Cold, damp, but maybe just overcast and not raining. That is the hope anyway. Plenty of overcast and misty damp yesterday, although no actual rain on my windshield.
I did my pickups, and stopped by my auctioneer. No date for when I can get more stuff listed. Got some stuff for the house, and some stuff for the BOL. Loaded up the truck and eventually got to the lake.
Today I’ll sleep in a bit, then start on one of the lists. Probably I’ll start with getting the heat set up in the garage and down on the dock. Then moving, sorting, unpacking, etc. Maybe some electrical in the attic? Or something else. No idea which will move to the top of the list of need and motivation. Something will though.
Something always does. Even if it’s just “I hurt so I’m not doing much.”
Stacking is so much easier.
nick
So this morning I woke up, decided I wasn’t going back to sleep, stretched, poured myself some coffee, and beat Denis to first comment.
This morning is much warmer than yesterday. Not much lower than yesterday’s high, in fact. Weekend is supposed to be seasonally warm, good for getting those last chores done, then slamming cold on Monday. Subject to change, and of course the weather forecast changes.
“Man plans, god laughs.”
Doctorow is one of those overrated authors who said the right things to the right crowd and then got popular because he was popular. In his case the right crowd was the Kewl Kids on the left coast. He does have some good points to make but his novels aren’t nearly as good as we’re supposed to think they are.
Good morning, SteveF! It is the little things in life that make us happy, isn’t it? Have a beautiful day!
Today is the feast of St. Nicholas of Smyrna, aka Sinterklaas or Santa Claus, patron saint of children. Good children got gingerbread and a tangerine in their stockings (or wooden clogs) this morning.
I am hoping for a tangerine, or maybe a Terry’s milk chocolate orange, if I have been a very good boy.
“Down In The Magic Kingdom” and “Makers” are good. I have physical copies purchased from Doctorow at a con right before the pandemic.
The Mansion is perfect. Or was until The Mouse drained the main waterway of the most carefully themed area on the planet this Summer.
Disney deserves its fate, but I digress.
I got up early on Sunday morning, the last day of the event, to see Doctorow talk at the insane hour of 9 AM. We were both coherent enough that he made an impression on me with a few points regarding the potential of “grid down”.
I thought Doctorow had Wil Wheaton reading his stuff at one point.
Wheaton went off the deep end in the last few years, like most of Hollywood.
I know he participated in the audiobook of “Source Code”, working with Gates recently.
https://redstate.com/bobhoge/2025/12/05/dojs-harmeet-dhillon-weve-uncovered-hundreds-of-thousands-of-dead-people-on-voter-rolls-n2196867
5.5%. Doesn’t sound like much, but if those dead voters are voting, then it becomes a powerful tool to swing close elections. Need to find a few hundred votes where you most need them? Not a problem.
@Lynn
Is mancave one word or two?
The Florida Governor’s race in 2018 came down to a 0.4% margin, 30,000 votes, with DeSantis narrowly prevailing over known meth head and Benny Crump sock puppet Andrew Gillum.
The race next year could be very narrowly decided, but it isn’t as important as 2018, with control of the Florida Supreme court up for grabs as three seats were sitting vacant at midnight on Jan 1, 2019, waiting for the new Governor’s signature on appointments.
Redistricting was also at stake. The margin in the House still rests on the four seats DeSantis swung with his redistricting plan and kneecapping of Disney as a political force in Florida in 2022.
Little Marco’s Senate seat also depended on someone stepping up and taking out The Mouse before 2022, a chore which even many Republicans were uncomfortable about doing, including DeSantis’ predecessor, the current Senior Senator from Florida, Rick Scott (RINO-FL).
For the sticklers about sources regarding the “known meth head” comment, from the Geico Gecko’s own TV station:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VQONUxf8CA
Note the date on the body cam footage.
That TV weighs more than my laser projector and motorized screen together! It’s “only” 4K, but where do I stream 8K movies?
Drink until you’re seeing double. #FollowMeForMoreLifeHacks
Another 28-65F day here in the California high desert, the pattern for almost a week now. We should shift to a 40-72F pattern around Monday for a week or so.
I should be able to get some lights up on the house, tho the trees still have most of their leaves.
