Cold again. It never got warmer yesterday. It stayed within a degree of 44F all day. The precipitation did change, going to very light mist in the afternoon. Chill and wet. Fun times.
I did mostly small things around the house as I couldn’t use the truck for anything in the rain. Cleaning and sorting is a never ending job.
As part of that I sorted some of the various pouches of seasoning I have in the cabinet. I couldn’t find any of my stewed chicken slow cooker sauce. I had already thawed and put the chicken in the cooker, so I had to find something. Settled on some mexican flavoring, which ended up being pretty good and will probably go into the dinner rotation. I did throw out about 10 pouches of stuff that were hard inside or old. I suspect that someone else may have thrown out the pouches I was looking for…
Anyway, today we are supposed to be clear, so I’ve got some pickups to do and maybe some shopping. And I’ll be moving more stuff because we need to get the room clear for the Christmas tree. Part of the stuff in the room is waiting to go to the BOL, and wouldn’t be there if we’d gone the last couple of times we were supposed to go. Ah well. Next time.
There is always something that needs to be done, and always new things added to the list. Swapping out the DVD drive on my main pc means more office cleaning… and that means having somewhere to put stuff while I clean, and somewhere to put it when I’m done. A whole stack of tasks to do one simple thing… but that’s the way it is.
We’ll see when I get to that.
Meanwhile, if you still need presents, get your shopping done early. Don’t forget, you might need a present for yourself. You deserve it.
Stack what you need.
n
That’s a problem. The wife and I don’t have a lot of outrageous desires, and what we do want, we tend to just by for ourselves. So it’s really hard to come up with something the other person wants. Mostly, it winds up being something consumable: chocolate, a nice bottle of whisky, etc..
Same for our kids: neither is much into material things. Generally, we don´t exchange presents with them, neither for Christmas nor for birthdays. At most, something small…
I know, we’re weird…
Special military operations have global reach. Espionage and sabotage have global reach. Terrorism has global reach. How you label a particular operation depends on where you sit.
Running a special operations team or an espionage/sabotage network is expensive on a per-person basis but very, very inexpensive compared to the cost of a normal military operation to have the same effect. Terrorist groups can be expensive (recruitment, training centers) or almost cost-free (IRA Provos, who took no salary, slept in a rotating series of supporters’ spare rooms, and needed only minimal upkeep for ammunition and such) but again, can be inexpensive compared to their effect.
Ukraine has had support from the US and others, in money, military materiel, and military expertise. I would be very surprised if there was no training support in non-military operations and there may have been operational support.
I suspect that Dopey Joe revealed some of the highly-classified material he’d been briefed on. This makes me very strongly suspect that he was not briefed on later matters because the staff could not trust the President to keep his mouth shut.
This again brings up the question of who ran the United States for several years, if the President was not informed of matters of vital interest and if official papers were routinely signed by a machine, just how legitimate was the federal government of the United States from 2023 through January, 2025?
re presents, it’s difficult to get things for the kids and other family members. Everyone’s been an adult for years, with their own income, and can get what they want. The Child is the youngest by far, even she’s an adult now, and she’s had a credit card in her name (paid by me) for almost three years because I trust her judgment.
I did get her some game merch that she’s mentioned she sort of wants but wasn’t going to get because she couldn’t justify the expense (of my money). Half will officially be from her mother, because her mother has no idea what she wants, because The Child doesn’t talk to her more than necessary.
My son doesn’t need anything, either. He said he wouldn’t turn down a few boxes of 5.56, when I suggested it, but doesn’t really need them because he’s been too busy to shoot for the past year. (I wouldn’t know anything about that. The last time I had a firearm in hand, other than for cleaning and such, was over a year ago and I didn’t shoot. Brandishing was enough.)
I wouldn’t wander around Downtown Nashville outside of the tourist district after dark.
Roughly, Broadway from ~ The Ryman down to the river. “John Lewis Way” (think about it) from the Capitol to the Omni.
If you pass the Taylor Swift Education Center (aka Country Music Hall of Fame) walking south, you’ve gone too far.
Even driving is treacherous with all of the Uber/Lyft Sienna vans with Kentucky plates stopping suddenly in the middle of the side streets to load/unload the inebriated.
Nashville is like Austin but without the homeless.
I think the “culture” is overrated, but I don’t like Austin’s “entertainment” district either.
It is 36 F outside here on the west side of Firt Bend County.
Winter is here.
I am having cataract surgery on the left eye today. I will be farsighted in both eyes soon.
South Asian (Colonists) or East Asian?
Both demos get a groupthink going about a location in the US and that’s where they all try to live.
