new battles between the monied elites and the political elites commence, with the cannon fodder as always provided by the public.
I went the French route, and braised the venison on a mirepoix of diced celeriac, carrot, ginger, mushrooms and onion.
Sear the meat in a hot pan with butter and olive oil to get some browning going. Maille reaction, baby. Transfer to a warm plate while frying off the mirepoix in the same pan, with a blob of tomato puree, a spoonful of beure manié (equal parts of flour and butter, like a roux base) and a couple of glasses of dry red wine. Return the meat and its juices to the pan on top of the mirepoix, get it all bubbling over a strong flame, then add a lid and put the whole thing in a slow oven (150 C, 300 F) for about an hour, or until the “guest” (W1) arrived to set the table. I cooked, so I’m not doing the table too… Serve the venison and sauce with baby potatoes and pan-wilted spinach.
It turned out great, but I ought to have used a French wine, not the Saud’Effrican one of which I wanted rid. Howizit? It was fine for the braising, but the remainder was undrinkable as a beverage.
Dessert will be Cox’s Orange Pippin apples, peeled, cored and stuffed with marzipan, topped with sugar, cinnamon and toasted pecan nuts, baked in the oven and served with ice-cream. If I am feeling fancy, I might flambé the apples for serving.
Life is hard. Enjoy it.
Texas has Georgia, Arkansas, and A&M left. No way they beat Georgia or the Aggies.
Odd place to be hiding out. Did you sleep there?
As @Lynn has said season, the Texas A&M players this season are “the best team money can buy”.
Well, outside of Miami.
Sanctionable activities by the alumni are no doubt also involved.
A dime will get dropped before the Mannings head to College Station.
A&M can still go to the playoffs wih a loss to Texas, but the reverse is not true.
The dime will not get dropped on Georgia in Athens. That dawg don’t hunt, son.
drwilliams, a couple years ago you suggested penny weighing as an early lab before doing real chemistry labs.
What do you suggest as a metric for “good enough” for variation in measurements across sets? StdDev <1% over ten measurements of the same penny? <5%?
I have almost a thousand dollars of chemistry gear* and chemicals, purchased for labs with my daughter and one of her friends, justsitting on a shelf. And some acquaintances home school. I might loan gear or even (insert skeptical laughter) supervise their labs.
Follow-on question: Before doing the penny lab, how do I tell whether my electronic scales are accurate and precise enough? What I’d done before was wipe the trays, turn the scales on and wait a couple minutes, wipe off the calibration weights that came with one of the scales, hit the tare button on each scale, and then use tweezers to put the weights on the tray of each scale in turn, singly and together. If the registered weight was +- one of the last digit that the scale displays, it’s good enough. Is that procedure good, or at least as good as I can get without top-end gear?
Thanks in advance.
* And about the same in electronics: Arduinos, stepper motors, sensors, little displays, and so on. The idea was to make robotics projects and such. We did some chemistry and some electronics, but then The Child started having medical problems which got worse until she was barely functional for a year, until we found the cause. By the time that was straightened out, the wife and her mother started having their health problems and constantly disrupted the household.
@Denis,
I am a YouTube educated chef*, and I take objection to your cooking narrative.
First, Maillard reaction Not Maille reaction,
Second,
The rule of thumb on wine is: If you won’t drink it, don’t cook with it.
* Tongue firmly in cheek… Although I do watch YT videos by Chef John, Glenn, Max, Alton, Kenji, Jacques, and Alex. I also recognize that watching and doing are 2 separate endeavors.
Gabbling, complaining hens in the chicken coop or gabbling, complaining hens in the house. Which would you choose?
I suppose I could have phrased it more clearly: I went outside of the house to open the chicken coop, as it was just getting light and without having opened the curtains of my office in the house, and discovered, as soon as I went out the door of the house, that it was raining.
My wife uses “Two Buck Chuck” cabernet for several dishes.
We’ve already established that the “Count” does not sleep. Muh-ha-ha (in Count Chocula voice).
The Church of Climate Loses Its Pulpit at CBS
–Charles Rotter
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/11/07/cbs-turns-off-the-climate-alarm-clock/
Pendulum swings like the pendulums do,
Journos in bread lines two by two.
Cold winter wind freezes all the fools,
Wearing their shorts and looking like tools.
