Cool, then warm. Really, several nice days in a row. Maybe even a week’s worth. I’m all for it. It’s been a mild year so far, and I’m finally enjoying it. Hope we get more.
I spent Saturday doing small things that have been on the list for a long time. Not quite piddlefarting around, but pretty close. It’s not the progress I’d like most, but it is keeping some forward progress. And it’s working on my physical surroundings, which Jordan Peterson says is important. I’m inclined to agree.
Today will be more of the same, since I know I’m not headed to the BOL. Maybe I’ll get a bigger task started, or even finish something. At this point, I’m counting any progress at all as a win.
Much of what I have been doing is taking me deep into some stacks that I haven’t poked at in a while. The outdoor stuff really hammers home the “dark” part about good storage locations. Even stuff that only gets indirect and occasional sunlight is breaking down from UV. Some of my storage tubs and a lot of the lids have become brittle. Some look fine, but fall apart when I lift them, with big chunks of plastic breaking off. Even some milk crates are showing signs of becoming brittle. Plastic buckets too. Cool, dark, and dry if you want it to last.
Check your stacks. Maintain them. Add to them.
nick
Here I am, 0520 or so and no comments on the post. Who’s the timezone loser now, Denis? Take your unearned timezone privilege and chew on it! Oh, wait, you can’t because your teeth are falling out.
Ahhhhhh… Startin’ the day off right.
I’d had plans for yesterday. Plans for accomplishing things. Plans which were smashed to pieces on the shoals of family issues, mainly my being woken at 0100. An hour and a half of sleep is not a harbinger of a productive day. Today’s plans may likewise be smashed. I wasn’t woken until 0400, which would normally be mostly ok, but not after the previous very short night. Eh, I’ll survive.
As usual, Grandma and/or the aides were the proximate cause. I can’t blame Grandma; she doesn’t have enough mind left for volition. While I would prefer that the aides be a little less clumsy about dropping hard things on the uncarpeted parts of the floor, I can’t really blame them, either. Rough situation all around.
Mornin’, SteveF. Sorry you had a short night, but glad to provide some comic relief.
Where’s my tooth money? I am worried about the effects of inflation. I used to get a Pound. These days that should be at least ten euro…
I grew up with Florida-Georgia, a contest with so much animosity between the fan bases that the game requires a neutral site.
It isn’t just about the floating cocktail parties in the St. John’s River.
A&M can make the playoffs losing to Texas, but, as things currently stand, Texas cannot make the playoffs losing to A&M.
Beyond wealthy alumni pressure, the TV interests – meaning gambling — want “Arch” in the playoffs and eventually hoisting a Heisman trophy. The drumbeat for this has been nonstop in Austin since July.
Sitting in a very crowded restaurant last night in Dallas, I noticed that the family at the next table over were watching the Georgia-Texas game on the TV with intense interest. Neither adult struck me as being a college graduate, but I caught wind that the husband had money on quarterback performance stats at a gambling site.
How could I be so naïve? I should have held out for a Guinea.
Wishing you all a beautiful Sunday!
This is something I don’t quite understand about the USA. Is gambling allowed? Indians (feather) and Las Vegas have casinos, but other places, bookmaking seems to be an underground activity. Maybe I need to watch more movies…
As a curiosity I note that twice now I have seen manual clothes washing wringers in my returns auctions.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=wringer+washer&crid=2OJKETZ9AFYGD&tag=ttgnet-20
it looks like they aren’t cheap either.
Wonder what is driving that…
My mother grew up with the manual washing machine on the front porch with electric rollers on top. She said it was a constant problem of running her fingers through the rollers. Then you had to hang the clothes on the yard line to dry. In 100% humidity Freeport, Texas. They lived on 5th street, five blocks away from the Gulf of America. Always very humid and very rarely cold.
Maybe someone could fill in the blanks, but, as I understand it, a loophole was inadvertently created in US law which allows sports betting online. Disney has an official betting partner for ESPN, Draft Kings, and a major scandal is brewing in the NBA regarding players and coaches involved with gambling interests beyond just betting on games.
For now, Congress has chosen not to close the loophole. Gambling is way too popular, and, thanks to the smart phone apps, a serious dopamine hit on the level of Twitter or TikTok.
Americans also have a serious smart phone problem.
My alma matter was the leading contender for the 12th seed NCAA football playoff slot until they lost to Navy last night.
This makes the playoff picture creepier if Texas gets an invitation without a win in College Station.
Unlike Texas, my alma matter beat a bad Florida team in The Swamp.
No one gets out of The Swamp alive except gators … and hungry scrub cows.