Colonists are working Austin like the geese on “The Regular Show” but most of the activity flies under the radar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOTimUbzWgk
The Colonist terraforming efforts are currently concentrated along Ronald Reagan from I-35 down to University and up 195 to Killeen. If you’re looking in Central Texas for your forever home, be aware.
Planning has already started to put toll express lanes on Reagan and continue converting 195 to more SR 130 miles north of the I-35 interchange.
38F here in west Houston. Chilly willy. At least the rain is gone.
Coffee is brewed, although I haven’t had the first sip… females have all been woken once with the news that it’s colder than yesterday. No stirring in the dens though.
I think I’ll go get that coffee mug…
n
They don’t. Only the US, British, and Russians have the hardware, capability, and the ports nearby.
The US and UK blew up the pipeline, but the quaint theme country known as Deutschland land has to live with their “allies” committing a blatant act of war, destroying the industrial economy of Germany, or NATO along with the rest of the theme park that is Western Europe would collapse.
Of course, they won’t forget.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1q6qNYBbjg
Grr. Autocorrect.
Tomorrow will bring entirely new visions. You will appreciate the change.
@lynn, good luck and swift healing.
n
“Britain eases opposition to new oil, gas permits, but holds firm on taxes”
https://www.offshore-mag.com/regional-reports/north-sea-europe/news/55333129/britain-eases-opposition-to-new-oil-gas-permits-but-holds-firm-on-taxes
“Britain’s gas output is falling faster than demand, and its domestic oil production has also fallen faster than demand. From an output of around 4.4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) at the start of the new millennium, Britain now produces around 1 million boed, with a decline to under 150,000 boed seen by 2050, according to UK oil and gas regulator North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA).”
Britain is a bunch of idiots. It takes many years to put all of that infrastructure in place. Watch them put subsidies in place soon.
Of course, Britain is being overrun by savages. Maybe they will not need the energy as they burn cars, houses, etc.
I saw a new Halal meat truck this morning at the RV park by my house. Wonderful.
South Asian (Colonists) or East Asian?
Yes. And many Africans, mostly Nigerians. Huge big melting pot with many enclaves all over the place.
They are all moving out of the warzone known as Houston.
Thanks for the trip advice. More always welcome.
As for what I do on a trip … mainly look to enjoy geography, vistas, history – not a big town/city visitor normally, but plan to be in walking distance of a craft brewery for overnight stops.
Tomorrow will bring entirely new visions. You will appreciate the change.
Getting rid of the night time double vision will be super nice.
I will be reading glasses for both near and intermediate vision.
– I’m not sure that they spoke english there before the invaders came, but it was closer than the gabble they’re speaking at the mosque.
n
45 years after “The Young Ones” hit the air, Britain still doesn’t get that the show was a brutal satire and not a lifestyle suggestion.
I have a 40th anniversary box set.
Then travel east almost to Crossville, about 1.5 hours east from Nashville. An easy drive on I-40. There are signs on the I-State for the parks. Fall Creek Falls State Park, Cumberland Mountain State Park, Burgess Falls State Park, Rock Island State Park, etc. Several state parks with waterfalls that are really nice.
Cummings Falls State Park is just slightly west of Cookeville so about an hour east from Nashville. Some nice trails and the falls are an easy walk. A nice stop along the way. There are many places to eat in Cookeville. There is also a railroad museum that is just average.
If you only have time for one park, then Fall Creek Falls is number 1. Park at the visitor’s center and hike the trail to the main falls. The first part is across a swinging bridge, a short walk up the hill, then an easy and pleasant walk to the falls. Or you can drive to the overlook. There is a restaurant in the park that overlooks the lake. The food is nothing to write home about, but the view is nice.
Number 2 would be Rock Island State Park. Easy walks to the falls and good views. One where the water comes out the side of the mountain.
You can visit several of the parks in a single day.
That generally comes with getting old. I found the ability to wear off-the-shelf sunglasses while driving to be a significant benefit.
Lookout Mountain: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lookout_Mountain
Scotland is a great place, but the politics are stupidly leftist. If the politicians could, they would instantly turn Scotland full socialist. Importing invaders is just part and parcel.
All levels of the Scottish government are already broke, even with lots of financial support from the rest of Britain. Not to mention incompetent. My favorite example was the decision to install a tram in Edinburgh. Just a simple track from the airport to the city centre and then on to the harbor. No crossings, nothing complicated, just one, single tram line.
The project was a complete disaster, in every way possible. Once they finally got the first half installed, from the airport to the city centre? When I was there last, it ran basically empty. After all, it’s a simple route running along major streets, and the bus on that route is just as fast and cheaper. But hey, I’m sure massively indebted city government had nothing better to do with that £billion.