(apologies to Roger Miller)
You can learn a lot from cooking videos on YouTube. This one still ranks among the best I’ve seen, even with the music swapped out and some scenes edited for political correctness.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xc5wIpUenQ
“I like that animal.”
My father-in-law always pressed my wife to make a Turducken, but he didn’t want any part of the work involved which is supposed to be a shared effort by tradition.
Lot of that going around.
“Hey, you cook, don’t you? Can you bring a pot of chili and some corn bread to our get-together tomorrow? There’ll be about 15 people. Thanks!”
The last Christmas we spent with my father-in-law, he threw a snit fit when I didn’t let a (then) $80 Honey Baked Ham we brought to the event go into the oven.
At that point, he had lived in the South for several decades and knew that tradition from previous Christmas dinners at our house, but the moment another guest, a cute Asian med student, said something about eating “raw” ham, he seemed to have an attack of selective amnesia.
Yeah, sport, your 55 year old a** isn’t hitting that.
I didn’t let the ham get ruined.
Currently 68F, sunny, with wind gusting to 6 mph according to the weather station.
I”m up, coffee is waiting, and I think I will do “brunch.” I wish I had some better bread, but I did pick up some pickled herring at IKEA in mustard sauce. When I was in Norway, there were a dozen kinds of fish at breakfast. There was incredible bread too.
———-
Time to make use of the time I have today.
n
@denis, the meal sounds lovely. Simple in some respects but we think of french cooking as complicated. I generally don’t do sauces other than pan drippings and I probably should give it a try.
WRT the wine, yeah, if you won’t drink it, don’t use it. Julia Childs put that to the test!
I have substituted Jack Daniels for some cream sauces when I didn’t want to open a bottle of wine. Yum.
n
Indeed. Autocorrect seems to like a brand of French mustard!
Note to self: taste, not drink all, the wine first 🙂
For YT cooks, I am enjoying the Fallow channel, and the BBC Masters series with Marco Pierre White and Pierre Koffmann.
I did flambé dessert.
Colonists are really bad about contributing food to school social events and pot lucks at work, much worse than Chinese in my experience.
You would be amazed at how quickly the “vegetarian” status gets forgotten when you put a tray of Chick-Fil-A nuggets in front of Colonist women.
The phrase “unhinge their lower jaws” immediately springs to mind.
Also the sacred cows aren’t so sacred, but they’re more discreet about that one.
We had a launch event for about 500 people, mostly Colonists, at the local Kalahari resort a few months ago, and the buffet line staff couldn’t keep the beef trays filled. At first, I couldn’t figure out how the “vegetarians” were doing it, but then I noticed one woman next to me had the beef tips hidden under her massive salad pile.
They never stop lying, especially to themselves.
Related: Why do you always go fishing with two Baptist (or Mormon) friends? Because if you go with just one, he’ll drink all your beer.
Wisconsin: “We got Ed Gein and Dahmer…”
Texas: “Hold my beer…”
Staggering data reveals almost 200 bodies have been pulled from Houston bayous – as officials insist there is no serial killer
Did Mr. SteveF move to Houston? Those bayous must be convenient.
Gein was still breathing when I was at uni at Stevens Point, WI. It was not uncommon to hear “Free Ed Gein! Ed Gein is being held a political prisoner” across the quad.
Justin Wilson is always fun to re-watch.
Data point for downtown Houston.
I recently had jury duty, and I showed up before sunup so I could get a spot in the free parking garage. I took a walk looking for a coffee shop to get breakfast coffee and a muffin, and took a wrong turn. I ended up doing a tour of the downtown area/theater district on foot. (and didn’t get breakfast.)
Lots of sleeping homeless people. Sleeping or dead. Probably sleeping. But what happens to them when they die? And die they will, being mostly out of doors mentally ill substance abusers?
I won’t rule out a serial killer, but I also don’t think we’re talking about 200 murder victims dumped in the bayou.
OTOH, for retail killers, bayous make convenient dumping grounds, and the 4th largest city in the US has plenty of gangs, illegal aliens, and diversity with poor impulse control.
That number is also for the last 8 years.
n
20 /yr for a metro area w/ 2M people?
