Cool but warming. Clouds in the sky, but no rain. NICE. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow if we’re lucky. It’s still getting into the 80sF in the afternoon, and the sun is still crazy hot.
Did a few small things yesterday. Vacuumed the ranger, mostly. Pulled some stuff out from behind the seat. Stuff tends to collect there. Some of it was preps that needed cleaning or refreshing. Some was auction items that fell in the cracks.
Did some other auction stuff, and some minor cleaning. Not the productive day I was hoping for.
Today I will do better. Seriously. Yeah, I know.
Stack it up monkey boy.
n
Monday. Joy.
The punishment for having two days off last week was a pile of new work greeting me this morning. Ah well.
In happier news, the sun is shining outside, and it is not raining. No word back from the dentist yet.
The delivery truck is due to bring a new Fritel deep-fat-fryer, so there is that little bit of excitement in the offing. I almost never use one, except maybe for making Moules-Frites for W1 every now and then, but M-i-L needs a new one after her trusty Tefal of 35+ years disintegrated of old age. If she is going to have a deep-fat-fryer as a gift, it should be a professional model from Fritel. Accept no substitutes.
Have a beautiful day, all!
Talking of buying quality gear, a kind friend gave me a gift of an old Schmidt and Bender riflescope, that he acquired on a second-hand gub, and had changed out for something new-fangled with zoom functionality and suchlike. The unit is a fixed-power 6×42, is probably from the 1980s or before, and it has beautiful clear, crisp optics. It looks a lot like the one in the top photo of this article. It is maybe a bit heavy, with a steel tube and real glass, but it will be simple, and dependable. I am a big believer in “simple and dependable” for optics.
I sent it off to S&B to see if they could swap out the German post reticle for a duplex style. Indeed they can, including an etched-glass reticle (much more durable than cross-hairs or wires), and they will also give the instrument a full service while it’s with them. I will effectively have a new S&B scope for the price of the reticle replacement; about 500 bucks, but a new S&B is in the thousands. It pays to have quality gear, with a manufacturer who stands behind even their old products.
@denis, wow, if it’s worth spending $500 on, it must be worth a lot. Good score!
70F and damp here. Coffee is brewing. Wakeup calls made. Time to check the interwebs for lies…
n
In what universe is 47 young?
n
Turned in my nasal mask and got another mask. Covers the nose like I had before. The frame is different. The hose is in the front. My old mask the hose was on top, and the air carried to the mask in the frame which was basically an air tube. This mask does have a hose that connects to the top of the head gear, so the main supply hose is as the top of my head. The head top air supply entry is much better for turning over at night.
That mask I tried basically sucked for me. It leaked and getting it to seal was difficult unless I slept on my back. The head gear would also have the strap migrate to the top of my head and that affected the seal. My AHI for last night was 13.1 per hour. I have never been that high and usually stay below 3. Fortunately, there was a trial period on the mask. Lesson learned.
I talked with the DME and they said that once an item is discontinued, they can no longer order the item. I asked if they had any of my old masks in their warehouse. The answer was no. CPAP.COM can still supply the mask so I guess they stockpiled a lot of the masks. The price has been reduced so I think they are clearing out the masks.
I have given thought to ordering a couple of the masks from CPAP.COM, along with 10 nose pieces. Just pay out of my own pocket. A couple hundred dollars at most. But I don’t know what the sleep doctor would say and how that would affect my Medicare coverage. Using old equipment may get my office visit denied by Medicare. Medicare could just be that anal about the equipment.
@ray, the whole point of the CPAP is to get you good sleep, so if the new stuff doesn’t, then I’d be using the old stuff. If you have to order the new, you don’t have to use it…
n
Well you might put it that way but it’s more like to keep you from waking up dead.
I’ve been using one for like 12 years. Hated it at first and often didn’t use it bur now a regular.
“Worth” is a judgment. I can buy these scopes second-hand for about 250 bucks, but of course, their condition is rather a lottery.