The astronomy club yearly banquet is tonight at Gino’s, as always, so I will wrap a few small gifts, red lens LED flashlights this year, for the raffle. Voluntary, but I’ve been a no-show a lot. Grand prize is a Seestar S50, which would be cool, though I deliberately try to stay old school for the most part.
I picked up a ½-gallon of Southern Comfort Egg Nog at Sam’s last week. I may call it the winner without doing my annual tasting.
The Member’s Mark 1.75 alcoholic version is already out-of-stock for the weekend and may be hard to find.
Classic DIY version:
https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/classic-eggnog
‘Tis The Season
Roughly 30,000 Georgia Libertarians “voting their conscience” gave us the 2021-2022 mess in the Senate and semi-permanently ensconced Jon Ossoff in his seat.
Current polls in GA are not promising for Republicans winning that seat next year.
Sooo…. he has a liþp?
– I’d say “yes” but not always. Not the NPR “clever liberal” lisp, but about half way there.
———-
Sunny and bright here, about 52F. I had a big breakfast and half my coffee dose, so I’m almost ready to face the day.
———
I’ve been moving the “publish this post” time earlier in the day to give Denis more of a chance. At EST 3am -0 +20, I’m sometimes just going to bed, not getting up!
———-
Time to do something to further my goals.
n
chronalzonal discriminatation
Geothermal Engineering Breakthrough Announced Involving Cascade’s Largest Volcano
This has been flying under my radar. I want to see the cost analysis.
Geothermal was the golden child of SiFi for a decade or so. Turned out to be hard.
n
LOL plugs The Lasttm
Joe Biden makes new embarrassing gaffe as he struggles to say ‘America’ in conference speech
Jill keeps rolling out plugs The Lasttm to keep the promised dollars rolling in for withdrawing from the election. Lord, just let the guy lay on the beach for the rest of his dementia riddled life.
I saw this while looking at insulation alternatives online:
“According to a study by the National Fire Protection Association, most structural fires involve flammable materials. That’s a shocking statistic!”
That’s “Dr. Jill” to you, citizen.
Papers please.
Dr. Jill didn’t get the memo LGBTQWERTY Rainbow Alphabet People are over. Move on to the next woke thing to whine about. Roll out plugs before he croaks.
You are a good man! But what about poor timezone-disadvantaged chicken boy? I suppose I could let him get in first occasionally, like today…
Anyhow, it’s bedtime in these here parts. I didn’t get a tangerine or a Terry’s chocolate orange. Ah, well. Maybe next year…
Goodnight!
Buck! Buck! Bucock! My Sweet Summer Papa.
My chickens give me several dozen eggs per week, showing that they provide value to the world.
Some commenters here might wish to sit back and compare their value to that of my chickens. Not that I’m naming any names or pointing any fingers, of course.
Well, I would say that most of us don’t crap in our food bowls.
I dunno, Ray. You might be assuming too much.
Geothermal is CORROSIVE. If you’re pumping your operating fluid – usually water – down into the hot Earth using some sort of pipe – usually steel – it won’t take very long for the pipe to be corroded away, requiring a new drill hole and new pipe. Some sort of uncorrodable material, often unobtainium, is required for the pipe. And there are often earthquakes in geothermal areas. Maintenance on a geothermal system gets really expensive, really quickly.
Jill Biden has an EdD degree, the same degree earned by Bill Cosby. It’s not really equivalent to a PhD.
Yes. I know. The subject has come up here before.
Other than the degree, Dr. Jill’s only significant life accomplishment was co-founding the legendary rock venue The Stone Balloon in Newark, DE with her first husband.
She gave it all up to marry Biden. The jury left her with nothing at the end of the divorce trial.
Whooo, it got chilly when the sun went down. I got some stuff put away, and some of the decor up. Got distracted by chatting with the neighbor, and then my wife had a guy come by to look at the dock. That ate an hour.
Time to eat some cow, and relax more… until putting up the tree.
n
The court did not find that her contribution was worth much.
Joe Biden is a liar, thief and all-around shitheel. Finding Jill just illustrates the truth of like attracts like.