Oh, also: there is an official government inquiry into the tram mess. That inquiry itself is years late and massively over-budget. What’s the saying? “Consulting: If you’re not part of the solution, there’s good money in prolonging the problem.”
From Tom Kratman:
The Grasshopper and the Ant, Modern Version (I have no idea who wrote this but I approve this message):
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he’s a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. CBS, NBC, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, “It’s Not Easy Being Green.”
Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant’s house where the news stations film the group singing, “We shall overcome.” Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper’s sake.
Tom Daschle & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Peter Jennings that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his “fair share.” Finally, the EEOC drafts the “Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act,” retroactive to the beginning of the summer.
The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.
Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients during his administration.
The ant loses the case. The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant’s food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant’s old house, crumbles around him because he doesn’t maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow.
The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.
MORAL OF THE STORY: I f***ing HATE the 21st century.
Technically, today is the third snowfall of the season. However, the previous two were a dusting and maybe half an inch, gone by the next day.
At least five inches so far today, probably more. It’s hard to tell because I’ve been clearing the driveway every couple hours and because there’s just enough wind to blow heaps off of the mailbox and porch railings and such. I have a “snowplow” shovel which makes very quick work of clearing driveways and sidewalks so long as the snow is not deep. It’s much more efficient to go out for a quick pass as soon as the snow is about two inches deep than it is to leave it and then take care of eight inches’ accumulation with a regular shovel.
There’s also the consideration of leaving a path clear for ambulances to get in, which might be needed at any moment
The Child’s school, 50 miles north of me, is closed, as is much of the city around her. I’ve been encouraging her to go out and get in a snowball fight or make a snowman but she’s being lazy. Most of my family, to the northwest of me and most of a thousand feet higher, is getting less snow. That doesn’t seem right, but the weather gods did not consult me.
The chickens are doing fine in their winter quarters. No snow has gotten in but there’s some in reach on the far side of the netting. Probably kind of bored but they are standing in snow up to their fluffy butts so they shouldn’t complain. (But of course they do. “Aaawwwwwwwk!” whenever they see me.) The younger birds are pecking at the snow – one started it, so of course the others had to get in on it – and sometimes getting their heads stuck in the net. I’ve mentioned that their brains are the size of peanuts, right? Coop is surprisingly warm, given that the birds are spending barely any time in it, the air temp is below freezing, and the heat light hasn’t come on that I’ve noticed. Maybe the heat comes from decomposing poop and straw. (To repeat, it sure would be nice if chickens didn’t poop where they sleep, and where they stand, and in their food dishes, and on top of their water tank, and …)
Home briefly from pickups. Need to hit the grocery store and pickup youngest from school.
Nice clear day but the temps are mid 50sF at best.
n
That generally comes with getting old. I found the ability to wear off-the-shelf sunglasses while driving to be a significant benefit.
The new eye is almost 20/20 already even though it is dilated like crazy still. I take a long time to dilate and a long time to undilate. They almost dumped an entire bottle of dilation drops in my eye this morning.
BTW, I can see my home computer 27 inch screen without reading glasses using my right eye. I do have the text set at 125%. My eye surgeon told me this morning that the new lenses will bend a little bit, creating a intermediate vision effect.
And I love wearing cheap black sunglasses also.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKKJV0Aiiv0
I just finished bingeing the Orphan Back five season series on Netflix. I really enjoyed it even though it was totally crazy. A few young ladies find out that they are clones. And that they are slowly dying of uterine cancer. And somebody is hunting them to kill them.
Eh, could be worse. They could have all that and work in a call center, working on commission, selling vinyl siding to people who live in apartments.
Weather site says we got about 7″ of snow today, which is just about what I’d estimated from my shoveling.
A bit of snow did get into the chickens’ area, but I’m pretty sure it was because I was clumsy when clearing a path around the patio because it was just one smear in one spot. Regardless, it had feetprints in it.
My only real concern about the birds’ safety is a stray dog coming around during the day. The netting would slow it down only a little. Other than attaching an anchor fence or something to the posts, there’s not much I can do for better protection. On the other hand, my work desk looks out over the patio, I’m at my desk most of the day, and I’d likely see or hear something and could get out there in seconds.
That’s the second of two reasons I stopped wearing my glasses. The first was neither correction (I wore bifocals) allowed me to read the instruments in my vehicle, but I could read them without. I switched to sunglasses early this summer, and found I could read signage better also. After a conversation with my optometrist, and an ad-hoc eye test, my eyes have reached close to 20/20 after almost 50 years of wearing corrective lenses. Granted, that’s daylight or well lighted spaces only, as I also get the displaced image / ghosts at night, and significant starring from astigmatism, but I’ll take it. Even with that, I can see well enough to drive, at least to get home from work.