Many users are not careful about “cleaning” their scope lenses. For most, a rub with a more-or-less clean pocket handkerchief is what they do. That, of course, rubs all kind of abrasive detritus over the delicate surfaces of the lenses.
As I have this instrument in hand, I know the lenses are in good order, and I could also examine it for other problems, such as cracks, delaminations, damage to the housing, mould in the tube and so on.
To me, it is worth spending the price of a cheap new scope on having this top quality old one refurbished by the maker. Moreso, as I was given this one for free, so I have zero outlay.
I probably couldn’t buy a new scope of comparable quality for the same money*, plus I like the ergonomics and aesthetics of this model. Part of the fun of gub ownership is appreciating the look and feel of the equipment, and I happen to like this older gear.
*In fairness, the value for money of new-production scopes is remarkable. Massed CNC machining and improved optical coatings technology has made real improvements in what you get for your money.
New direct to the purchaser suppliers like Tract are offering very good instruments at prices which are making the top-tier manufacturers worried. This is the (long) video to watch if you want the nitty-gritty.
Of course, that is a given. I checked again and CPAP.COM is out of stock on the mask I was using. Now I am committed to using something else. I have eliminated one style of mask which is probably a good thing. The new mask I was given covers the nose, the same as what I had before. It is from a different company, Phillips Responics. I don’t have any experience with their products. The mask seems kind of clumsy to put on so I will see how it goes. Getting up to pee, then putting on the mask was easy with the old mask, this may not be so easy.
I have been on CPAP for 15+ years. I am on my third machine. I wore two of them out, used them until they were passed their life. I got the dreaded message on the screen.
The first machine was fairly dumb, set the pressure and that was it. There was a memory card to report usage statistics. It was easily purged.
The second machine has relief pressure when exhaling and will support air pressure between a minimum level and a maximum level. It also had a memory card.
That second machine is the one I paid for myself out of my own pocket. The 13-month rental of $120.00 a month was more than buying my own machine. My deductible was so high it did not matter if the purchase did not count against my deductible. The machine was half the price of paying the 13-month rent-to-own scam.
When that machine gave the end-of-life message I got a new machine, 13-month rent-to-own scam as I was now on Medicare and the deductible was less than $900.00 combined with my supplemental. I tore the old machine apart. A difficult process and nothing inside were serviceable. The fan is just a squirrel cage blower connected to a DC motor which allows the speed to vary. Then there was the control board. That was it.
The new machine does not have a memory card. It phones home at least once a day to some central server via the cell phone network. I get the nightly stats on the iPhone app and Medicare along with the sleep center and DME provider all have access to the information. I can download a file which is a spreadsheet with all kinds of funky numbers that make no sense to me.
Yeh, I was not a fan. It seemed like I had a creature from ALIEN strapped to my face. It was also my first machine which did not have pressure relief and multiple pressure levels. That enhancement made a significant difference. The more intelligent machines do make a significant difference.
I did not take the machine on the 27-day trip to Europe, on the 9-day cruise, or on the 6-day trip to Las Vegas and got along just fine. Going through TSA is miserable as they fondle the machine with gloves that have fondled hundreds of other passengers. The machine gets swabbed for explosives, along with additional questions by the TSA.
My events usually run less than 4 per hour, sometimes as low as 0.3 events per hour. The treatment is working well. With this failed mask experiment my last numbers from last night were 13 events per hour. I know I was awake for two of those hours, so the actual numbers during sleep are much worse.
it continues
n
I rummaged around in my Documents folder and found a zip file called NetBeui_2000. With directions of where to put the files. Win11 will not install the files as they are un-signed.
Ok. How to turn that feature off? https://photobyte.org/installing-unsigned-drivers-on-windows-10-or-11/
Seems simple enough. I’ll give it try tomorrow. It’s time to find something for supper. The dogs decided that we are all getting up and out of bed at 5AM this morning. They didn’t seem crazed to go out for potty time. It was pitch black outside. They just wanted me to get out of bed. I guess. I guess that’s what happens when you go to bed at 7pm.