Why the Supreme Court May Reject Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order
https://redstate.com/joesquire/2025/12/06/supreme-court-vs-trump-birthright-citizenship-n2196875
There’s no “rewriting of constitutional meaning” involved. The particular issues at hand have never been litigated, as noted by Professor Jacobson in the post above.
And as far as “rewriting of constitutional meaning” is concerned, the courts big and small have been doing that in the U.S. for decades, with the acquiescence if not actual connivance of the current SCOTUS.
If the Nine want to confront “rewriting” they should stare deeply into their penumbras.
I still think SCOTUS will go 6/3. If they go against, it would be a lot easier to just refuse to hear the case.
The meaning of the “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” clause needs to be settled or birthright citizenship will be the new hot issue in Senate hearings like abortion used to be before The Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Doctorow is one of those overrated authors who said the right things to the right crowd and then got popular because he was popular. In his case the right crowd was the Kewl Kids on the left coast. He does have some good points to make but his novels aren’t nearly as good as we’re supposed to think they are.
Cory Doctorow is a routine 4 out of 5 stars. I’ve read several of his books, no rereads so far.
Doctorow’s books aren’t bad, the couple that I’ve read, they just don’t live up to the hype. His appearances and interviews that I’ve seen have him mouthing the Silicon Valley shibboleths, which explain in part the hype.
Is mancave one word or two?
Yes. And I need one. A retreat away from the ills of the world.
Geothermal is CORROSIVE. If you’re pumping your operating fluid – usually water – down into the hot Earth using some sort of pipe – usually steel – it won’t take very long for the pipe to be corroded away, requiring a new drill hole and new pipe. Some sort of uncorrodable material, often unobtainium, is required for the pipe. And there are often earthquakes in geothermal areas. Maintenance on a geothermal system gets really expensive, really quickly.
Not only is the geothermal water corrosive, it has 10% to 20% solids entrained in it. The solids plate out on the cool refrigerant pipes of the first heat exchanger. You need a electric cation / anion device that the refineries run to get rid of impurities, mostly salts, to clean the geothermal fluid first. Very expensive and ultra high maintenance. Refineries put them in pairs so they can valve one out and clean it while the other is getting full of crud.
Doctorow’s books aren’t bad, the couple that I’ve read, they just don’t live up to the hype. His appearances and interviews that I’ve seen have him mouthing the Silicon Valley shibboleths, which explain in part the hype.
Bad would be one star out of 5. Of course, anything below four stars is crap:
https://xkcd.com/1098/
It took me a while to realize that Lynn’s star system is heavily biased towards success.
I haven’t enjoyed any book he’s rated less than 4 stars, and few rated 5. He doesn’t actually rate books below 4 stars.
Speaking of reviews:
We’re in Christmas rom-com season. GF and I are watching a couple a week. Hallmark and non-Hallmark old and new, and I set my standards pretty low.
Tonight was “A Christmas Romance”, 1994. Olivia Newton-John, Gregory Harrison, and it’s everything you could imagine with that age and casting. At the end GF and I talked, and I said that I have a certain minimum standard for a show to avoid turning it off and moving on, and this matched the baseline exactly. Any worse, and I’d have shut it down. In fact, I surprised myself by watching the whole thing.
2 nights ago it was Miracle on 34th Street with Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Edmond Gwenn, and Natalie Wood ( and June Lockhart’s dad.)
Before that, it was another steaming pile called “Last Christmas”, featuring Emma Thompson and Wham!. The main reason I watched it was because I have never seen Emma Thompson in any movies, ever. It was a poster child for Woke/DEI in a movie. The only White Male English character was a bigoted hater of immigrants (who themselves happened to be White Christian Europeans). There were no same-race heterosexual couples in the film except her parents. They were all LGBT or mixed-race (or both). All the homeless people were middle-aged White males. I even think there was a trans (male-pretending-to-be-female) doctor character. Or perhaps just a really ugly woman.
There was even a disabled guy.
What’s funny to me is that the framework was actually not that bad. If they had a more talented lead actor, characters that felt real and not just checking boxes, there was a heartwarming poignant story buried in there under all the PC crappola. It would even have justified putting up with that song.