The “War on I-4” may once again be the college football game to watch Thanksgiving weekend.
My grandmother had a wringer washing machine. It had an electric motor that powered the agitator and the rollers.
My grandfather worked a road grader all his life and in the 50’s and 60’s from my memory. There was no cab, no protection from dust, etc. It was a dirty job. He would come home with really dirty, and many times, oily clothes.
My mother related the story that she offered to help clean his clothes by using her automatic washer. She was going to show her mother that the fancy machine was the better option. After washing the clothes 3 times, they were still not clean. My grandmother took the “washed” clothes, fired up her wringer machine, and the clothes came out clean. The clothes were hung on a clothes line to dry. It worked well in Southern California.
The wringer machine was basically a big tube with an agitator. The clothes were tossed in, soap added, and ran the machine as long as necessary. The clothes were removed from the tub, run through the wringer into a sink of clean water, then from the clean water through the wringer into an empty sink. The rinsing could occur a couple of times.
My grandmother could also run three or four wash loads through the one filling of the machines tub. The machine was fairly water efficient.
When laundry was done the water was pumped out of the tub into the main sink.
Use of the machine did require a couple of large sinks to contain the clothes and rinse water.
I can tell you from experience that getting one’s hand in the wringer was only done once. I am surprised that no bones were broken.
That wringer machine was simple, reliable, and cleaned better than the current automatic washers.
Yeah, that’s how it goes, had a nice Indian Chicken Palak dinner ruined once. The nerve was dead, so no real pain.
@Lynn – I warned you to take SC seriously!
Bama lost, and deserved to lose.
Re: gambling in the US. I don’t have cable or ESPN, so I’m not up on the latest sports culture. We do have Disney+, and I honestly never watched it until I watched The Acolyte. Not only were the ads pervasive and invasive, but sports betting ads were in every single group. This tells me it’s big business. I can also guess the the makeup of the typical sports dude, and imagine where the new addiction is being fed (food, beer, and now gambling).
In other news, I cut down a river birch tree in our front yard yesterday. I really loved that tree, but it’s been dying for three years now. I had quotes of $1050 and $1250 to take it down and grind the stump. I broke out my 14″ corded chainsaw and got it done. I can have the debris hauled away by the city, but will have to do it in stages. I can hide the downed branches in the backyard to avoid HOA wrath. I also still need to cut the stump down to ground level. I’ll do that today when new blades arrive.
The stump can rot where it is. We will do a replacement tree in a different spot and expand the garden bed. Existing plants will hide the stump completely. I’ll wait until spring to remove a few of the bigger surface roots too.
Is there room in the chicken coop for a cot?
I am having to replace my CPAP mask. The hose connects to the mask assembly at the top of my head. No hose in front of the face. My mask was an over the nose and worked well. But that mask is no longer made because it contained magnets. A couple of fools, with pacemakers, used the mask and the magnets caused problems. Rather than tell the fools to no use the mask, the manufacturer (RESMED) quit making the mask.
Medicare allows a new mask every six months. The nose piece is replaced every month. I did not do that as I kept the nose piece for over a year, the head gear is actually two years old. It still works. The DME provider was horrified. Of course they were as my long use affects their profit.
I was given a new head gear with a nasal pillow. The first night was miserable with leaks, it was nosey. I would wake multiple times to adjust. During the night the system emptied my water tank. Probably because of the increased airflow from mask leaks. I am going to have to just the humidity settings to solve that problem. The second night was no better.
The third night I changed the nose piece from the medium to the large to see if that helps the problem. It did a little but there are still issues. I have 25 more days to use the head gear and mask when I can return the stuff. I will use it another week before I make a full commitment. Right now it is not looking good. My AHI number jumped with the new head gear. My normal range is less than 2 per hour, sometimes 0.5 per hour. With this new stuff I am above 5 per hour.
If this does not work, I will buy my own mask, the older model, from another provider and skip the DME entirely. Of course I will have to pay out of pocket as Medicare does not cover online providers. The DME charges $145.00 for the mask, which Medicare pays, CPAP.COM is $68.00, which Medicare does not pay.
I ran into the same problem when I bought my machine. I had a high deductible insurance plan through work. To buy the machine through insurance was $135.00 a month, for 14 months. Basically renting the machine. Purchasing straight from CPAP.COM the cost was $700.00, less than half what insurance was being billed. I paid for my own machine as I was most likely not going to meet my deductible.
This CPAP stuff is really ripping off people, and Medicare.
Legalized sports betting via apps has made a profound impact on the gambing industry.