Dunno what nyc and the sidewalks are like.
n
I might show up unexpectedly…sounds yummy.
Another beautiful morning here in the high desert, really just balmy.
SNAP is back in CA (as of Friday), and the budget supermarket was packed, unlike last week. Long lines at seven checkouts, the most I have ever seen open at 8:30am on a normal Sunday.
Observing the contents of others carts it seemed like maybe a few more staples were being bought rather than the processed stuff, but not dramatically.
Albertson’s OTOH, was normal to light traffic, so?
The Blue Origin launch is scheduled for 2;45 Eastern, about 35m from now.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2025/11/08/live-coverage-blue-origin-to-launch-nasas-mars-bound-escapade-mission/
A serial killer has been working the Austin Bacchanalia District (6th Street) for several years, but no one wants to talk about it, especially the DA’s office and APD.
The last time we endured -er- visited Downton Houston for a conference, we fed our kids lunch every day at Phoenicia. They do not open until 8 AM, however.
Seems tailor made for 24/7 video surveillance & face/gait recognition tech.
So, an “after action” report on paper filter liners for the mesh k-cup holders:
Works fine, tastes like drip or v. good k-cup, just a few grounds escaped.
However, that said, it’s quite a bit of work to grind beans for a tiny little k-cup serving, at that point you might as well just make a pot of drip coffee.
I suppose you could make some at home using a coffee flavor you like and bring them to work.
Get a good thermos (ie, insulated vacuum flask) and make the day’s coffee in the morning. Enjoy as desired throughout the day. I suggest using the thermos for nothing else.
The only problem is that you may find yourself either drinking more coffee than you used to or drinking the day’s coffee in the morning and then having to do without for the afternoon.
Related: I’ve stopped buying ground coffee, since finding out the amount of fraud involved in almost all ground coffees that you can buy in the US and Europe. Aside from fraud in the “ethically sourced, sustainable, cruelty-free beans” scam (the fraud is not a concern for me because the source is not a concern for me), a non-negligible fraction of the bag of ground coffee that you buy is not coffee. The processors add barley, rice, and twigs to save money. If you buy whole beans, you can be sure that they’re actually coffee beans. I’ve been eating down (drinking down) my stockpile of coffee, normally alternating a pot of ground with a pot of whole bean which I grind myself. There’s a significant difference, even when I get the same brand and style, such as Dunkin Donuts ground vs bean.
Now do olive oil.
Yah. So long as you don’t mind if your olive oil is “worn-out slut” rather than “extra virgin”, go ahead and buy it.
Sunday funnies
https://bluebirdofbitterness.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/doomsday.png?w=375&h=447
https://bluebirdofbitterness.com/2025/11/09/sunday-funnies-300/
“When you pass the buck, don’t ask for change.”
– Solomon Short
I actually bought a small bag of fresh beans this morning to give everything a fair shake. Grind.
I like coffee but more than a couple of cups in the morning upsets my stomach. So I’m careful about using my thermos unless I am on the road.
No “Cougar Grindings Brand” involved.
Then do honey.
—-
I’ve been grinding a couple of weeks worth at a time, and keeping the grounds in an airtight cannister. Mainly because it’s the cheapest good tasting coffee at costco, kirkland dark roast, or colombian, whichever is a few cents cheaper, whole bean.
Three pound bag is a bonus vs 2.5#.
I just want coffee to be very dark and rich in flavor, because I add 6 tsp. sugar, and ¼ cup heavy cream to 20oz of coffee.
I use a simple drip machine.
IF I was going to mess around with the reusable K cups, I’d be more inclined to use my moca pot instead, for about the same work and cleanup. UNLESS, I might try preground instant coffee in the reusable k cup, since it’s make for “just add water” anyway. That would at least save the mess of loading the cup. I’ve got lots of premium instant to complement the Mountain House and other freeze dried meals.
n
You would be most welcome! It was indeed yummy. The triple sec from the flambéing really lifted the whole thing into the sublime.
This was a bit of a dry run for Christmas cooking. I think the venison dinner with baked apple dessert is a keeper.
I am happy to have found pecan nuts at Aldi for a reasonable price. I love walnuts, but am sadly allergic to them. Pecans are a not-awful substitute, at least in sweet dishes, and I have no difficulties with them. I notice that Aldi’s selection of nutty foods here really improved since they took over Trader Joe’s in the US.