Rock City on Lookout Mountain will cover you if you have time for only one attraction.
Downtown Chattanooga is walkable and at least one company offers a “ghost tour”, which we took. I can post a link later.
I don’t know about a brew pub, but we ate at Hair of the Dog, a pub pub, and Embargo ‘62, a Cuban restaurant.
Embargo 62 required a drive but was as good as any Cuban food I’ve had n Florida.
I grew up in Tampa and spent a lot of time in South Florida.
Cuban food is not like Mexican cooking. If in doubt, get the roast pork, yellow rice, and plantains.
Consultants have sold the concept of a light rail train to the airport in every major city in the world, whether or not it makes sense.
Austin’s airport rail line is in the planning stages, but I doubt that the city will actually see rolling stock for 20 years. We will be long gone.
… nor, apparently, does whoever wrote that headline.
Tuesday bedtime. I had a miserable day at work, but an excellent evening at the range made up for it. There is something therapeutic about turning money into noise in the company of friends.
Wishing Mr Lynn a speedy and complete recovery from the cataract surgery.
Goodnight!
Can confirm.
In my consulting days I spent 9 months in Broward/Miami. Cuban food never really appealed to me, but I couldn’t find any good Mexican places close to the hotels I used.
I did learn that when you order Flan and double espresso, you have to specify Black, no sugar, or you get it very sweet.
My GF is pickier about Tex Mex than I am, having lived in Texas since she was 16. I can tell that in America, there are regional differences in “Mexican” food, but unlike her, I don’t see the Katy Texas style as the One True Way. Though it’s very good.
Light rail to the airport never makes sense. Dragging several suitcases on a light rail train is an enormous PITA, and if there was ever ONE PLACE that you were going to need suitcases, getting on a plane AT THE AIRPORT would be it. Light rail is for daily commuting; leave the house, train downtown, walk to the office. Walk from the office to the train station, train to near home, and walk home. If you’re dragging bags, take a cab or an Uber or have a friend drive you to/from the airport.
People have run the numbers. No light rail system in the world pays for itself except for one that links an island casino to the mainland.
The population density you need for public transportation to make economic sense only exists in a couple of areas in the US.
There are some things I’d like to see, a coast to coast high speed train in the US, with a stop in Chicago. I’d like a ‘car train’ between LA and San Diego. I’d like a train from Houston to Austin, and to Dallas, but they don’t make sense. Especially if they treat security like the airplanes.
There are a couple of other places where high speed rail might make sense, but not many.
n
Charlotte’s light rail was reportedly on track (no pun intended, really) to be self-funding, once the bonds were paid off. It was heavily occupied during commute times, way back in 2018, when I was there. Caveats: government agencies and pseudo-government agencies routinely lie about efficiency, effectiveness, and budget; that was almost eight years ago; fares may have taken a nosedive since Iryna’s murder.
None of which would get built without eminent domain and lots of tax revenue and budget overruns. Think of the Big Dig.
What’s kind of funny is that if we hadn’t built the interstate highway system, maybe commercial rail would still be a thing. But General Motors and Ford killed rail. As a country, we chose retail travel over wholesale, and freedom and independence over economy and efficiency.
Not to forget timeliness. I can drive anywhere in the lower 48 in a predictable time. Not necessarily quick, but I’m about 4 days or less from anywhere. Even if a whole day is getting out of Texas.
When I was assigned to the PinHeadAgon, we took a car train to Atlantic City from somewhere in DC. We actually took our mini van. That was fun.
My only real concern about the birds’ safety is a stray dog coming around during the day. The netting would slow it down only a little. Other than attaching an anchor fence or something to the posts, there’s not much I can do for better protection. On the other hand, my work desk looks out over the patio, I’m at my desk most of the day, and I’d likely see or hear something and could get out there in seconds.
A friend of mine over in Victoria, Texas had a beautiful Bielefelder rooster and two hens.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bielefelder_Kennhuhn
A coyote ??? got into his nursery and killed the rooster and one of the hens last spring. The rooster was super nice, the only rooster that I have ever petted and kept my fingers.
My friend fed the rooster and the hens golden raisins but only upon request. The rooster would come running up to him and make this really weird noise. My friend would go into his shed and bring out a Costco ??? jug of golden raisins.
Brightline in Florida has the right idea, but the politics limit the system’s potential.