The last time we went to New Orleans, I noticed that the casino district was caught flat footed and is scrambling to adapt. Restaurants and sports bars which were previously run as loss leaders by the hotels – including the Manning family’s establishment a block behind Cesar’s Palace – cough – are now all potential sports books thanks to smart phones.
The Mannings have plenty of dimes.
Well, soooprise!
https://archive.ph/laH1j
Yeah, The Mail, but I know first hand that Tampa Bay has a lot of overpriced stucco cr*p shacks like you see in the pictures.
The Mail is deep into schadenfreude mode right now, where it will remain until the three “Paraverse” series have finished airing their latest seasons on BBC One.
On a related note, the Australian trailer for “Return to Paradise”, features the main character’s Moke.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFOBjjVB3OA
The car is absent from the UK trailer airing on BBC One, however.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHuxe505tw0
Things that make you say, “Hmmm….”
We had a wringer washer when I was a kid, up to age 8 or 10. Dry on a clothes rack. Laborious compared to a modern washer and dryer but less effort and less money than getting all of the kids to the laundromat and keeping them under control for an hour or two.
Our wringer washer seems to have been even more primitive than your various mothers’ and grandmothers’: there was no pump to drain the water. Mom unclipped a stiff hose and drained a gallon at a time into a bucket.
This is exactly why politicians get the “gotcha”. They pander to whatever the mob wants at the time.
I don’t know what Mr. SteveF knows about teeth.
Fairies on the other hand…?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t MrAtoz the one who made a career of flitting about, hopping from tree to tree, barely touching the ground?
I could probably rig something. But then that would lead to half of the chickens roosting on me for the warmth. And that would lead to me waking up in the morning, covered in poop. And unlike someone here that I could name, I’m not into that.
>>And that would lead to me waking up in the morning, covered in poop. And unlike someone here that I could name, I’m not into that.
I see where we’ve moved on from the Glory Hole discussions…
“No Man’s Land: Volume 2” by Sarah A. Hoyt
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1630111015?tag=ttgnet-20
Book number two of a three book space opera science fiction series in the Chronicles of Lost Elly. I read the well printed and well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback published by Goldport Press in 2025. I have the third book in the series and will read it soon.
Ok, this series is little strange but very good. Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Kayel Hayden, Viscount Webson, Envoy of the Star Empire, a retired Commodore in the Britannia Empire of Star System, becomes a roving junior ambassador for the Queen Eleanor. One of many junior ambassadors, also known as Skip Hayden. While drafting a new trade agreement with the newly found lost colony planet Draksall, Hayden is attacked by several men with Terran blasters. In the ensuing melee, Skip Hayden is transported to another lost colony planet, Elly.
Elly is unlike any other lost colony planet found to date. There are no women, there are no men. All of the human beings are hermaphrodites. And there is magic, lots and lots of magic. Not much technology, mostly swords and bows. And the hermaphrodites are very different from the single sexed, very very different.
Skip Hayden is on the run with the young King of Elly and a couple of his retainers. And offworlders with Terran blasters are looking for them.
The book / series is a little hard to follow. There are many characters and many events with much jumping around. But it is a good series so far, I expect surprises in the next book.
The author has a fairly busy website at:
https://accordingtohoyt.com/
My rating: 4.4 stars out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.8 stars out of 5 stars (46 reviews)
Lynn
The CPAP Industrial Complex. I may yet have to file a complaint with the Texas Medical Association against the sleep specialist I just fired.
Is your score low enough that they will consider you for the mouth guard?
Did I hallucinate that SteveF is the Tooth Fairy? Maybe my dental distress led to delusions, or maybe he is the TF. Who knows? I still haven’t seen the money. What’s a molar worth these days?
I regard SteveF as a sort of internet Deus ex Machina. He seems to be omnipresent and omniscient, turns up at the most unexpected moment and says something interesting or enlightening, and no performance is complete without him. 🙂
Sunday bedtime. BR-Klassik has a choir concert on. Extracts from the Messiah (in German, boo, hiss…), followed by Hayden’s “Creation”. Monumental stuff. Perhaps SteveF will appear? Only the timezones can tell.
Goodnight, all!
No, to get me to appear, you need to stand in front of a mirror at midnight in a dark room, with a lit candle under your chin, and say the magic word three times. Unfortunately, the magic word can’t be written in the 26-letter alphabet so I can’t tell you what it is.
Well, that’s a relief.
FIFY
This CPAP stuff is really ripping off people, and Medicare.
The medical suppliers are really ripping off people and Medicare.
Fixed that for ya.
No, I don’t sleep with my mouth open.
