Cold to start, but clear and warming later. Then chilly. That was yesterday, and probably today too. Winter is firmly here. Heat at night, A/C in the afternoon. Houston.
Did my pickups. Chatted with my auctioneers. Dropped a vintage hat off to be resized. I had three with me, but one needed repair, and the other, a bowler made in England, she determined was too well made to stretch. It’s brim is a bit small for me anyway, but it’s the only bowler I’ve got and the only one I’ve come across in the estate sales. One of the perks of being an “old man” is wearing hats that aren’t ball caps. Might as well have some nice ones.
We did get the tree decorated last night so that is off the list. Now to make some progress on other list items…
And of course, there will be stacking too.
nick
Saturday. Good morning!
Prepper fail. When I went to use it, my big bottle of the fantastic sinus inhalation mixture
Tincture of benzoin, 30 grams
Eucalyptus tincture, 30 grams
Balsam of Peru 0.5 gram
Gomenol (Niaouli oil), 1 gram.
was empty.
Fortunately, W1 had some in her travel bag that I could use. Time to visit the apothecary and get some more made up…
Have a beautiful Saturday!
Thte “Battlestar Galactica” reboot made Stage 8/9 “Star Trek” suddenly feel very old and out of date to the more casual viewer, and “Enterprise” ratings fell off of a cliff just as that program, like all the “Star Trek” of that era, got interesting in the fourth season.
Ironically, Stage 8/9 “Star Trek” is more approachable to a new casual viewer, and those series are more available than ever, airing six nights a week on broadcast TV in many markets without any signs of going away soon.
Plus, unlike the new “Galactica”, you can put a kid in front of the nightly “Star Trek” block on H&I, and chances are they aren’t going to see anything traumatizing.
The Borg? Ever see “Captain EO” at EPCOT?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwMfeKFp2H4
They even got around to stealing the queen concept eventually. Ironically, the pilfering masterminded by Ronald D. Moore who created the “Galactica” reboot.
Yes, Anjelica Huston. Bet ya forgot about the Huston family being in that creative mix.
REITs are key pieces of a lot of investment plans and insurance company balance sheets, including the exact kind of broad based index mutual funds Dave Ramsey recommends for his listeners’ retirement savings.
Ending the REITs would be easy in Texas – stop subsidizing the property taxes feeding the bond ghouls from the state surplus. No more “rate compression”.
And end the Fed buying mortgage paper.
Market forces.
Of course, no one wants to go that far.
The Market deciding things.
Ah say mah house is a tenbagger and no long hair is gonna tell me different. What are you, son, a Communist?
My “cr*p money” fund has been an interesting experiment and very educational.
A REIT is the biggest single holding, and I’ve seen a 12% annual return over the last year, consistent with the benchmark for funds of this type.
Unrealized gains have been less than 1% over that period, however.
Gotta wonder how many two percenters and annuities have client money in funds of this type.
Maybe our troll can provide some AI generated insight on this matter.
Or maybe even share their own two percenter’s strategy in general terms.
After all, that two percenter makes their money the old fashioned way. They *earn* it, right?
Who remembers that EF Hutton commercial?
Or that the founder’s money was the other fortune behind Mar A Lago’s construction?
No more ID Buzz.
https://www.carscoops.com/2025/12/vw-cancels-id-buzz-for-2026-as-dealers-warn-it-might-be-over/
Not without doing some homework.
https://electrek.co/2025/12/18/elon-musks-spacex-bought-tens-of-millions-worth-of-cybertrucks-tesla-cant-sell/
The irony is that I see very few EVs at Space X’s Boca Chica facility anytime we drive out there.
I do see a lot of big RAM pickups made by Stellantis, who arguably provided much of the R&D budget for the Jesus Truck.
Of course Ford F150 but not the Lightning model.
Saints and beghorra that’s a fine Irish family surname belonging to the student from Loyola Marymount willing to speak on the record about their job situation after graduating from a Fancy Lad school in the age of the Monkey Trick.
No H1B sponsorship problem there. Nosiree. None whatsoever.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/they-graduated-from-stanford-due-to-ai-they-cant-find-a-job/ar-AA1SFxR3
Gonna need a state university CS program graduate diploma mill like my Masters program was for international students, Colonists in particular.
Went HOME to Turkey…
Anyone who has worked with the visa crowd will see Turks thru the same lens and not want anything to do with them without the benefits of the visa. The hijab probably doesn’t help (assumed).
“Learn to code” they said. A lot like what happens EVERY SINGLE TIME they say to go after a job market, I remember teaching, coding, finance, law, even truck driving – the result is too many new workers and compensation levels lower. IE it works wonders for controlling business’s biggest cost – labor.
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66F and looks pretty sunny. I’m moving, fed W, but kinder still slumber. Coffee so good.
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BTW, software writing software. Does no one read SF anymore? Does no one watch movies? We are the carbon they want to reduce.
n
Government Minister Steps in to Defend Met Office as Fake Temperature Scandal Escalates
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/12/20/government-minister-steps-in-to-defend-met-office-as-fake-temperature-scandal-escalates/
When the government controls the data that is used to justify enslavement of the people it is no surprise the they are feeding you sh*t and demanding you like it.
How quickly the situation changes.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/12/man-caught-camera-trying-execute-police-officer-inside/
video.
Cop responds by kicking him in the nuts and two quick uppercuts to the face.
W@lmart guy jumps in wearing a “Not today Karen” t shirt. 🙂
n
I bet that “loss prevention team member” takes his pat down a lot more seriously from now on.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15401781/missing-children-rescued-florida-operation-northern-lights.html
Nice job Marshals.
n
Oh, I got the IR floodlight to work last night by using a bigger power supply. I was pretty sure the first one was underrated but it was close at hand. Now I need to dress the wires and make sure the psu is sheltered from the rain. Didn’t want to do that at night.
More stuff that wasn’t on the list.
n
Hijab isn’t an automatic with Turks. Or, at least, it wasn’t the case until the current leadership rose to power.
As Dr. Pournelle pointed out many times, the army used to keep things strictly secular in Turkey.
A Cuban expat I know who is a maintenance expert on the F16 says that Turks are his favorite NATO group to work with. They don’t go for BS.
Cubans are not fans of Muslims, especially fanatics. Club Gitmo is there for a reason.