Lone Star Rail spent 20 years and a bunch of state money studying high speed rail from Dallas to San Antonio.
In the end, the freight companies wouldn’t cooperate, and that was the end of the study.
I’ve seen stories that the Legislature might restart the process.
Fish gotta swim. Birds gotta eat. Consultants gotta … well do whatever they do.
The US also has regional differences in “Chinese” food.
As of late, I’ve noticed “Indian” in Austin means something totally different than the rest of the country. Most of the places around here, especially close to my employer, are not very good and expensive.
Decent Mexican food was around in Broward 20-ish years ago, but you had to work to find it. Good Italian and German were easier.
A quick search found this sad bit of news.
https://www.local10.com/news/local/2024/07/17/carlos-pepes-in-fort-lauderdale-closes-its-doors-after-45-years/
Back when I lived in Sacramento, Cacafornia, my constant refrain about “California high speed rail” had been “Get Disney to build it, from San Francisco straight to Disneyworld.” Another would be from the Las Vegas Strip to Disneyworld.
“High speed” rail is inherently difficult. It takes TIME and POWER to accelerate or decelerate a train. EVERY STOP costs 20 minutes in decel/station/accel time, and POOF, there goes your “high speed” claim. The proposed “California high speed rail” plan would have taken LONGER than driving, especially the way my wife drove from Sac to LA. And in earthquake-prone CA, you would be CONSTANTLY repairing the tracks and tunnels.
“Pay Attention to Silver” by Matt Bracken
https://steelcutter.substack.com/p/pay-attention-to-silver
“Silver is going to far outperform gold, and here’s why”
Maybe. Predictions are very hard, especially about the future.
Yeah, it’s famously easier to invent the future than predict it.
I’m going to bed. I’d love a tiny little fire, but I didn’t get the propane bottles refilled today and it’s too cold to sit out.
n
“Apple Could Return to Using Intel Chips in 2027”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/apple-could-return-to-using-intel-chips-in-2027
“Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Intel could begin shipping Apple’s lowest-end M processor, used in the MacBook Air and iPad Pro, as early as the second or third quarter of 2027. Currently, Apple is using TSMC for manufacturing all its M processors, a Taiwan-based manufacturing giant that controls a huge chunk of the global market for making chips.”
“Kuo thinks that Apple could be trying to show “strong support” for the Trump administration’s strongly promoted “Made in USA” policy, though it will still be highly reliant on the Taiwan firm for chips for the foreseeable future. Kuo highlighted that the MacBook Air and iPad Pro only account for up to 20 million sales a year, a fairly small portion of Apple’s overall sales.”
Is WinTel dying and dead ?
High end chip design and fabrication requires absolute concentration on the product and a passion for hiring the best, and an utterly ruthless attitude to underperformance by employees.
Intel went in big on DEI instead, the antithesis.
Pretty much. Casey Handemeer had a blog post a while back on the extreme maintenance needed for true HSR.
i’m not sure that earthquakes are that big of a deal though, railroads in California seem to operate pretty well, albeit at much slower speeds.
I’d like to see all the light rail trains pick up in the blue shiiteholes, toss the paying customers out at their destinations, and swing out over the ocean to dump the rest. Rinse and repeat for a couple years, and there will be progress.
But, gee, wouldn’t a fusion torch make a shorter, more efficient ride?
Light rail trains suck. The one here in Houston has wrecks with cars at least weekly.
The Heavy rail trains in Dallas are awesome. They do not occupy the roads, etc. And they are fast.
>>And I love wearing cheap black sunglasses also.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKKJV0Aiiv0
First comment:
“I don’t always listen to ZZ Top , but when I do so do my neighbors!”
(:
>>The Heavy rail trains in Dallas are awesome. They do not occupy the roads, etc. And they are fast.
“Fast” is relative…
A heavy rail train’s emergency stopping distance can be a mile or more, depending on its speed, weight, length, and other factors like weather and the track’s grade. For context, a passenger train might stop in about 2,500 feet at 80 mph, while a heavy freight train can take over a mile at 55 mph to stop completely.
Bring back ‘cow catchers.’
We were returning via the CalTrain to Sacramento from Vallejo, where we had visited Marine World/Africa USA, one of our favorite theme parks. I noticed that the train was moving much more slowly than I had expected. One of the conductors mentioned that they were limited in their speed, because it was so hot that the rails were buckling, and at max speed, they feared derailing the train if they went too fast. So no, even 28 years ago, the tracks weren’t in really good condition. And they have deteriorated GREATLY in the intervening years.
Wednesday. Dark. Time for breakfast.
Wishing you all a good day!