The whole text in context of the time clearly is there for the blacks -former slaves, escaped, born free out in the countryside, etc, and anyone else who was outside of official notice AT THE TIME. If they’d have added “ on June 30th of this year” we wouldn’t be having the discussion. They clearly didn’t think it would ever be non-obvious, like the guys who argued against the Bill of Rights, saying it wasn’t necessary to spell them out when they were clearly included in the rest of the ideas.
———
55F and 92%RH. Moisture is falling from trees. The breeze is intermittent but bone chilling. I spent most of an hour walking the dog around the neighborhood with a tiny little fire, but no campfire and radio on the dock for me. I didn’t get my heaters set up to keep my backside warm…
It’s nice and quiet up here tonight. It’s almost like a Sunday night, just the way I like it best.
Time for a shower and early bed.
n
I thought Lynn was only sharing 4 or higher reviews with us…
When I do google reviews, I try for honesty, but positivity, giving enough info for someone to make their own judgement about whatever I found noteworthy. I’ve got 50K views, and not that many reviews (of places and businesses) so they are getting looked at. I don’t rate any amazon books as it wants to use a name that is easily linked to me, and I don’t like to share that much. I’m not really interested in having anyone know whether I liked or didn’t like a LitRPG harem novel series. I didn’t even know there was such a thing when I read it… and I liked that particular one, but not the genre itself.
n
Sounds like you must have sampled a fair few more, solely to know if you like the genre, of course.
Mmmm-hmmmm
Any other reputation-damaging admissions you’d care to make?
Geothermal is toilet water?
TBH, there was never a Doctorow novel I finished.
Nothing bad to say. Just couldn’t get into them.
—-
Banquet is over, I didn’t win the Seestar … or anything else.
To coin a phrase: ‘Bah! Humbug!”
Wasn’t it Sturgeon who declared that “90% of everything is crap” and acknowledged he included his own works in that analysis?
It took me a while to realize that Lynn’s star system is heavily biased towards success.
I haven’t enjoyed any book he’s rated less than 4 stars, and few rated 5. He doesn’t actually rate books below 4 stars.
I’ve got 200+ books in my SBR (strategic book reserve) that I need to rate 1 star because I DNF’th them. DNF is short for Did Not Finish. I just do not have the heart to do that to an author.
I know how much of their soul and being that authors put into their works from writing computer software for over 50 years now. I have written over a million words of software over the long years and much of it haunts me. Could I have done it better, did I make any obvious mistakes, will it work to meet peoples needs for decades, etc ?
Shoot, for half of my DNF books I did not even read past the first page. I cannot for the life of me remember why I bought the book. Yet, they sit in my SBR taunting me.
I have rated over a 100 (SWAG) books below four stars in the last 20 years but nothing in the last five. You get a 1, 4, 5, or a 6 from me now. I have rated only one book a 1 star in my entire lifetime, a book by Lisanne Norman. I have rated 1,300 books on Big River now.
https://www.amazon.com/Shades-Gray-Alliance-Lisanne-2010-08-03/dp/B01K3KIDDM?tag=ttgnet-20/
Geothermal is toilet water?
Only if your toilet paper and poo are salty.
And water can usually handle up to 30% solids in it before forming slugs. BTW, the 30% is by volume. Not moles or mass.
2 nights ago it was Miracle on 34th Street with Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Edmond Gwenn, and Natalie Wood ( and June Lockhart’s dad.)
I love that movie. The scene where Edmund Gwenn is picking the bubble gum out of his beard always gets me. And the Jimmy Stewart movie. You know which one.
There are at least two other five star Christmas rom-coms. “Hitched for the Holidays”
https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/hitched-for-the-holidays/about
and “The Nine Lives of Christmas”
https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/the-nine-lives-of-christmas
I thought Lynn was only sharing 4 or higher reviews with us…
I am…
If I finish a book, it is four stars minimum.
My latest Craigslist ad:
https://houston.craigslist.org/acc/d/sugar-land-small-business-needs/7900525221.html
I am late, I should have run it two weeks ago. My accountant is retiring Jan 31, 2026. She has done a great job for me over the last 14 ??? years.
Sunday. Dark, with pretentions to getting brighter.