Do as I do. Have a Greek pal with an olive grove…
I did interesting things many years ago with post-iron-curtain spy satellite imagery and machine-counting olive trees. There was a lot of subsidy fraud going on. Knowing exactly how many trees were in a given grove put quite a dent in it.
It’s very nearly midnight here, so I better sign off and go to sleep before I have to wish you all a beautiful Monday and a good start to the week, especially poor timezone-challenged SteveF.
Select Costco stores in WA State have the big roasters in the warehouse.
Interestingly, the flagship store in Issaquah does not have a roaster but the main store in Vantucky did have one.
@SteveF, you never disappoint!
My role in life, aside from being an inspiration to you all, is to say the things that others wish they could say.
— Count Dracula
Sounds like a date with AOC.
@SteveF
@SteveF
Here’s a draft. Let me know if I’ve left anything out:
These are the cents you are most likely to find in circulation:
Copper Lincoln Cents
Dates: 1962-1982
Composition: 95% copper, 5% zinc
Weight: 3.11 grams (3.110 ± 0.130)
Diameter: 19 mm
Copper Coated Zinc Lincoln Cents
Dates: 1982-Present
Composition: 97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper
Weight: 2.5 grams (2.500 ± 0.100)
Diameter 19 mm
https://lincolncents.net/lincoln-cent-specifications/
https://www.coincommunity.com/us_coin_facts/us-coin-tolerances.asp
I added the range for each weight. Note that this is not standard deviation, it is tolerance expressing the upper and lower limit. The origin of the table in the second link is unknown—the numismatic community has not been successful in tracking it down—you can’t find everything on the internet (a lesson in itself)—and there are several known errors, but the gist has been confirmed for older coins by checking the original enabling legislation.
Note also that the tolerance is nominally plus or minus 4%. Exactly that for post-1982 cents which were presumably specified using the metric system, and a bit off due to units conversion rounding for the older coins.
For a post-1982 penny the minted weight should range between 2.400 and 2.600 grams. I’d recommend a scale with minimum 100 gram capacity and 0.001 g resolution.
The scale should be set up on a level surface free of drafts and vibrations. If drafts affect the stability a draft shield made out of cardboard can be effective.
Minimal PPE (personal protective equipment) is good practice: eye shields and disposable gloves, and a long sleeve shirt with fairly tight cuffs.
For a lab scale on mains power I’d recommend a minimum of 60 minute warmup. Most inexpensive scales are battery and have auto shutoff, so the best you can do is setup the scale in the use location a few hours in advance. Wipe the calibration weigh with a microfiber cloth or disposable lintless wiper and use tweezers. Place a slip of paper on the scale pan, tare the scale, make sure it stabilizes to zero, and place the weight on the pan. When the reading stabilizes, record the weight. Leave the weight on the scale for one minute, then record the weight again. Repeat ten times. Return the weight to its storage container. A calibration weight should have a reasonable relationship to the sample weight, i.e., sample weight should be 20-80% of the calibration weight.
Average both columns of data and find the standard deviation, high, and low values. The two columns should look pretty much the same. Deviation from the calibration weight is an accuracy error. Inexpensive scales are not easily calibrated, but can still be used by applying a correction factor. If the second column to has a smaller range, then a longer stabilization time may help; if the first column has a smaller range, the scale may be drifting.
Tweak your procedure if you need to and repeat. Write up your final version as the standard lab procedure, and the data defines your instrument capability.
For a first experiment use a set of ten pennies with different dates to make them easily identifiable. They can be laid out in order on a sheet of copy paper with the penny number 1-10 and the date. A data recording sheet should be made up to include the lab title, date, and experimenter’s names.
There are a number of ways to set this experiment up. One of the best is to have lab teams of two people, one weighing and one recording, and alternate tasks. Three people can make a team with the third observing prior to weighing. Four people does not generally work—better to have a second scale. The recording sheet should have Tech, Recorder, and Observer’s initials for each coin.
One of the nice features of the penny lab is that if you have enough space and a scale for every team, it’s easy to have up to ten teams, each starting with a penny and then passing them along after everyone completes the measurements.