I’ve looked for newer drivers. LOTS of scammy AI sites. So, maybe 32bit network drivers will work on a 64bit OS.
Or not.
I’m not worried about “security”. I’m behind the firewall of my router. If turning the Windows firewall off makes my network work the way I want, so be it.
Possibly better for the profit line to ditch a plant dating from 1965 and move production to a newer and more modern plant.
Then again, I haven’t bought Cheetos or Doritos for a few years because of the prices. Yeah, I can afford almost $6 for a bag of chips that use to cost $2.50 not all that long ago. I like Cheetos and nacho Doritos but not enough for$6 a bag.
I’m not just being a cheapskate. For example, I like Cheese-Its in all flavors. The last couple of boxes have, well, not tasted stale. But they taste off in a funny chemical way. A handful in a small bowl (portion control!) to snack on is not much but then I get the acid burps….. doesn’t matter what I’m drinking.
Goldfish taste funny, too.
Triscuit, of all things, taste off. Why a “cracker” made of shredded wheat and salt and canola oil taste off is a mystery. /sarc
Pretzels are still good. Saltines are good. Ritz crackers are still good.
You read a lot of “horrible things to not eat” and yeah, carbs are way up on the list. Carbs? Beer is carbs. Liquid bread.
Sugar and corn syrup, maybe don’t eat a lot of candy., it’s bad for your teeth. HFCS, that stuff is weird. Why is it the second or third ingredient in Oscar Mayer stuff is odd unless it’s just a filler… and Oscar Mayer Bologna feels slimy from a freshly opened package now just like week and a half old turkey and ham leftovers get the day before they start to smell off.
But seed oils…. for me, avoid.
It’s wet, it’s gray, and it’s 54F out there. Furnace came on for the first time this morning.
If it makes you feel better, we are just a month away from the shortest day of the year. Then we have the “joy” of January and February.
I now have three close relatives who have serious health issues, either younger than they should or things that were very rare until a few years ago. All three were “fully vaccinated” a few years ago, which maaaaay be merely an interesting statistical quirk but not suggestive of a causal relationship. Right.
That’s three closely-related blood kin. It doesn’t include my wife, my mother-in-law, and one brother-in-law.
I haven’t said Told You So and haven’t even really been tempted, though two of the blood kin had been nagging me to get the clot shots “to make it easier for everyone”.
Indeed. Me with a new 4WD cowboy Cadillac. When (if) we get the first substantial snow I will drive to the end of the street in 4WD, about 1/8 of a mile, then drive home, and put the machine back in 2WD. I will not go anywhere until the snow is no longer on the road.
The truck does have a rock crawl mode in the settings. Changes to 4WD LO, locks the rear differential, changes the throttle response. Yeh, right. Like I am going to take a $70K vehicle out crawling rocks where I can really do some damage. If I am going to rock crawl, I am going to get that $1K Jeep where the transmission has lost all but the first two gears and the doors have long since left for better surroundings.
It got well above freezing here, with “well above” meaning maybe 4 degrees F above. Rained all day yesterday, sometimes heavily, and it turned to snow overnight. Only about ¼” deep in the morning, but the snow was sticking to a layer of ice. And sky? What sky? You mean the uniform grey overhead? The wind was the real issue, though.
The new stove arrived. It does not fit properly. The new stove is deeper than the old. We will have to remove a lip at the back of the stove opening. It is part of the fake granite covering over the counter. We think we can use an oscillating saw to cut it away. The new stove is not as tall as our old stove. The feet are extended as high as they can go. We will have to place 1x4x1 wood strips under the feet, running front to back, drill a shallow opening to accommodate the feet location, then put anti-friction tape on the back of the wood strips. We just need ½” so a 1x4x1 should do the trick.