Big River has the amateur delivery folks out. Last night someone left two computer monitors, their angle-poise mount and a fourth parcel outside the house in the pouring rain.
We were at home. If the delivery person had walked ten feet further from where they dropped the parcels and rung the doorbell, we would have known to look for the stuff.
Fortunately, I got to it before there was water damage, but the outside packaging was ruined. OK, as this is my own stuff, but it would have been awkward if it were gifts…
The non-computer parcel was in one of those black-plastic-bag envelopes, so quite impervious to the rain. It turned out to be my new heated waistcoat for hunting.
I ordered the “6X” size, to be on the safe side, and the garment is marked accordingly. I can get it over my shoulders, but there is no way it will zip up. It looks like about a standard M or L to me. I might measure it out of curiosity.
Rather than go through the Amazon returns rigmarole to send it back to China, I could give it to W1, whom it looks like it would fit (haven’t tested it on her yet). She doesn’t like to come hunting in the cold, so she probably doesn’t need it and wouldn’t use it.
On the other hand, I am tempted to dismantle it and see if the heating elements could be inserted in one of my existing vests that does fit me. I own a sewing machine, so this might be a reason to figure out how to use it. Who knows, I could even become the new great fashion designer for hunters!
Anyhow, that brightness outside looks like persisting, so it’s time for me to get up and make some tea. I am sorely tempted to also make the egg nog recipe to which drwilliams linked, but it is perhaps a bit early in the day for rum. On the gripping hand, it is Sunday…
Wishing you all a beautiful Sunday! Remember to be at least as useful to the universe as SteveF’s chickens.
I have rated 1,300 books on Big River now.
And here are my reviews on Big River along with a very old picture (20 ??? years ago):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/profile/amzn1.account.AHV2C7F5C3SWNVJAYRZOU7ORTWYA?tag=ttgnet-20/
I look nothing like that picture anymore. More bald and my haircut lady cuts my remaining hair down to a 1/16th of an inch now. Plus I have full beard that is over two inches long and very white, especially on the chin.
I have figured out why my appetite is up over the last two months. Two of the eye drops, the month long eye drops, are steroids. I suspect that the steroids are getting in my system and cranking my appetite up.
At least that sounds good to me. It couldn’t be my sweet tooth is getting to me again.
The non-computer parcel was in one of those black-plastic-bag envelopes, so quite impervious to the rain. It turned out to be my new heated waistcoat for hunting.
I ordered the “6X” size, to be on the safe side, and the garment is marked accordingly. I can get it over my shoulders, but there is no way it will zip up. It looks like about a standard M or L to me. I might measure it out of curiosity.
Rather than go through the Amazon returns rigmarole to send it back to China, I could give it to W1, whom it looks like it would fit (haven’t tested it on her yet). She doesn’t like to come hunting in the cold, so she probably doesn’t need it and wouldn’t use it.
On the other hand, I am tempted to dismantle it and see if the heating elements could be inserted in one of my existing vests that does fit me. I own a sewing machine, so this might be a reason to figure out how to use it. Who knows, I could even become the new great fashion designer for hunters!
I hate hunting / fishing in the cold. This year I took a XXL tall insulated parka with me fishing in Montana in May. My nephews were taunting me on day 1 but day 4 was 35 F (2 C) and the wind was blowing 20 to 50 mph on the Missouri River.
On our coldest about 12 ? years ago, it was snowing on us and we had the guides row us in. Fly fishing and snow (or rain or wind) do not mix.
64F and bright overcast with occasional blue patches.
Not much wind, and dew everywhere.
Slept poorly with nightmares about living in NYFC and being constantly accosted by scammers, thieves, and threatened with violence. If it’s not there yet, it will be. I was in Times Square long before Disney took the risk and started the redevelopment that led to the current prosperity and money machine. To go back to that would be to lose a little bit of civilization.
Finishing my breakfast, time to figure out what to do today.
n
Wrong day again, Nick. This is, I believe, the third time in a few weeks, despite your having said “Wow, it’s a long time since I did that.” Could it be … that you’re getting old? Forgetful? Worn out and decrepit? If you’re not sure if you’re old, past your prime, and past your time, ask your teenage children. They’ll give you an unbiased opinion, no doubt.
Dang it.
n