I have been on CPAP for 15 years. I am on my third machine. The first machine I replaced on my expense for a better machine. It have pressure relief for exhaling, basically variable pressure. That machine displayed a message that it had reached its end of life. It still worked but the sleep doctor said I had to replace it otherwise insurance would no longer cover treatment and supplies.
Yeh, there is that. CPAP.COM seems to have good prices. If they can sell a machine for $700 why does the DME charge $1,500 for the same machine? And Medicare thinks it is OK?
Clothing optional? Asking for a friend.
Re: CPAP
I’ve had a CPAP since early 1990’s. I get a new machine every few years. Currently a Resmed 11. Sleep data feeds into the ‘MyAir’ app on my phone using cell tech (not through my phone account though; some other way). I can view the stats from each night.
For the mask, I use the ‘nasal pillows’ thing from ResMed. I’ve used them for decades, having tried other masks prior to that. I find the nasal pillows to be quite comfortable (size Medium). I’ve had the CPAP for so many years (decades) that the hose doesn’t bother me at all. If I turn over while sleeping, muscle memory rearranges the cord without any conscious effort on my part. I don’t use the ‘water tank’ – never have. My setting is at ‘11’ – on the higher end.
The only minor complaint is that I now have about 6 CPAP machines at home of various vintages. A few are brand new – wife had been prescribed one, but she doesn’t use it. I can’t sell them (they are a prescription item), and can’t give them away (medical supplies places that might re-home them to others won’t take them anymore; they are afraid of ‘cooties’). So they are in a pile in the back corner of my closet.
The sleep apnea that I’ve had since the 1990’s is the probable cause of my ‘lone paroxysmal atrial fibrillation’ which I’ve also had since about that time. The drugs I take for that keep the AFib under control, with only occasional short episodes 1-3 times a month. But sleep apnea is a cause of death – if your brain doesn’t do the ‘gasp’ while you are sleeping to get the breathing going again, that’s not a good thing. So I keep using it – I find that I can’t sleep well without it.
I recommend the nasal pillows headgear. Takes a few days of getting used to it, but I find it better than the big triangle-shaped masks that are the alternative. And I have learned how to sleep with my mouth closed, so the mask works well.
I like the results of continual breathing while asleep.
Yeh, there is that. CPAP.COM seems to have good prices. If they can sell a machine for $700 why does the DME charge $1,500 for the same machine? And Medicare thinks it is OK?
Medicare is highly regulated by Congress. They just gave Medicare the right to bargain with their drug suppliers for only 10 drugs starting in 2026. This makes no sense. Medicare should be allowed to bargain for anything and everything.
https://www.medicarerights.org/medicare-watch/2025/10/09/negotiated-prices-take-effect-for-ten-drugs-in-2026
Same here.
I like humidifying the air. I have a heated hose that stops “rain out” and warms the air. I have a flannel covering over the hose. I have not had an issue with tank emptying until the new mask. I can tell when the tank is empty as there is an odor. My settings for hose heat and humidity is on auto so I may have to change that. I don’t know what value the machine chooses for those items.
I did set the ramp speed to auto. I had to change that back to none as it felt like I was being starved for air. A most uncomfortable feeling. That feeling when the power fails is a rude awakening . I probably should get a UPS for the machine.
A real waste. Don‘t even think about selling one on eBay. The wrath of the eBay controllers will descend like ugly on Cankles.
I tried disassembling my last machine. It was surprisingly difficult indicating the machines are not meant to be repaired.
I did change my pressure level by getting into the settings menu. That angered the sleep doctor. I told her it was my machine, my life and my sleep so I can choose what I like. She was adamant I was not medically trained. I told she was not the one using the machine.
I tend to use my headgear and nose mask for many months. My last nose mask was 6 months old. The headgear was over a year old. That horrified the DME. I never clean the machine, hose or mask.
Re: Medicare drug price reductions for next year.
One of the most expensive drugs I take related to my AFib is Eliquis (used to reduce chances of blood clots and strokes). A 90-day supply with my Humana plan (otherwise very good) costs about $550 for a 90 day supply.
The Medicare cost reductions will reduce that cost to about $231, a 50+% reduction.
But, I get my Eliquis through a Canadian pharmacy (mail order). Same 90 day supply, same drug, and the cost is about $90 (including shipping). Product comes from overseas (last one came from Belguim), so takes longer to get here (about 2-3 weeks), but the process is easy (doctor faxes prescription to the Canadian pharmacy, I prepay online with a credit card, and wait for it to arrive).
Canadian mail order pharmacy for the win. And there are many to choose from, although from the appearance of the web sites there might be the same owner for multiple companies. A great alternative for me – I would not be using the drug at the US pricing. Even with the new pricing.