The stove also has WiFi. Hmm. I can control the oven cooking mode, the temperature, the oven light, the delay oven start and get an indication one of the burners is on. When I set up the connection the app immediately downloaded a firmware update for the stove. The knobs do not physically control anything but send a signal to the control board.
Yep. Down from a high of 56F here in the high desert. And the rain has started.
Today’s chore is to clean the pellet stove, and oil its bearings, then fill with pellets and prep for tonight’s 37F.
I guess that makes me the “Sweet Summer Child” for the week. Here in San Antonio, the weather is, according to Channel 4 weather, “unseasonably warm” at last night’s low of about 60, and today’s daytime high of 84. It’s been pretty close to that for the last 5-6 days, and should continue to be quite pleasant through our Wednesday rain front and into next week. I’m HOPING against hope that it’ll remain warm through Thanksgiving, because my younger brother from Omaha will be here for Turkey Day, but it’s guaranteed to be nicer here than there!
“The stove also has WiFi.”
Probably cameras and microphones, so the Chinese can understand what you are eating as well as when.
Scott Jennings Reveals Embarrassing Detail Marjorie Taylor Greene Tried to Hide Trump Feud
‘We Have Nothing to Hide’: Trump Tells Republicans to Vote to Release Epstein Files
Shut Up Marjorie, I explained.
Evidently there is a brain-eating zombie virus out there. All signs are that Tucker Carlson, Kevin Roberts, and now MTG have been infected.
NetBEUI doesn’t sit right on top of hardware so you might get lucky.
Yeah a couple of years ago I replaced the microwave/hood-vent-light over the stove with a new low profile Samsung. Had my handyman add an outside duct. That inside vent is crap. I activated the wifi which basically talks to my phone and other devices attached to the Smart Things app. It promptly got removed from that app when it started announcing ‘Your food is ready’ on my TV. Worse, I still have to set the time on the micro manually. Useless feature if there ever was one.
I had lunch with a friend today, and he told me about his new Samsung fridge.
It’s got internet and a monitor on the front door. You can talk to it and tell it to open the doors if your hands are full.
He pulled up the app on his phone and showed me the contents inside using the built-in cameras.
I’ve lived 7 decades without an internet connected fridge. I’m good.
5g wireless if the stove has a WiFi transceiver.
Your Pi Hole won’t matter.
Yeah, I can afford almost $6 for a bag of chips that use to cost $2.50 not all that long ago.
– yeah, WTF happened with Lays? It used to be on sale for $2.50 in the ‘family’ size. Now it’s $6. I love the greasy Lays potato chips, but I don’t love them THAT much.
Chicharrones are like $2 a bag and are carb free.
They give me the crunch I want with my lunch.
———
Internet connected stove, no physical controls… what could go wrong?? Do you NEED the inet connection? or is it just convenient? And what if they update your firmware so that baking needs a subscription? Other companies have done similar.
———-
Took the first load from my last storage unit to the shop. I really want to be out of there by the end of the month. It’s over $250/month.
I’m filling up the shop. :-{(
n
Well, I forgot to oil the pellet stove bearings before I added the pellets … no way am I going to scoop them out now to make it movable … a couple days won’t hurt… probably.
I have been thinking about a modern quiet and efficient unit that doesn’t require manual starting and doesn’t trigger the tinnitus, perhaps something like the Comfortbilt HP 22.
Seems like a decent mature design.
it would be nice if somebody like consumer reports did an actual noise analysis. But I suppose that will never happen.
That used to be an iffy part of the Orlando metro, but any land close in will be valuable.
The “Milk District” used to feature – now imagine this – an actual dairy plant.
Strange but true.
Bits of old Orlando remain intact, however.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUhG77_4cio
The city paid for their new sign.
Yeah, tents on the South Lawn. Trump tho.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna243683
You can view a livestream of the ‘alien comet’ coming out from behind the sun tomorrow (Tue 18 Nov 2025), weather permitting.