If you have multiple teams it is possible to cross-check results, average multiple data sets, etc. It is inevitable that some individuals and/or teams will be vary with different skill levels, different error rates, and different levels of improvement. When working with young students it’s important to minimize competition and maximize engagement. One method is to portray the experiments as “under development”, and take responsibility up-front for any difficulties: “I’ve done my best to come up with a good experiment, but I need you guys to test it out and help me improve. Please take note of anything that is not clearly explained or not working correctly, and ask questions when you need to. One of the goals here is to improve these experiments so the next group can do even better.”
@SteveF
Sizing the thermos to the task helps keep the coffee hot.
I have decent carafes that are 1.5 and 1.0 liter. The 1.5 will hold an entire carafe if you start with 9 x 6oz cups of water.
But my typical day starts as a 10-cup carafe. I drink two 12-ounce mugs, then fill my 30-oz Yeti cup, which maintains the temp to acceptable levels as long as I replace the stopper each time I drink.
I’m generally sold on Yeti as worth the premium price. One my last fossil-hunting/sightseeing trip (NV, UT, AZ) I used a Yeti 90 cooler. At one point I pulled frozen steaks out fully frozen in an aluminized mylar bag after four days. Ice was replenished along the way.
I agree that yeti cups are superior to the knock off cups. They’d be even better with more insulated lids but I guess they made the trade off for design/acceptance reasons.
————
Got a bunch of small things done. Some still in process. Family got home around 6pm. Time to maybe sit out and read for a bit.
n
@Nick
Probably not much room for thermal improvement in the lid, as long as the seal is good. Heat transfer is from the air above the liquid, which is much slower than from liquid contact.
I read an article some years ago about olive oil. The article said that California-sourced olive oils were the “best” and most genuine, and that EVERY variety of European olive oil was processed in Turkey and heavily adulterated with other seed oils. Since then, I’ve always relied on the “California Olive Ranch” brand.
BREAKING: Dems Finally Cave on Schumer Shutdown Clown Show; Newsom: ‘Pathetic’
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2025/11/09/dems-finally-cave-on-schumer-shutdown-n3808732
As predicted, the Dems will release enough votes from safe states to pass the 60-vote threshold.
And as I said several days ago, Thune’s reply should be: “Not so fast, Chuckie. Seems your intransigence has pizzled off some of my folks, who want to extract a pound of flesh from your scarred backside and show you up for the flocking losers you are. I have 40 votes and need 20 from you, otherwise the new ”clean” CR will have some payback.
And, btw, have you toted up the number of federal employees there are in blue states, and whether the public would really notice if the furloughs became layoffs?”
Not one dime for furloughed employees that didn’t work.
Do the analysis at the shipping ports of entry and either reject those that are mis-labeled or require relabeling as “blends” and up the tariffs 100%.
One of the few non-enumerated things I think .gov should do is ensure the accuracy of labels on foodstuffs and meds. Like JEP used to say, if it says “snake oil” it should be oil from snakes or oil for snakes.
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It was CHILLY out. Wind was blowing and gusting too, and the small “golf cart” MrBuddy heater wasn’t enough to keep me from shivering, even with it on the ground between my legs. Brrr. I’m not looking forward to actual Winter.
Time for a nice hot shower and bed.
n
Wow. The penny weighing lab sounds really cool. How to introduce kids to scientific rigour.
Do give it a try. This particular “sauce” really makes itself. The most labour intensive bit is peeling and dicing whatever vegetables you want to use up out of the fridge. Time at the stove was maybe 10-15 minutes, otherwise, the oven does all the work.
Purists would sieve the diced veg. out before serving, but I didn’t bother, and it was fine.
If you prefer to avoid the wine, chicken stock, water, or fruit juice with some vinegar or lemon juice would work fine too. Venison goes surprisingly well with fruity flavours.
Wishing you all a beautiful Monday and a good start to the week!
That article was undoubtedly bought and paid for by California producers.
Good quality olive oil in Europe is processed locally. From my understanding, extra-virgin oil must be processed within hours of picking, which leaves no time for transport to distant facilities. The EU loves its regulations. Here’s one link. There’s another regulation that details the chemical tests used to check the quality of the oils (e.g., to test for cheating).
Bulk olive oil is, of course, a different story, but that’s going to be true in California as well.