Yup. Medicare + goobermint regulation = high costs.
Somebody(s) are getting rich off tax subsidies. I’m sure plenty of congresscritters sweat anytime Medicare reform is mentioned. Another slush fund.
Maybe harvest them for parts, or, place them in black plastic trash bags and dump them overboard from the “Slice of Life” into a harbor.
My wife is on a heart medication that is $10.00 a pill, taken daily. It is some tier 4 drug or some such nonsense. First refill of the year, 90 day supply, with insurance, is $900. Without insurance, $2,400. I quickly meet my maximum out of pocket for other drugs. But there is still a charge for this drug, because of the tier, about $100.00 for the last refill of the year. I could probably get the same stuff in Canada for $2.00 a pill. No way I would trust Mexico for any drugs.
Yeh, my drug costs are high, my biggest healthcare costs. Just for the wife. My medication comes from the VA and I have no idea the cost. There is no copay.
If the community does not have a surplus electronics collection day, sneak them into the trash.
It isn’t like you would be the first person to ever do that.
???
Are you talking about the machines, the people who use them, or the people in the CPAP Industrial Complex?
Probably because you’re on yesterday, Nick.
– ah, it’s been a while since I made that mistake.
———-
There are two companies that I know of that will buy CPAP machines. Newer ones especially. Google should point you to them. They have to ask some questions about the machine, like hours of use, that are available in menus on the machine. They offer a price, and you accept or not.
Ebay will ban you for trying to sell CPAPs. You CAN sell the unopened expendable supplies though. Might want to check there for a mask, especially if it’s an older model.
———–
I’m having liverwurst (US version) on toast with onion slices for dinner. Yum. Too rich for every day but I like it now and then. Today was the day.
W feels sick, D2 ate McD’s and the kid just asked what’s for dinner. Leftovers kid.
n
“Alarm Bells”
https://areaocho.com/alarm-bells/
“Alarm bells should be ringing with the news that the government sold $694 billion in Treasury securities spread over 9 auctions in only three days. Yeah, our national debt now stands at $38.2 trillion. The most alarming thing about this news is that T-bill yields are rising. The 10-year Treasury yield is now at 4.15%. At that rate, the interest on our debt will be more than $1.5 trillion per year. Since Americans only pay about $2.4 trillion in Federal taxes each year, we are edging closer to the point where our debt will begin to grow like a snowball rolling down a mountain.”
“The only way to keep the government solvent at that point would be to inflate the currency in order to pay it with lower valued money. At that point, inflation will be higher than interest rates, and it will no longer be financially possible to invest in government bonds. This will in turn cause higher rates, which will also create a need for higher inflation. In other words, hyperinflation is the only way out, but that will cause a complete collapse of the US dollar.”
“Anything you own that isn’t a physical asset will evaporate overnight: currency, stocks, bonds, bank accounts. As you can imagine, the government can’t let that happen, so what they will do to deal with it is the real question…”
Yup, we are headed to the scenario of the “The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047” by Lionel Shriver
https://www.amazon.com/Mandibles-Family-2029-2047-Lionel-Shriver/dp/0062328247/
This is going to suck real bad. Gold seizures are coming soon.
I better have the wiener dogs start digging holes.
I spent an hour watching “First Amendment Auditors” on YT. There are so many ignorant Americans on the Constitution that I can’t believe the commies haven’t taken over complete control by now. Cops even blow off their oath to the Constitution.
Changes Push Millions Off SNAP Even As USDA Secretary Rollins Looks to Bigger Cuts
https://redstate.com/streiff/2025/11/16/changes-push-millions-off-snap-even-as-usda-secretary-rollins-looks-to-bigger-cuts-n2196255
There’s no mention here of anything else that the data from those 29 states uncovered, but it can be strongly suspected that blue shiitehole cities in red states were centers of other kinds of fraud, including illegal aliens receiving SNAP benefits.
The Trump administation needs to get proactive: announce new requirements for determining qualifications and have, I don’t know, maybe Texas and Florida ready to file lawsuits asking for universal TRO’s, which should be denied by judges in those states.
No tiny little fire for me tonight. I am going to try for an early bedtime.
I’m beat.
n
>Medicare is highly regulated by Congress. They just gave Medicare the right to bargain with their drug suppliers for only 10 drugs starting in 2026.
“Just?”
The 2026 discounts were negotiated in 2023/24:
Treasuries haven’t been investments for at least 15 years.
@Lynn
Reading the abstract of The Mandibles on big river, I thought, any newspaper here on 70s 80s 2000s and we were near on 2023