Article here: They were going to Livestream it yesterday (Sunday), but there was cloud cover getting in the way.
Or was the cloud cover intentional?
@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
I am sorry but I am confused ?
Or do you mean that a financial apocalypse has been close several times in the last 50 years ?
My fisherman buddy has had three family members die in the last couple of weeks. They were old, and not in good health. Three in a week is still horrible.
My client has had several older family members die in the last month, with more getting sick.
It’s just a bad time to be old.
n
There is no one more bitter and spiteful than the Dumbocrat Party. Sure, go back to port-a-potties when entertaining World leaders.
One of the small tasks I’m working on involves digging my way to the back of my office.
Apparently I bought a Nikon D60 at some point. I think I was going to use it for ebay listings. Well, I’ll charge the batteries and see what I’ve got.
And the HP Laserjet 400 color network printer that has been waiting for me to clean it… turns out it’s suffering from a known issue. Fuser needs to be replaced. $150-250 means “Nope!” I paid little for it, so it might be worth fixing, but then again, might not.
It’s got 21K color prints on it already.
n
Went out for mexican tonight so it’s suddenly later than I expect to have a belly this full.
n
“Joe Rogan says we’re at ‘step 7’ on the road to civil war. Is he right? Glenn Beck answers”
https://www.theblaze.com/shows/the-glenn-beck-program/joe-rogan-says-were-at-step-7-on-the-road-to-civil-war-is-he-right-glenn-beck-answers
“On November 12, Joe Rogan made a comment on an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” that gained significant national attention. Referencing the sadistic celebrations of left-wingers after the death of Charlie Kirk, Rogan asked, “Where are we right now on the scale of one to civil war? … I thought we were like four or five. But after the Charlie Kirk thing, I’m like, ‘Oh, we might be like seven.’ This might be like step seven on the way to a bona fide civil war.””
“He pulls it all together with a stark verdict on where America stands: “Steps one through four: completed. Step five: happening. Step six: happening. Step seven: beginning. Step eight: just waiting for it. And step nine: avoidable only if step eight never happens.””
I had not thought of the Antifa as the Leftists forming militias. He is not wrong.
they’ve been blooding their cadre and rehearsing tactics and logistics for at least 2 years now.
They’ve got funding, structure, dedicated trainers, and willing idiots.
It’s coming.
n
I think I’ll go to bed. I could have a tiny little fire and read, but maybe I should just read for a bit, and see if I can’t get some extra sleep.
Extra sleep is good.
n
“I still have to set the time on the micro manually.”
Funny. 30 years ago pre-internet we had computers that kept their system clock ticking with a cheap battery on the motherboard. You had to replace it every five years. I’m not a EE but I think I could play one long enough to design a clock circuit powered by a capacitor. Yet here we are dependent on the internet to reset time via wifi.
Wouldn’t it just be a hoot if it turned out that extremely low-powered emf did kill us in the end after turning some people into paranoid nutcases. Tucka?
https://www.amazon.com/Eternity-Artifact-L-Modesitt-Jr-ebook/dp/B003JH8M8S?tag=ttgnet-20
Wasn’t there a throwaway in an SF stoy years ago about toilet paper that had built-in something-or-other that analyzed your bm’s and alerted you to problems?
Former BBC Chief Rejects the Idea of Any Compensation for Trump Over Misleading Jan. 6 Edit
The U.S. is a significant market for the BBC. Splicing video a second time after the first time raised internal objections could be found to be actual malice in a U.S. court. Stay tuned.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1873174358535110953
It’s a systematic scheme to suppress wages by importing workers who will take a lower wage and work lots of unpaid overtime.
When you can’t outsource the work to lower cost countries, you have to insource the workers at lower cost to you.
Hence the Republican motivation to allow illegal and legal immigration.
n
Tuesday. Up before dawn. It is cold out. Feels like winter is here.
Lots to do today. Early to bed and early to rise…
Wishing you all a good day!